A NORTHWICH resident has been supplying vintage sound equipment to be used in the upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

Chris Hewitt is a collector of vintage sound systems and for the last four years he has been hiring out his equipment for a number of high-profile music films.

A showcase exhibition is planned for Odeon in Barons Quay from today to celebrate the release of the new film starring Rami Malek in the leading role.

The exhibition for will feature the 1980s mixing desk used for the recreation of the Wembley Live Aid Queen set, the microphones used on Roger Taylors tom toms and the mic clip used for the end of Freddie’s mic stand.

Chris said: “Prior to Bohemian Rhapsody I provided equipment for the Morrissey film, ‘England is Mine’.

“I have been collecting equipment from famous bands for years and I just decided to go into business hiring it out.

“I was approached to do the Morrissey film about four years ago.”

Chris’s business, CH Vintage Audio, has the largest stock of vintage sound equipment in the UK.

For ‘England is Mine’, Chris supplied the filmmakers with authentic PA systems from the time.

“I’ve been working with sound equipment since I was 17 years old and I am 64 now.”

If Chris does not have a particular piece of equipment in stock, he tries to find it wherever he can online.

Chris said: “I was looking for a particular speaker for the Elton John film and I could only find it on Craigslist, which is based in LA, for $150.

“I contacted a friend out there and he was able to sort it out for me.

“In this business who you know is extremely important.”

Chris is an expert in his field and this is what enables him to identify old sound equipment by looking at a picture.

For the upcoming Elton John film, ‘Rocketman’, Chris was asked to provide an amplifier which he could not track down.

This meant that by using an old photograph he had to build a replica just for the film.

“I found a dial online that was identical to one on the amp, so using that I was able to determine how much the measurements needed upscaling to make it accurate to the amplifier in the picture.

“It took about a day to get the accurate measurements for the amplifier, but I like a challenge.”

Chris has not done an exhibition specifically for one film before and he is looking forward to it.

Chris said: “It will be interesting to see if people can spot my equipment in the film. I’ve already spotted some in the trailers for both ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Rocketman’ but it does help that I know exactly what I am looking for.”