Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[smj]

I guess Klaus combined the two threads on this subject and renamed it.

I must say, tracking someone down (in North America) who is able to do this is becoming increasingly difficult.  The fact that a "THD" measurement needs to be taken in this process is usually the tipping point for people who service mics.

Sean Meredith-Jones

[Oliver Archut]

Hello Sean,

my best advise to you, send them back were you got them from  and get a pair of new ones. It is not just a small change over, you have to modify the entire mic and than you still might run into problems with the components made in the former GDR, like connectors, x-formers, etc.

There are only a few mics that were made in the former communist "easter" part of germany that are worthy to get through all this trouble and money to make them studio useable; I would not count the transistor models among them.

If you are located in europe you can send them back to the Gefell factory, they are the only ones that can get them up to specs. but outside of germany/europe it is nothing but trouble.

Some vintage dealers offer them as equal to Neumann Berlin or the in production Neumann Gefell mics, but there are not, as pointed out so many times in postings before.
If you are not a technician or can not do it yourself, you DO will spent more than the new counterparts are, and still have no warranty, etc.

If you do not find a tech in Canada that can do it properly, you might want to check out Robert at QTS here in Eudora/KS  service@baught.com, but aside the problems mentioned above you end up with tons of NAFDA paperwork to avoid customs/fees to send it to the US...

Best regards,
 

[Coco]

Oliver, Sean and I are wanting to do the same mod. Paul Blake at Cable Tek hre in Canada is a trined Gefell tech since Cable Tek is the N. American distributor for Gefell. He mentioned to Sean that if we supply the parts he could do it for us. Wether he can bias the FET properly is something Sean is waiting to hear back on. Mine sound fine so I might just let them be, and I was hoping to make them better but you know the old saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. BTW Oliver, I am loving my new V-78m. You can still get new MV692's but they run about $700 CDN for just the amplifier. I think it would be cheaper just to upgrade an old one, but that all depends on how much one paid for an old one.

[Oliver Archut]

Hello Coco,

the is no doubt that the guys at C-Tech can do the job, my point was if it is worth the trouble.
There is no generalization in what something should cost, if you got a real good price on your "people owned" Gefell it might be a good investment, if you already paid half or more of what a new one cost, don't even think about investing more money.
If you like your historic Gefell and it work good for you, do not screw around leave it as it.

Best regards,

[smj]

Oliver,

Thanks for responding to the thread.  As far as sending stuff to the US...I live 2 hours from the border.  I could drive to the US, ship them there from a UPS store, and then pick them up there when they're done.

Anyway, Paul's price is very reasonable...it's just a question now of whether he feels comfortable doing the work now that we know what's involved.  I'm waiting to hear back from him.

If that doesn't work, it will be about $470 US (shipping and labor) to send them to Germany and back.  I paid about $1000 US for the pair when I bought them.  

I'm sure this all sounds quite funny to all the pro audio people around here...lol.  I've learned a lot about buying used vintage mics....don't buy them unless you hear them!!!!

I will say however, that everyone in the mic business I have spoken with has been very kind, professional, and honest.  If someone can't do the work (for whatever reason) they told me straight up.  I will post when this is all resolved.

Sean Meredith-Jones

[Coco]

I think they are a decent mic in their own right. I may be biased since I own two. I have put them up to a pair of new KM184's and my old Gefell's made the 184's sound thin and undesireable by comparasin. Sure, the 184's were a bit more quiet, but they lacked the vibe that my MV692's always give me. I can agree to what Oliver has said as well, they might not be worth modding, but consider how much you paid for them, and how much a new pair costs and then put it into perspective. I think I am going to get a pair of new 692's instead of buying another old set. They are still available for about $700 CDN a piece, no capsule, but considering what a used one costs, then modding it, we are not far off from the price of a new one, plus you get a warranty with new ones. I am still interested in tweaking mine one day down the road. They could sound awesome, or it could completely destroy the vibe of my old MV692's.