E.R.N.I.E. was a Victor (later JVC) MI-60 6-channel Stereo Mixer that I used to mix early band practices of Fiji Mermaid, in combination with the handful of plastic-bodied and a couple of low-quality metal-bodied mics plus 3 mic stands one silver, one red and one blue.
This, of course, all went into a dodgy PA, which consisted of a powered mixer with precisely two working inputs, and a couple of mismatched cabinets, including a WEM cabinet (vintage gear was pretty abundant in those days).
I bought the Victor in Wants, Plymouth (a second-hand/pawn shop) for about £15 one Saturday just before band practice and it was quickly re-named E.R.N.I.E.: Equipment Really Needed In (an) Emergency. The emergency was that no one could hear themselves over the drums!
E.R.N.I.E. was too small for the job really and I don’t think his super short spring reverb ever worked properly but, hey it was all I could afford at the time, and I was f**king delighted with it.
It had no EQ, no features to fight feedback and, suffice it to say, it probably did sod all for the band, but it served me well. Firstly, it allowed the keyboard player to plug in her keyboard and just about be heard above the drummer, who was particularly thunderous; plus two electric guitars and a bass. Secondly, we had three singers and three mics. Finally, it had faders which allowed me to better control the only sound that came out of it during rehearsals … obnoxious and intense feedback. The band definitely did wail, literally in this case.
In my defence, Saltash church hall had the acoustic footprint of a rusty shipping container. We weren’t a worship band, the band practised there only because the bass player was dating the Vicar’s daughter! No, really. I promise I am not making this sh*t up.
This was very much a late-nineties garage band and, some would say, punk as f**k.
Brilliant times.