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A Bit of Fun
We are often asked these two questions when people look at the size of the SSL console, "How did it get in the room?" and "How did you get it up the stairs?"
Well ponder no more as we reveal the secrets below.
Up, Up and Away
How did we get it up the stairs? Simply, it took a forklift ride up to level 2 and into the side of the building. Have we ever been so nervous? Nope, never!
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This image shows the unloaded frame (with all the electronics removed from the console) being hoisted into place. You will also notice another doorway in the Studio A Live Room photos-an extra door that doesn't open.
It's a service access way designed to open to the garage roller door on the outside of the factory (after a massive amount of heavy soundproofing was removed). While it's possible to bring something else large up this way in the future, we got the frame up before the Live Room framing was even completed.
Touchdown
Once the frame was landed, getting it into the control room was the harder part. As you can see from the photos, Studio A's live room and lounge were in various stages of construction. We built the control room first to get the console frame up before we ran into any "surprises."
It took five guys just to lift one end of the console over the floating floors. The lounge, as well as the doors, was designed to be just wide enough to turn the console—literally down to the millimeter. However, we didn't think about ourselves getting in and out, did we? We all had to do a commando crawl under the console.
Few Moments Later
After some colourful words, the SSL landed in its new home. Over the next year, the console was refurbished from the ground up. The leather work was re-upholstered and the wiring was completed, involving thousands of solder points, pins in multi-core DL connectors for the numerous outboard racks, wiring runs through the floors to the machine room, and a ton of cable work.
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Then, after further commissioning, testing, and upgrading (with a new automation system and an Atomic Power supply), it was finally complete. Now we look back and smile, knowing just how much time, effort, and money went into bringing "The Whispering Jack" console home.
The Console Today
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