Great work its a pleasure to see these great old mics being repaired and restored. Plus i learn a lot..i have repaired many vintage mics most condensers but i am now building some ribbon mics and getting a good look inside of some of these gave me great ideas for my own designs. thanks for taking the time to document your excellent work.. and your electroplating work is great too. cheers!
Nice refurb! I'm surprised to see no puff guards on this mic! Perhaps the grill cloth was pulled from the grills at some point? Cool to hear the KB-2C at the end. Surprisingly big sound from such a small ribbon! Thanks for posting!
Did you really get the ribbon in with one try or is this the magic of editing? What thickness is the ribbon? I have a Toshiba 'clone' of the 77a (and an RCA), pretty rare?
No, wait. The 77 A came out in, 1928. Not 1938. Oh my goodness. So you're working on a microphone. And you don't know when it was from? I'm not going to send you my 77-DX's. And so right there before you. You have THEE first of a series of the 77's. I personally have one from the early mid, 1950s in TV gray. In absolutely mint condition. And I have one of the very last, 77-DX's, ever made. And its unique. In that. In 1968. RCA dropped their original logo emblem. And they adopted their new, RCA block letters. On the other hand. The last year the RCA 77-DX was produced was in 1968. Only a few hundred were produced. And of those that were made. They got the new RCA block letter emblem on them. As this silver version has. In nearly mint condition. These microphones need no restoration. They were so well cared for. And used so little. They sound just fabulous. Now, here might be the reason. Why you found that to going to the acoustic labyrinth. To be at the top side of the ribbon instead of the lower part. And I was quite surprised by this. As I've never had, seen nor played with a 77-A before, myself, personally. When you turned the microphone around. Proving you were speaking into the microphone. And about its directional character. I had thought the 77-A was a bidirectional, Figure of 8 pattern microphone. It didn't sound like that. When you turned it around. You sounded like you were on the backside of a, cardioid pattern microphone. Not the backside of a Figure of 8 pattern microphone. Oh my goodness??? So! It is of my belief here. As this was the first Velocity directional ribbon microphone ever made. They didn't want, bidirectional. They may have wanted, cardioid. And putting that tube that leads to the acoustic labyrinth. Near the top of the ribbon. May have prevented that mostly Figure of 8, bidirectional, microphone pattern? And then for the next one. The next smaller sized one down. The 77-B. That was, bidirectional, Figure of 8. And with their minor improvements toward the C and D versions. But the game changer was the, DX, version. It was the DX versions. That had the adjustable polar patterns! From Figure of 8. Through that of omnidirectional to that of, frontal only, cardioid, patterns. I think it was in 1938. We got the BX-BK, 44's and the other similar derivations. Which was a longer yet still geometry ribbon. And had a yet smoother quality to them. I was really hoping to see some kind of pictures or imagery diagrams or otherwise of that internal acoustic labyrinth. Oh well. I've never taken apart my 77-DX's, to that extent. With something that ain't broke. That's not screwed up. That's in no need of repair or refurbishing. Much less restoration or recovery. I mean some people really took care of their stuff. So have I. I've had these for almost 30 years now. I've had my Beyer ribbon microphones, much longer. Much much longer. They are also delicious sounding. I have both a number of M-160's and the M-130 bidirectional version. Together they make an incredible MS pair. Dreamy delicious sounding. Fabulous Symphony Orchestra is, Wagnerian Sopranos and Jazz Bands. Not bad on rock 'n' roll, either. Just not great as a snare drum microphone. Not great when you put them inside the base drum either. Don't be stupid like that. Thank God I never did anything that stupid to mine. I am sure there will be those. That will. Good luck with that. They are making a comeback. Thank God! RemyRAD
Absolutely amazing. Thank you for posting. Looks like RCA economized by making the lower housing from an empty juice can.
I'm so glad I found your channel. I'm a recording studio owner so if I need mic repair I'll keep you in mind
Great work its a pleasure to see these great old mics being repaired and restored. Plus i learn a lot..i have repaired many vintage mics most condensers but i am now building some ribbon mics and getting a good look inside of some of these gave me great ideas for my own designs. thanks for taking the time to document your excellent work.. and your electroplating work is great too. cheers!
I'M ABSOLUTELY AMAZED AND INTRIGUED AT YOUR SKILL.
