Discover the legacy of analog craftsmanship in Santa Cruz, California.
Nestled inside UA headquarters, the Universal Audio Custom Shop continues a 25-year tradition of hand-built analog excellence — crafting iconic studio gear with the same care and attention that defined Bill Putnam Sr.’s original designs from the 1960s.
From classic studio hardware like the Teletronix LA-2A and 1176LN compressors, to Heritage gear like the 6176 and LA-610 MkII channel strips, to high-end UA Bock microphones, each piece that leaves the Custom Shop is built by a team of passionate engineers and technicians — one unit at a time — using a meticulous, hands-on build process.
UA Custom Shop: The Early Days
“My journey to UA started in 1999 when Bill Putnam Jr. asked me to help out with a reissue Teletronix LA-2A for a trade show,” says Sean Lamb, UA’s Senior Mechanical Engineer who oversees the Custom Shop’s operations. “Back then, the ‘Custom Shop’ was Bill’s basement on Cayuga Street in Santa Cruz.
“I walked in there and I could just feel his vision,” Lamb continues. “And it was at that moment that I realized — man, I want to be a part of this, because it was impressive. They were already working on plug-ins at the time, but Bill and his brothers wanted to re-establish Universal Audio as a hardware company too — something that reflected their father’s legacy in analog.”
Scenes from the UA Custom Shop’s humble beginnings, from Bill Putnam Jr’s Cayuga Street house (
To that end, Putnam Jr. and his brothers Scott and Jim located their father’s original schematics for the Teletronix LA-2A and 1176 compressors. Together with Lamb, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
Bringing Legendary UA Hardware Back
Although UA was building its plug-in platform in parallel, the first hardware product to officially ship after the company’s relaunch was the 1176LN Limiting Amplifier, reissued in 2000. Based on the original C, D, and E revision schematics, the reborn 1176 marked the true return of UA analog hardware.
For 20 years, Josie Gilbert has brought steady hands and expert care to every 1176, LA-610, and SOLO/610 she builds.
One of the most critical aspects of recreating the original 1176 was getting the output transformer right — down to the extra feedback windings that shaped the limiter’s character and tone. Thanks to extensive design notes left by Bill Putnam Sr., the UA team was able to recreate and even refine that original design.
From there, each 1176LN is hand-assembled and calibrated in the UA Custom Shop — with technicians testing everything from gain reduction behavior to stereo-link response.
Eric Peterson handles sub-assemblies across all UA Custom Shop builds and final assembly of the 1176LN, LA-610, and 6176 — skills he’s honed over three years on the team.
In the years that followed, UA turned its attention to an even more iconic piece of studio gear — the Teletronix LA-2A Leveling Amplifier. Known for its smooth, musical compression and glowing tubes, the LA-2A required not only vintage schematics, but a renewed dedication to handmade, precision components — especially the custom T4 opto cell that defines its legendary response.
For 22 years Maria “Chio” Carrillo has been handcrafting every Teletronix LA-2A Classic Leveling Amplifier that leaves the UA Custom Shop.
“Every T4 opto cell that goes into an LA-2A compressor is tested for its time signature, and then we match the two photo cells that are in each of these units to make sure that the time signatures between the two are as close as possible, within milliseconds,” explains Lamb.
Ken Castro has been assembling Teletronix LA-2As for 10 years, and more recently handcrafting the rugged power supplies for Bock microphones.
UA engineers also spent considerable time dialing in the LA-2A’s input transformer — a subtle but crucial component to its unmistakable tone.
“We spent six months working on the LA-2A input transformer to get the sound right,” says Lamb. “It came down to increasing the nickel in the laminations.
“But as time has marched on, certain parts aren’t as available as they used to be, and having all of our operations under one roof gives us more control over any potential changes that we have to make when components become unavailable.
For 20 years Maria Frias has skillfully assembled Teletronix LA-2A compressors.
“We figured out how we could design something that was very similar, functioned the same way, and didn’t have any impact on the aesthetics or the sound of the product.”
Handbuilt and ready for your studio, these Teletronix LA-2As are about to make someone very happy.
“We make the original Teletronix LA-2A and UA 1176 compressors. There’s lots of copies out there. But if you want an original, you buy an original.”
Sean Lamb, Sr. Mechanical Engineer, UA Custom Shop
“We still hand-type the serial numbers for every LA-2A that leaves the UA Custom Shop — just like they did in the ’50s and ’60s,” explains Lamb. “We’ve got this old IBM typewriter, and every serial tag is punched out by hand. When we talk about craftsmanship and attention to detail, this is what we mean.”
