R/E/P Community
R/E/P => Klaus Heyne's Mic Lab => Topic started by: Tzurby on October 17, 2011, 09:09:34 AM
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Hello
Has anybody seen this microphone before?
http://www.ebay.de/itm/270827270871?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
The switch (cardioid - ?) resembles the one on a U47. The capsule looks like an M7, it might acutally be one. There is no name, no model given. It could be a very early attempt of a DIY U47 (in a RCA 77 look-a-like housing).
BUT, the whole construction looks way too professional (look a the plastic parts).
Any ideas?
Unfortunately, I missed this auction.
Thanks
Ulrich
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In the early to mid 1950s, there were quite a few hobby shops or small manufacturing shops, often manned by ex-broadcast employees who used readily available components, like the M7 Neumann capsule or Siemens polystyrene capacitors, as shown on the pictures. Only a few of these shops made it mid- or long term (Schoeps comes to mind; though, as David Satz mentions below, that company did not use Neumann capsules) while others- Mayhak, Hiller, Henry, etc. floundered.
The unit itself looks lovingly homemade, but don't forget that "homemade" quality in a country which prides itself of a sophisticated guild apprentice system for craftsmen may often supercede today's U.S. boutique mic standards when it comes to fit and finish.
It would have been nice to see the heart of the mic- the tube system- that I assume powers this thing.
P.S.: For future viewing, once eBay removes the pictures, please copy one or two pictures and insert them into your post.
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Dear Klaus
Thanks for your reply. You are most probably right.
Here are some pictures for future reference.
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"Schoeps comes to mind"?? Do you have any idea of their history, Klaus? It sure doesn't sound as if you do.
Schoeps was founded before the 1950s and was fairly extreme in NOT re-using "readily available components." They made all their capsules from scratch, wound their own transformers, built the tools that were then used to build their microphones, and would probably have made their own vacuum tubes and (later) semiconductors if it had been possible to do so.
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Your correction was duly noted, David, and my original post amended.
I would still remind you that even though Schoeps took a rather individualistic path in the post-WWII history of German-made condenser mics, some of its core building blocks an components, like the source of its nickel membranes, Telefunken AC701 tubes, Tuchel and Preh plastic parts, etc. were also shared by other manufacturers of the time, surviving or not.
Schoeps' fit and finish of its elegant capsule head designs fo the early 1950s are again testament to the deep training every specialty crafts worker had to absolve before getting hired by these firms. Other condenser one-offs from that period can be viewed on PSW's historic pages of this forum