No Name Tube Microphone

[Richard Monroe]

Well, "YMMV"- most definitely. There is no inherent problem with a 16mm capsule. The Beatles made rather good use of KM84's for vocal mics. Capsule and diaphragm dimensions are *not* the deciding factor. And Jim- I can give you a couple of tips on the Solid Tube, a misunderstood and underestimated mic. First, it has a built-in foam wind screen that muffles highs and makes the mic sound dark and muddy. Simply ripping it out causes a vast improvement and opens the mic right up. Secondly, the thing was built to withstand very high SPL's. In order to sound good, it needs to be thoroughly warmed up, as the body is big and heavy. Then, it needs to be *pushed*. It's a very good mic for a belter or screamer, a powerful gravelly blues voice, an opera singer, or whatever. If you have a thin, delicate voice, it may not be the mic for you. I wouldn't put it in front of Sara Watkins, but it would rock on Robert Plant, Charlotte Church, Beverly Sills, Linda Rondstadt. Just rip out the wind screen, and then sing at it *aggressively*. It's a lot better than people think if you know what it's good for. It simply likes loud.-Richie

 

[fiddler59]

No, what you referred to was a "Takman REX plate resistor", and I was confused as to whether you meant the B+ feed resistor going to the plate or the grid resistor. I usually use a 2W 100k at the B+ feed to keep the noise low, but look for a high quality low noise thick film or carbon oxide(?) resistor for the grid, since that's the one being amplified.

I hate it when people say "Wima caps" like its all one thing. Wima makes polyester, polypropylene and polycarbonate capacitors. Most of them stacked. So, what KIND of Wima caps? I don't know what type ADK used in that, but most likely they were mylar .022uF. A bit of engineering overkill for the value. just cause it says Wima doesn't mean its the best. IMB makes really good capacitors. So do Auricap, AEON and Sprague.

Sorry, its late and I'm tired. Not trying to grill you or be surly...

No problem philgood. I was saying that I used a Takman REX in my mic I modded. As for the Wimas in the ADK they were polyester film. I also replaced the electrolytic plate coupling cap with a 1uf Mundorf in the ADK as well as lowered the power supply B+ to 124v. The only thing I was asking about your mic was what you had used for the capsule coupling capacitor. The rest is what I had done to my ADK....that's all. That mic of your has got to be the bomb with a Tim Campbell capsule !!

DB

 

[moresound]

They're all tested. The store does repairs.
Just bad luck.
The owner was pretty annoyed with the deal I got on the first 5 so I took 4 of them back.
It's a small shop, trying to stay afloat in spite of the big boys.

There is more that goes into a tube test if it's going to go into a microphone circuit.
I remember someone posting something that's simple to do .... something like once the tube is in place and on, tap it and listen for a resonance. Maybe that person or a person more in the know on this will post what's a proper simple test like that.
That's why I suggested to take the microphone with you.

We all need those types of store, mom & pop owners! Pity the majority of the populace shops at major big box cheap plastic Chinese manufactured imported junk.

 

[moresound]

Dang ..... and I just started to read up on the solid tube cause you sparked my interest Jim, only to find out that it's been discontinued.

 

[Jim Lad]

Dang ..... and I just started to read up on the solid tube cause you sparked my interest Jim, only to find out that it's been discontinued.

You can still find them but for me, the search is over. This microphone has exactly what I'm looking for in vocals.

We all need those types of store, mom & pop owners! Pity the majority of the populace shops at major big box cheap plastic Chinese manufactured imported junk.

When I bought the Behringer ADA 8000, I checked the big store price then asked these guys to get me one at the same price. Guy was extremely pleased.