Email info@enakmics.com Phone: 215-356-8991
ENAK Staff
Curt “C/J” Vincent - Steward of the Legacy
Curt, aka CJ to friends and family, grew up a curious fellow. Even as a young boy you could find him disassembling a clock or radio to see how it worked. But what fascinated him was recording. His father had a wire recorder (which was passed down to Curt, who still has it). His grandfather got him started recording on a 7” reel Wollensack tape recorder. Dissatisfied with the ceramic mic, he bought his first RCA 77 DX (he owns a dozen RCA 77s) at a church flea market at the age of 12. He paid $20 for it and still has it. Taking apart the mic that is arguably the most complicated mic RCA ever made, he made it a goal to understand it because he could not get it back together! This took many years. He also played guitar, bass and blues harmonica but was always more interested in recording, So after 7 years in the Army fixing and flying helicopters, it came time to start electrical engineering studies. He landed an intern role at Doug Fearn’s (Yes, the same Doug who owns D.W. Fearn) Veritable studio in Philadelphia. The friendship with Doug continues to this day. In college, he worked for a live sound company and closed his apartment in the summers and toured as a monitor engineer with Todd Rundgren, Roberta Flack, The Hooters and many more.
Then, through a series of relationships, he got a shot at touring as Frank Zappa’s monitor engineer. Frank Zappa was and is one of CJ’s favorite musicians of all time so he was thrilled. But there is an old Yiddish proverb that says “Man plans and God laughs.” After graduating from college and before the Zappa tour, he ended back in the Army for a full career, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel doing Cybersecurity. But he never gave up on recording and migrated from analog to digital at the turn of the century.
Having first met Clarence in 1982, Curt sent all of his ribbon mics (and he had many) to ENAK. The Clarence and Curt became fast friends for over 40 years and in 2008, Clarence offered to teach CJ the “black arts” and so he became Clarence’s first apprentice. The two met frequently over the next 16 years prior to Clarence’s death. Curt had the honor to speak at Clarence’s funeral and in the process met some amazing people who also loved Clarence. They still meet for lunch every now and then to talk about Clarence Fast forward to today and following Clarence’s passing, CJ purchased the business from the estate. As the last phase of his career, Curt is thrilled to be part of the ENAK legacy.
Victor Rucinski - Principle Engineer
From a young age, Victor was always interested in how things worked, leading him to take apart his toys (and often having to rapidly reassemble them!).
This curiosity for how things work later coupled with a passion for playing and recording music. Necessity and ingenuity led him to fix gear for himself and his bandmates, which led to an interest in vacuum tubes.
Through old books and mentorships he eventually learned how to service nearly every kind of analog audio device, whether it be reel to reel machines to turntables to vintage guitar amps and effects pedals.
He now brings his knowledge and passion for the art and science of analog audio to the ENAK team ensuring the skills and craft of repairing and restoring ribbon microphones continues.
Dave Ziler - Microphone Technician
Dave started playing the guitar at an early age in the 1970s and later became proficient on the mandolin in the early 1980s.
He has played guitar and mandolin with bands in Western Pennsylvania, Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Eastern Pennsylvania. Dave has over 20 years of experience engineering and producing home recording studio projects.
Dave Ziler is also a versatile General Manager and Operations executive leader with a successful track record of transforming business operations and delivering financial results.
He is known for his ability to lead strategic planning, designing & driving metrics & key performance indicators (KPIs), establishing operating processes, focusing on organizational development, and leading change management with a strong bias toward aligning business initiatives with customer & market needs.
Dave has over 30 years of business experience in several industries and functions. His diverse leadership positions have spanned sales, sales operations, distribution and logistics, acquisition integration, field service leadership, process re-engineering, and IT implementations. This distinctive mix of experiences enables the ability to relate to various business challenges and assist clients with tailored solutions.
Dave holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and is a United States Marine Corps Veteran.