Pearl microphones

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tomm Williams
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Tomm Williams

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Daughter gave me a $50 gift card to GC so I went shopping for another mic I probably don't need. I ended up finding a Pearl handheld cardioid dynamic for $49.99. Now I know a bit of the history of Pearl/Milab and I know they make some very expensive mics. The salesman couldn't find a model number on the mic (phone order) Just the name, type and pattern. It looks very similar to the style of a 70's type of mic and it has an on-off switch. I can't post a photo as I have not received it yet, by chance do any of you know anything about Pearl mics or any resources for info? By coincidence, Pearl Drums didn't market mics? It looks absolutely like a vocal mic so it seems unlikely but the price...................... maybe GC didn't know what it was? I just love oddball mics
 
Don't know how much info there is here, but the Pearl mic website is a cool read regardless. They're one of the those brands that i've only ever heard mentioned yet never seen or heard anything by them. They certainly look cool if nothing else :)
 
Your thread only took me to GC's general site but if you searched there for "Pearl" you probably found the mic in question. I've since found additional info that indicates my mic was a product of the Pearl Drum co. from the 70's or 80's. That could also mean it's made by Sony, I have a call into Pearl Drums to see if anyone can add something to this. Regardless, I'm looking forward to getting it.
 
Damn it, yeah the links gone now :( i can't even remember what it looked like now (i remember it was silver, that's it). Cool, didn't realise pearl drums ever made mics. Pretty cool find, we shall await the results :thumbs up:
 
I have a dynamic mic with on/off switch that was distributed by Pearl drums. It is actually a Ladnic mic. It's a pretty ok dynamic. My son loves the little Pearl/ Ladnic for all kinds of things. Maybe it's the mic you're talking about, or maybe not. Made in the 70's BTW.
 
Got some info from Pearl Drums. Yes they did market mics in the 70's and 80's made by Akai. They sent me a link to their catalog from that time, have not pulled it up yet. GC shipped it today, looking forward to it
 
OK, got the mic last night and tried it out just a few minutes ago. For comparison I used a 57, an EV 308 and a Shure SM59. It took the doors off the 57, much more natural and detailed. It also sounded slightly more detailed than the 59. It compared very well to the 308 but had less gain. I contacted Mr. Gene Okamoto at Pearl who was kind enough to send me a 1979 catalog which shows my mic as being the model DM9000. They advertised it as an upper-end instrument mic which it certainly seems to be, it does however have LOTS of handling noise. Far too much to be a vocal mic. Whoever the previous owner was, wired the on-off switch to full time on which is fine by me. I've been looking for a dedicated floor tom mic, this might be it. I would throw it on a guitar cab without hesitation. I also found a listing of this mic calling it a Gibson Norlin Pearl DM9000. I guess that is a reference to Norlins ownership of Gibson and Pearl back in the 70's and 80's. In addition to this mic, Pearl (made by Akai) made other models which were of varying cost/quality (entry level mics, etc...) not all of them should be expected to turn out this cool. Damnit I love when things turn out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I googled a pic of your mic. Interesting looking. But it is in no way similar to the one that I have, but I too consider mine to be a little better than average dynamic. Mine has the traditional ball-mic 58 look. Enjoy!
 
As a final note, I just came upon a photo of a Shure SM54, the resemblance between these mics is unmistakeable, now I'm wondering if Shure also made some of Pearls mics. Time for a call back to Mr. Okamoto
 
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