
80 Years of
Excellence
Rupert Neve
shares an outline of his remarkable life, career, honors, and some personal
stories. Includes many photos of vintage equipment, much of which is still in
use today by the most discriminating professionals in the pro audio, film
industry, and broadcast industries.
The Early
Years
1930′s
& 1940′s
The road to
this moment had been filled with a lifetime of dedication to perfect audio. As
a boy in Argentina
growing up during the days of shortages in world war two Rupert took advantage
of the need for people to be able to hear the news on radio. He mended radios,
built radios and sold them to friends, studied the Radio Amateurs handbook,
knew the valve catalogues by heart, and haunted the local radio shop discussing
the merits and demerits of components, building a store of practical knowledge.
At the age
of seventeen, in company with British boys all over the world, he volunteered
to serve King and Country to fight the war. He joined a convoy sailing very
slowly for England,
where he served in the Royal Signals. Civvy
street saw him in the West Country of England
using a small legacy from his Grandmother to buy a Van which was an ex US army Dodge
ambulance. He set about building and installing equipment to convert it into a
mobile recording and public address control room. He recorded choirs, amateur
operatic societies, music festivals and public events on 78 RPM lacquer disks
(before the days of tape) where there are no second chances.
He provided
public address for Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth) at the opening of St. Andrews Church
in Plymouth City Center
rebuilt after the blitz. When Winston Churchill came to support the political
campaign of his son Randolph in Plymouth,
Rupert was there with a massive PA system covering the whole city center,
microphones and loudspeakers feeding in and out of amplifiers he designed and
built.