R
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
I recently helped a friend of mine dispose of her late father's mic collection. The expensive ones I advised them to keep for the time being, and a few of the white elephants became mine. The AIWA crystal mic actually sold on ebay, who would've thunk? The AT40 became my new talkback mic, because it has a switch ion it. The EV N/D257 I kept, although it is bright as hell, because I know it will be good for something. I got a pretty good lapel mic without the preamp (fairly useless). Last, but not least, as a greatly abused and neglected Shure 55C made in 1938.
It belonged to a radio station in Florida, and is alledged to have been used by Doris Day and Roy Rogers. God knows, I couldn't even find an amphenol cable to hook it up. It's high impedence, and looking for 100,000 ohms. What the hell, I said? Why not restore it.? So I sent it to the micdoctor.com, who specializes in restoring old 55's. He replaced the internal foam shock mounting (crumbled to dust), and the snazzy red silk lining, with original glue. He cleaned up the corrosion, etc., and sent me a new old stock amphenol cable. All in all, he did great work at a very reasonable price.
OK, I confess, it's more chatchka than champion. It hums more than I like in a recording rig, and is an "effect" for sure, when used through a PA. Fortunately, my PA has high-z inputs. Well last week I acquired an AKG D3800 tripower, so I A-B'd the two mics for jollies! I'm afraid 2005 trashed 1938 pretty badly. But what the hell, it was good enough for "A date that will live in infamy". I figure this old American icon will sit on a desk stand and look cool in the studio.
Just one problem. The threads on this ancient pre-Elvis mic don't fit any standard mic stand, including a couple of old Atlas stands that aren't much younger than this mic. Does anybody know if there is an adaptor or a stand piece out there to fit this sucker?- Richie
It belonged to a radio station in Florida, and is alledged to have been used by Doris Day and Roy Rogers. God knows, I couldn't even find an amphenol cable to hook it up. It's high impedence, and looking for 100,000 ohms. What the hell, I said? Why not restore it.? So I sent it to the micdoctor.com, who specializes in restoring old 55's. He replaced the internal foam shock mounting (crumbled to dust), and the snazzy red silk lining, with original glue. He cleaned up the corrosion, etc., and sent me a new old stock amphenol cable. All in all, he did great work at a very reasonable price.
OK, I confess, it's more chatchka than champion. It hums more than I like in a recording rig, and is an "effect" for sure, when used through a PA. Fortunately, my PA has high-z inputs. Well last week I acquired an AKG D3800 tripower, so I A-B'd the two mics for jollies! I'm afraid 2005 trashed 1938 pretty badly. But what the hell, it was good enough for "A date that will live in infamy". I figure this old American icon will sit on a desk stand and look cool in the studio.
Just one problem. The threads on this ancient pre-Elvis mic don't fit any standard mic stand, including a couple of old Atlas stands that aren't much younger than this mic. Does anybody know if there is an adaptor or a stand piece out there to fit this sucker?- Richie