Gemini Preamp Mixer PMX-7 Trick Master Used by Grandmaster Flash

Trickmaster preamp mixer, formerly owned by Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler, b. 1958).This Trickmaster preamp mixer was designed specifically for DJs who typically used two turntables. With only two channels, the Trickmaster was a smaller, simplified version of standard mixing consoles that were created to handle multiple lines. While turntables and other DJ equipment like mics and large speakers were very expensive, it wasn’t until the 1977 New York blackout that local aspiring DJs and MCs looted stores to acquire the latest technology to start their own mixing groups and perfect the mixing craft.

Grandmaster Flash is one of the founding fathers of hip-hop and known as the originator of scratching and mixing. Born in Bridgetown, Barbados and growing up in the Bronx, New York, Grandmaster Flash has been experimenting with vinyl’s since he was a toddler and grew a serious passion for music and engineering. His knowledge of audio equipment and experimentation led him to revolutionize the way DJs played records where he started using his turntable as an instrument. Grandmaster Flash perfected manipulating vinyl records where he would put his hands on the vinyl and manipulate it in a backward, forward or counterclockwise motion. Through this process, Grandmaster Flash perfected beat looping, and discovered many of the most iconic beats still commonly sampled today. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2007) and the Grammy Hall Of Fame (2012), Grandmaster Flash is acknowledged for pioneering a relationship between DJ and rappers and his innovative techniques of the turntable and mixing equipment.