Timeless Tone, Modern Builds: Inside UA’s Heritage Line
“The Heritage products like the 6176 Channel Strip, LA-610 MkII Classic Tube Channel Strip, and SOLO/610 Tube Preamp are a combination of the classic circuitry and then some modern design,” explains Lamb.
Miguel Zafra leads final assembly for the 1176 and 6176, and inspects LA-2As, LA-610s, and SOLO/610s — a role he’s refined over his decade at UA.
“We said, ‘Okay, these are the things about that circuit that make the sound the way it sounds. So we want to keep that, but what can we add to that to make it more palatable for a modern day user?’ And so we added enhanced EQ, and high-Z inputs with impedance selection.”
Michael Collins, with his 17 years of experience, handles final QA testing on several Custom Shop items including the 1176, SOLO/610, LA-610, 6176, and LA-2A.
“I saw a 6176 that came back to us that had been in a studio fire. The studio burned to the ground, but the 6176 still worked.”
Sean Lamb, Sr. Mechanical Engineer, UA Custom Shop
Josh Hanson joined the Custom Shop three years ago and now assembles everything from 1176s and SOLO/610s (seen here) to Bock 187 and 167 microphones.
UA Bock Microphones: Boutique Tone, Built by Hand
In addition to tube hardware, the Custom Shop is also home to UA’s high-end Bock Series microphones — including the UA Bock 187, 167, and 251.
Over his two years in the Custom Shop, Jesse Holsapple has focused on sub-assemblies and final builds of Bock microphones, LA-610s, and 1176s.
Each mic capsule is assembled and voiced by hand, with meticulous attention to detail. It’s precision work, but with a human touch — echoing the care and expertise found in vintage mic design from the golden age of recording.
As Production Lead for the past four years, Cristi Terry coordinates and oversees every stage of Bock microphone production and testing.
“We were shipping a lot of things back and forth and trying to understand what David Bock’s vision was for the microphones, so that we could manufacture them here,” says Lamb. “We got rid of any of the variables in the manufacturing process, and we did a lot of that through 3D modeling of the components how they interact with each other, to make sure that the high impedance and the critical nodes of connections were handled appropriately.”
The UA Custom Shop’s mini anechoic chamber that’s used to test frequency response of every Bock microphone.
To maintain strict quality control, Lamb stresses again, that keeping construction under one roof ensures each microphone is its very best. “We manufacture everything down to the specialty wire that we use for the capsules. We developed this wire with a wire manufacturer to get the exact specs we were looking for.
“We also spent six months redesigning the directional switch on the Bock 251,” continues Lamb. The originals were inconsistent and could add noise in certain circumstances. We realized it was best to just design the switch from the ground up.”
“With the Bock mics, everything is done by hand from the wire assemblies to the soldering to the bending of the resistors.”
Sean Lamb, Sr. Mechanical Engineer, UA Custom Shop
The “burn in” rack for fresh out of the oven Bock mics waiting for their forever home.
“We did a shootout with the Bock 251 against the original Telefunken microphones and all of the current mics available based on the classic ELAM 251, and we were consistently at the top of all of those tests,” says Lamb.
The “Family” Behind the Gear
“We are like a family here at the UA Custom Shop,” says Lamb. “That camaraderie helps foster a really good work environment, and it allows people that come here to stay here for a long time. We have production people on the line that have been here for over 20 years.
“Plus, every person here is a quality engineer,” continues Lamb. “Anyone can stop the line and say, ‘This doesn’t look right. What do you think we should do?’ That’s pretty impressive. Everybody’s job is quality. So we catch these things early, we fix them early, and we keep moving.”
Why Handbuilt Still Matters
At the UA Custom Shop, it’s not just about making gear that looks vintage — it’s about making tools that work like the originals did, reliably, musically, and with unmistakable analog character.
“I think people still buy the analog equipment, because as humans, we’re analog by nature. We hear analog. We hear the movement of air. People still want to hear that authentic sound.”
For over 4 years, Marty Bradley has been the UA Custom Shop’s Production Manager, overseeing day-to-day manufacturing — from final test and calibration to shipping handmade gear around the world.
“The primary goal of the UA Custom Shop is to help artists achieve their dreams.”
Sean Lamb, Sr. Mechanical Engineer, UA Custom Shop
Lamb continues. “What sets the UA Custom Shop apart isn’t just the passion or attention to detail — it’s the human connection behind every product we build. There’s communication, problem-solving, and pride in every step. We put a lot of ourselves into these pieces, and when someone opens that box, I believe they can feel the intention that went into it.”
— Darrin Fox
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