GREAT VID, interesting refurb, and nice to see the inners of the old ribbon mics.
Nice refurb! I'm surprised to see no puff guards on this mic! Perhaps the grill cloth was pulled from the grills at some point? Cool to hear the KB-2C at the end. Surprisingly big sound from such a small ribbon! Thanks for posting!
It sounds great on my iPhone. Terrific sound. I want to get a ribbon mic and an activator and a
Good AEA pre-amp.
Amazing Job
very cool, sir!
Man, this is another excellent video. Talented. Yep.
Absolutely amazing. I stayed the whole 17min.
How did you learn about old style ribbon micks ?? Keep up the great work fella. Peace too !!
Did you really get the ribbon in with one try or is this the magic of editing? What thickness is the ribbon? I have a Toshiba 'clone' of the 77a (and an RCA), pretty rare?
great job! Where on earth do you find the pig belly hair?
Great video. How do you put a camera inside a bead blast chamber
EPIC
Are the 77A bigger than the 77DX?
Karsten Johannessen Yes almost twice as big
17 minutes.................really..........LOL come on we have talked about this!
No, wait. The 77 A came out in, 1928. Not 1938.
Oh my goodness. So you're working on a microphone. And you don't know when it was from? I'm not going to send you my 77-DX's.
And so right there before you. You have THEE first of a series of the 77's.
I personally have one from the early mid, 1950s in TV gray. In absolutely mint condition.
And I have one of the very last, 77-DX's, ever made. And its unique. In that. In 1968. RCA dropped their original logo emblem. And they adopted their new, RCA block letters.
On the other hand. The last year the RCA 77-DX was produced was in 1968. Only a few hundred were produced. And of those that were made. They got the new RCA block letter emblem on them. As this silver version has. In nearly mint condition. These microphones need no restoration. They were so well cared for. And used so little. They sound just fabulous.
Now, here might be the reason. Why you found that to going to the acoustic labyrinth. To be at the top side of the ribbon instead of the lower part. And I was quite surprised by this. As I've never had, seen nor played with a 77-A before, myself, personally.
When you turned the microphone around. Proving you were speaking into the microphone. And about its directional character. I had thought the 77-A was a bidirectional, Figure of 8 pattern microphone. It didn't sound like that. When you turned it around. You sounded like you were on the backside of a, cardioid pattern microphone. Not the backside of a Figure of 8 pattern microphone. Oh my goodness???
So! It is of my belief here. As this was the first Velocity directional ribbon microphone ever made. They didn't want, bidirectional. They may have wanted, cardioid. And putting that tube that leads to the acoustic labyrinth. Near the top of the ribbon. May have prevented that mostly Figure of 8, bidirectional, microphone pattern?
And then for the next one. The next smaller sized one down. The 77-B. That was, bidirectional, Figure of 8. And with their minor improvements toward the C and D versions. But the game changer was the, DX, version.
It was the DX versions. That had the adjustable polar patterns! From Figure of 8. Through that of omnidirectional to that of, frontal only, cardioid, patterns.
I think it was in 1938. We got the BX-BK, 44's and the other similar derivations. Which was a longer yet still geometry ribbon. And had a yet smoother quality to them.
I was really hoping to see some kind of pictures or imagery diagrams or otherwise of that internal acoustic labyrinth. Oh well. I've never taken apart my 77-DX's, to that extent. With something that ain't broke. That's not screwed up. That's in no need of repair or refurbishing. Much less restoration or recovery. I mean some people really took care of their stuff. So have I. I've had these for almost 30 years now.
I've had my Beyer ribbon microphones, much longer. Much much longer. They are also delicious sounding. I have both a number of M-160's and the M-130 bidirectional version. Together they make an incredible MS pair. Dreamy delicious sounding. Fabulous Symphony Orchestra is, Wagnerian Sopranos and Jazz Bands. Not bad on rock 'n' roll, either. Just not great as a snare drum microphone. Not great when you put them inside the base drum either. Don't be stupid like that. Thank God I never did anything that stupid to mine. I am sure there will be those. That will. Good luck with that.
They are making a comeback. Thank God!
RemyRAD
what everbig mic you used...no-one hears the mistake when you put on your headphone...just saying...nice mic though...makes you think...