It’s an Alderham 602, circa 1976-1977 I believe. Alderham was a brand name of products manufactured by rental company Showlites, started in London in early 1970’s.
The 602 has two presets, each with 60 faders / channels. Twenty submasters and 20/60 pin matrix. Output is +10V analog on two 37-pin socapexes.
These desks were of rather cheaply made, sticky faders, button and electrically quite messy. All hardwired stuff, no microprocessor. The concept was great though and it picked up by touring tech Ian “Avo” Whalley who started up…. Avolites a couple of years later. I almost bought one myself in 1982, they wanted 2000 UK pounds (USD 4000 today) and it seemed like a fair price at the time actually.
Showlites / Alderham are no longer around but their legacy sure is – they introduced the Socapex 19-pin power connector and the 37-pin control connector. They also invented the 6-lamp bar as we know it (2” diameter, 15” lamp spacing, Socapex connector).
Eric Pearce, the owner is still around, now has staging / trussing company SPGS in Las Vegas.
Photo and text by Mats Karlson