🇬🇧 Trident

A-Range

1971 – 1975

Notable users

Trident Studios, London (the original room), Used on Bowie / Ziggy Stardust, Lou Reed / Transformer, early Queen, early Elton John

Technical specs

Channels 16 – 24
Layout Split
Groups 8
EQ 3-band
Build Hand-wired, point-to-point, discrete transistors
Production Only 13 units ever built (1971-75)
Designers Malcolm Toft + Barry Porter (Trident in-house)
Successor B-Range / Series 80 (commercial sale)

Market value

$250,000 – $600,000+ (when one surfaces)

Rarity

Extremely rare (13 built, Holy Grail)

Hand-wired discrete Musical harmonic character Custom in-house build

The A-Range was Trident's custom console, designed and built in-house by chief engineer Malcolm Toft and Barry Porter specifically for the Soho studio. Hand-wired, discrete, and built without any commercial agenda, only 13 were ever built. (Earlier Trident sessions — including The Beatles' "Hey Jude" in 1968 — predate the A-Range and used Trident's original custom desk.)

Notable Recordings

  • David Bowie — The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972)
  • Lou Reed — Transformer (1972)
  • Queen — Queen (1973)
  • Various early-1970s Trident sessions

Studios