Richard Monroe
Well-known member
Can one of the advanced gear heads here describe the principles of operation of a crystal mic in terms this ignorant peon has some chance to understand? Also, are they still made, and what, if any, recording applications do they have? Are there any multipolar versions?
The ones I've seen are mostly vintage broadcast or ham/CB radio mics. I got to play around with a vintage specimen last weekend when my sometime partner, Maureen Fleming, flew in from San Diego. She brought with her a bakelite specimen. She was hoping I could figure out what it was. It looks more like a vibrator than a mic, which appears to be why it was discontinued.
It's a Shure Versatex, made only for one year, in 1947. It was advertised as a versatile mic for radio broadcasting or home recording. I had to take it apart to find it was a Shure mic, and it took an hour or so of spooking around on Shure's discontinued product list to find it, because I didn't have the model number, which was on a plate that apparently fell off years ago.
It's a High-Z mic (duh), and when plugged into the Avalon, I'll be damned if it didn't make me sound like the announcer that did the famous live broadcast as the Hindenberg burned! What I have found is that it's considered one of the rarest of the Shure mics, because it was only made for one year, and it wasn't very popular, apparently because of its resemblance to a dildo. No kidding. Anybody know anyone who could state an approximate value for this thing? We don't know if it's worth $5 or $5000.
Moreover, I'm interested in what happened to crystal mic technology, whether it was rendered obsolete, or abandoned for other reasons, or is still in use for some specialty applications.-Richie
The ones I've seen are mostly vintage broadcast or ham/CB radio mics. I got to play around with a vintage specimen last weekend when my sometime partner, Maureen Fleming, flew in from San Diego. She brought with her a bakelite specimen. She was hoping I could figure out what it was. It looks more like a vibrator than a mic, which appears to be why it was discontinued.
It's a Shure Versatex, made only for one year, in 1947. It was advertised as a versatile mic for radio broadcasting or home recording. I had to take it apart to find it was a Shure mic, and it took an hour or so of spooking around on Shure's discontinued product list to find it, because I didn't have the model number, which was on a plate that apparently fell off years ago.
It's a High-Z mic (duh), and when plugged into the Avalon, I'll be damned if it didn't make me sound like the announcer that did the famous live broadcast as the Hindenberg burned! What I have found is that it's considered one of the rarest of the Shure mics, because it was only made for one year, and it wasn't very popular, apparently because of its resemblance to a dildo. No kidding. Anybody know anyone who could state an approximate value for this thing? We don't know if it's worth $5 or $5000.
Moreover, I'm interested in what happened to crystal mic technology, whether it was rendered obsolete, or abandoned for other reasons, or is still in use for some specialty applications.-Richie
Your genuine Ma-Bell telephones all have crystal mics.......
