SSL 4000 Series Console

The SSL 4000 Series from Solid State Logic is the large-format console that ran the recording industry through the 1980s and 1990s. The 4000 E (1979) and 4000 G (1987) introduced ideas every modern mixer takes for granted, and their punchy, controlled sound is on countless hip hop records.

History

SSL founder Colin Sanders built his first console for his own Acorn Studios because no desk offered the routing flexibility and settings recall he wanted. The 4000 E became the first console with a compressor and gate on every channel plus a master bus compressor, and its EQ was developed with George Martin. SSL’s Studio Computer added VCA fader automation, and Total Recall saved every channel setting to floppy disk. The G Series of 1987 brought a redesigned EQ and eventually replaced the E.

Why it changed mixing

Automation let engineers record and edit fader moves, and Total Recall made it practical to come back to a mix days later. That helped create the modern independent mix engineer. The SSL bus compressor, gluing a whole mix together, became a sound in its own right.

In hip hop

New York rap studios ran SSLs: Unique Recording installed a 48-channel 4000 E in 1986, and Chung King’s rooms were built around large-format Neve and SSL desks. Dr. Dre is among the best-known 4000-series mixers; a section of his SSL 4000 G+ sold at auction and went to The Hip Hop Museum, and press coverage of the sale tied the board to The Chronic and Doggystyle. A separate SSL 4052 E at Can-Am Studios has also been described as Death Row’s main desk. Not every famous hip hop room was SSL: D&D Studios, home of DJ Premier’s sessions, ran MCI consoles.

Buying today

Whole 4000 consoles rarely change hands outside studio sales; used listings are mostly channel strips, bus compressors and parts. SSL makes its own 4000 E and G channel and bus-compressor plugins, and Brainworx offers the bx_console SSL 4000 E.