HELP: Identify this old school DJ mixer

Old school mixer geeks - any idea what this mixer is from the film Wild Style? Help us so we can sleep at night.

wild style mixer

[youtube id=”7REBBLKB7G4″]

While the DJ realm is becoming littering with an increasingly bewildering array of technology, some of us still have our eyes on the past. And the DJpedia Facebook group does a sterling job of chronicling old school DJ gear, especially mixers. But one has us all stumped — it’s in the Amphitheater (yes US spelling) scene at the end of iconic Hip Hop film Wild Style, where Grandmixer D. ST. (now DXT) can be seen cutting up Good Times.

I’ve lifted the clip and uploaded it but without sound. I’m not wanting to annoy anyone with copyright infringement, and frankly you don’t need the sound to see the mixer. Considerably more knowledgeable than myself have taken a look, but none of us can quite pinpoint the exact make and model. Calls are in to old school legends who were connected to the Wild Style film to see if it can be identified.

wild style mixer

The logo is unclear, but it doesn’t seem to tally up with any established brands of the time like Gemini, Numark, Radio Shack, Pyramid etc. But the general layout and wooden case suggest a Numark DM-1600 or similar, so I’ve put a call into Numark, but I’m not hopeful. Gemini — is it one of yours?

I’m certain there’s someone sat reading this who is almost certainly looking at this very mixer across the room. If you are, please put us out of our misery.

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Mark Settle
Mark Settle

The old Editor of DJWORX - you can now find Mark at WORXLAB

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182 Comments

  23. hi mark ive owned 74 mixers in 29 years demo’ed loads more and sold many more in the dj shop where i worked very rare im stumped…. i am at tha mo but im pretty sure its deffo a gemini the markings around the faders eq even the cross fader writing at the bottom all classic gemini even the wooden surround very pmx2200 i think the actual logo is where hes hand is bottom right and at the top i think its the model name…This will be doing my head in great post though !!

  24. hi mark ive owned 74 mixers in 29 years demo’ed loads more and sold many more in the dj shop where i worked very rare im stumped…. i am at tha mo but im pretty sure its deffo a gemini the markings around the faders eq even the cross fader writing at the bottom all classic gemini even the wooden surround very pmx2200 i think the actual logo is where hes hand is bottom right and at the top i think its the model name…This will be doing my head in great post though !!

  31. Chris Roman from Numark has got back to me and said it’s one of theirs. Bearing in mind that he was in his late teens when this was out, he’s not sure of the model. I’ll wait for him to confirm with a model number first.

    In the meantime, the hunt continues…

  42. OK, I’ve nailed it down to a Numark Studio Master Control Center, but the specific model number eludes me. the whole bottom half looks like a DM1600, but the top half is all wrong.

  62. Numark think it’s one of theirs, but not sure of the model. I’ve asked them to check. I’m sure like many people, we’ve all been scouring Google, but come up blank. It could be one of any number of manufacturers. Somebody somewhere must know. Keep digging people.

  63. Numark think it’s one of theirs, but not sure of the model. I’ve asked them to check. I’m sure like many people, we’ve all been scouring Google, but come up blank. It could be one of any number of manufacturers. Somebody somewhere must know. Keep digging people.

  65. Thanks for your help people, but we know it’s either a Radio Shack, Numark, Gemini, Pyramid or indeed one of many different brands. Believe me – we’ve all been looking for this now. But we need a manufacturer AND a model.

  66. Thanks for your help people, but we know it’s either a Radio Shack, Numark, Gemini, Pyramid or indeed one of many different brands. Believe me – we’ve all been looking for this now. But we need a manufacturer AND a model.

  93. As it’s 2 words & looks like a Realistic,maybe Record Shack-but hey my memory of mixers is only back to 84…
    And Europe done a whole load of things-my mate had a big plastic Danish mixer from about 85 with needle meters & a radio(???),don’t think it had a makers name at all…

  103. wow… can’t believe this has got so many people stumped (i’m no help, i just have a weakness for mixers with a wood trim)

    When i saw the post on fb i was wondering how long it would be before Mark got the call…

    be great one for some one to find in a shed somewhere…

    Who’s got DXT’s number?

  117. i don’t believe this mixer actually existed other than a prototype…also I would please like all those hours I just wasted on google back! just kidding…hope someone figures it out.

    • You know it’s tough when Gemini and Numark both claim it’s theirs, but neither can produce the proof. It definitely does favour a Numark that we’ve yet to see. The 1500a is still the closest in my opinion. This is turning into quite a quest, but people who were there at the time and used the mixer are on the case too.

  119. You might want to ask Grandmaster Flash, seeings as he made it!
    It was never a retail product and was a one off for the movie.
    He made it like he did with many mixers, for other DJ’s and movies of that time.
    Pretty sure he gets a technical mention in the end credits of the movie too.

