Welcome to
​tUB THUMPER RECORDS

When you play retro “vintage" inspired music and are looking for that full warm American sound, you need a recording process, with those same characteristic “vintage" ingredients. 
Compare it with playing a vintage guitar on a tube amp. Why are you playing that Fender or Gibson? Is it the playability of the guitar, the sound of the amp or because your guitar hero is playing on it? It is always about the sound—the focus of everything we do. 


At Tub Thumper Records, we work with a lot of vintage ribbon mics like the RCA DX77 and tube preamps, because you won’t find anything else that projects that same characteristic sound. They all have their own unique character. It’s the same reason why we use vintage studio outboard gear to give the recorded music that extra character.


Tub Thumper Records is owned by Bird Stevens, a roots musician for almost 30 years. Dedicated to recreating vintage sound, Bird has traveled extensively, gathering gear along the way. From guitars, amps, to studio gear that where used by the famous artists in the famous studios and labels in the ‘50s and ‘60s like Sunn records, Stax, Motown, early Blue-note and Excello… to name a few.
 


With TTR, Bird Stevens created a recording studio in the Netherlands for artists who love the characteristic sound of vintage gear! We work with artists with a burning passion for creating quality music. 
Our goal is to provide you with an incredible recording experience that not only blows the listener away, but more importantly gives you the quality, vintage sound you want.
 

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BOOK YOUR STUDIO TIME

What do artists say about us?  

Nathan James ​
"TTR has the vibe and the sound for specializing in roots music recording. The perfect vintage and modern gear to get that real deal vintage sound in a modern world." 
James Harman, The Rhythm Scratchers, ...
Country blues, Low down Memphis or Chicago blues 
Country: United States of America 

Martin Pradler
"Keep on doing what your doing!! Its great and raw and it works! Nice job man!!"
​Ry Cooder, John Mayer, Neil Young, Richville, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...
  Mastering, Producer mixing engineer
Country: United States of America

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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR ARTISTS

studio impression

RCA BC3 Consolette 1957

Altec tube mixer used in the Motown Studio's

Vintage Tascam ATR60 8 track tape recorder! Famous of his warm, dynamic sound!!

Ampex MX 10 tube mixer from the 60ties.

RCA BC3 Consolette 1957

Wall of inspiration! BB King, Grant Green, Albert King, Muddy Waters, Bo Didley, ...

Altec 436c tube compressor! Used in the Abby Road Studio's.

RCA B44 , RCA DX77, RCA 74-B Junior Velocity, Schoeps m21a tube mic's, Coles 4080 ribbon mic, ...

Who is Tub Thumper Records

Most of my life I've been playing bass in the roots scene with bands like Little Steve and The Big Beat, Rusty Roots, TB4Q, ... and toured with James Harman, Otis Grand, Al Copley, Brian Templeton & Enrico Crivellaro, Big Jay Mc Neely, ... After almost 30 years it was time to start my own vintage recording studio. Everytime we recorded an album in one of the renowed studio's, I just missed something listening back to the end product at home. Passionate about the sound of the early recording labels/studio's like Motown Records, Blue Note Records, Excello Records, I started the quest to gain the knowledge about their recording techniques and started to collect gear used in the 50ties and 60ties. Until today it is still a never-ending proces.

​Bird Stevens 

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Tub Thumper Records

Copyright 2020.