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Q-Tip Talks about His API 3288 Console with Vintage King

Artist and Producer Q-Tip, perhaps best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest, recently spoke with Vintage King about his beloved API 3288 console, and how the desk has served him over the years.

The 3288 console was originally housed at the Radio City Studios in New York City and recorded the first several Ramones albums as well as the first Blondie album. In the console's five year tenure with Q-Tip, it has been used on tracks for Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar and A Tribe Called Quest's recently released and critically acclaimed final album We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service.

Q-Tip shared his passion for analog consoles with Vintage King. He referred to the API 3288 console, in particular, as his "secret weapon."

"The circuitry, the way it was designed, the EQs are very concise and exact. You get a real sharpness and there is a clarity to it. You can hear the difference. I'm not trying to brag or nothing, but when you hear this [Tribe] album and you compare to all the other popular music out there, there's a certain warmth to it. It has a certain declaration of sharpness," said Q-Tip. "I think the thing about that board is the high mids, the mid thing on that board is really, really great. We dealt with a lot of guitars, a lot of keyboards and a lot of vocals on this record, I just love how it honed in on those frequencies."