    A little history of how it all started, can be found here:
    http://www.autistici.org/2000-maniax/texts/pedestrian%20history%20of%20turntablism.pdf

    …and here he talks about his first mixer:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tPezHEPiVw

    • I’m not sure that’s correct. Flash was modifying mixers to add cueing because the mixers he was using didn’t have that feature on their own. So this would have been for early 70s mixers that predate the Meteor Clubman One-One. In fact in the book “Last Night a DJ Saved my Life”, Flash says that it was a big deal that Kool Herc did actually have a cueing function on his GLI Disco 3800, but never used it. Flash did those modifications to save money by buying non-DJ mixers and modifying them to do the job.

  123. Gooooood this is so unnerving :D
    A couple of times i thought I was on to something, but then I ended up with the same Numark/GLI/Gemini mixers you guys already mentioned.

    However, the letters in the top right corner of the mixer would be consistent with “Squire Pro”, a mixer series (?) made by Roger Squire/London who started to market and produce disco equipment in the 70s.

  124. I bought my 1st DJ mixer (Numark 1650) back around ’84 from dealer who used to display gear at Star Records in San Jose, CA. If someone can hunt down Mike Love from a company called MC Disco Products, he will know what this mixer is.

  125. I agree with Joey. If you look carefully at the 1600a below, the preamp sliders to the left of the faders (old school gain) and graphic match the Numark characteristics of the period. I’ve been searching the Numark archives and nothing yet. I have a call into one of the sales team members from that period to see if they remember. I am certain the one in the clip is either Numark or similar to a Numark design. Some things never change :).

  131. So I did ask Theodore Livingston (a.k.a Grand Wizard Theodore) the other day about this, since it’s him in the video, and says he is relatively certain it’s a Numark but we don’t know which one still. I did find more videos from back in the day including this one where the same mixer is used. http://youtu.be/YZjSO3IAJfU There are rear panel shots in this as well. Also there is a picture of him here in 1980 with the same mixer I think. http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlieahearn/3290406695/lightbox/ I have some old catalogs I’ll be looking through in a few days that might spot it.

    • No: the Theodore’s mixer above is a CM LAB mixer cm-607 launched in 1977. DST mixer on “Wild Style” must be a GEMINI mixer cause his “PROFESSIONAL SERIES” BRAND.

  137. Well, I’m not sure, but it seems very similar to my oldschool Akiyama mixer! Nobody knows it? Hope it helps! It went to the garbage many years ago and I don’t have any pictures of this… sorry!
    In fact that mixer was given to me by a friend that found it in the garbage with a pair of Akiyama turntables too! They made me did my first tries in the Dj world!

  149. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7ea2763632dfea871fc3acfcb1b70cd70cb55825f9bd417035e4088b50f04668.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0bb4bcba1149ba90a7fc8e98f30e5d25594dc2c77d883fe0d902069ba961c0bf.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f4b296cbc70fa952a712d46059ebebc9d9e07f0fcf83eaf686b3572623953f08.jpg
    GLI New York and early disco equipment.

    The original GLI was a small business established in early 1973, operating out of Long Island, New York. Living in the New York area the three (then) young founders (recent electronics engineering graduates out of the Pratt Institute, New York) were experiencing first hand the emergence of Djing, Discos, Clubs and early Hip-Hop culture. At events they recognized that there was no equipment available specifically designed for the purpose. Talking with DJs whilst making their own observations they saw a need and were motivated to fill it.

    The first GLI 3800 mixer came out around 1973. It provided two turntable inputs, an AUX input, a mic input, cross-fading between the turntable channels, channel and master level control, a headphone output with level control and basic cue on the turntable inputs. This was later followed by the GLI 3880 which provided more sophisticated cue, stronger output and some other enhancements. GLI was a small concern, designing and assembling their equipment in-house by hand. They designed and built mixers, pre-amps (with basic EQ), amplifiers, speaker systems and undertook installations and maintenance.

    The original GLI was sold and that business was then sold again. The GLI name was carried forward. The GLI PMX7000 and PMX9000 were NOT products of the original GLI company and came to market many years after the first GLI products. A founder of the original GLI once remarked that there was at one time a GLI system in every Holiday Inn east of the Mississippi, such was the growth of the disco phenomena. GLI equipment and systems could be found in the many of the clubs around the New York area. Some of the earliest Hip-Hop artists used GLI equipment. Of course Hip Hop culture and the art of beat-mixing has enjoyed its own unique evolution, still very much alive today.

    By today’s standards the early GLI equipment may seem primitive but at the time it was outright innovative, providing functionality and reliability simply not available at the time. The early history of GLI and DJ equipment can be found in online copies of Billboard Magazine, a prominent trade journal of the 1970s. The original GLI founders went on to have successful careers in various fields of electronics. The one I met still has an original GLI 3800 proudly on display in his lounge room.

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