Help identifying mic?

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:45 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbTWFj2SMX8

I've been trying to figure out this vocal sound for a while now, and I finally found a vid with a good view of the mic... anyone know what it is? I'm almost certain he DOES NOT have any effects on it, and there is a possibility he's using his amp for a vocal speaker as well as an amp, I'll try to find a vid that can shed some light on that...

Equally as important, how hard will it be to find one, and what would I be looking at for cost should I come across it?

If a better view of the mic is needed, I'll see what I can find.

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:41 pm

Huh... So apparently it's MADE from the earpiece of old phones, only lasts a few hours, and is likely extremely dangerous to make and use. ima hafta try dis

The_Nutter · **Posted:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:40 am

Hi Floyd

just take any old el cheapo microphone or indeed headphone reverse-wired and turn the volume up. It sounds that way through natural distortion from too high input (voice) volume. (In their case the pressure on the tiny charcoal particles is too high).

You could just as well taky any normal microphone and feed it into a guitar amp. Would give a similar result without needing special equipment.

Cheers

Nutter

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:13 pm

The_Nutter wrote:

Hi Floyd

just take any old el cheapo microphone or indeed headphone reverse-wired and turn the volume up. It sounds that way through natural distortion from too high input (voice) volume. (In their case the pressure on the tiny charcoal particles is too high).

You could just as well taky any normal microphone and feed it into a guitar amp. Would give a similar result without needing special equipment.

Cheers

Nutter

I've tried normal mics into an amp and while it was clos, it didn't get that hyper-trebly sound because it was still a mic meant for singing.... However, reading an interview with the man himself, they don't seem to last especially long. ANy ideas on how to remedy this?

The_Nutter · **Posted:** Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:51 am

Not really mate. They are for listening into, not shouting at! ;-)

but I suspect you could make them quite cheaply which is an upside.

Are you sure some EQing wouldn't fix the lack of treble?

Also mate, while it's nice to copy, don't be afraid to create your own sound! I think it was for "Billie Jean" that Quincy Jones had Michael Jackson sing through a cardboard tube direc ted at the microphone. What I'm saying is: it's time to experiment!

Nutter

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:00 am

http://www.slugmag.com/articles/244/Whi ... whips.html

That's the interview where he says how to do it... I'm not entirely sure what I'm suposed to do though... Like, the two wires appear to be attached to the phone's mic thing, do I cut them and touch them to the screws, put guitar cable on the ends of those, or do I leave the whole thing together and put the guitar cable Christ-knows-where? I only have one phone to do a test run on at the moment, so I need to make this first try count.

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:02 am

And as for originality, I'm usually the last guy to copy someone's ideas, but this is just a really specific sound I want and this is the best way to get it. Other methods can come close, but won't get it perfectly terrible.

brotherdave · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:43 am

That actually is a crystal earpiece, not mouthpiece off an old dial phone.

There are crystal mics that can sound a lot like that if you boost their output to overload and they won't breakdown as fast. They are high impedance, roughly the same diameter as the one in the video and were marketed as lapel mics in the 60's for home recording. You'll need to preamp them to make them hotter. They look like this:

There are also some cheaply made Japanese rectangular crystal microphones with a build in stand adapter made during this same era that had a really hot output also. They are very rare in working condition though. They look like this:

Currently marketed are what are called SALTSHAKER crystal mics for harp players. They have some similar tonal characteristics but are inherently cleaner with better low end.

Whichever one you try, patch it into an outboard tube microphone preamp like the cheap Behringer Tube Multigain 100 till it overloads and then into the PA. With the right EQ it will sound close.

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 11:48 am

Thanks for the suggestions, but those are a bit out of my budget right now... I just bought a new guitar and need remaining money for a PA for my current band, so making these out of old phones is my best option right now. I emailed the man himself a few days ago asking how he made them and the bastard stil hasn't responded, though he IS on a (likely drug fueled) Australian tour right now, so I'll just have to wait and see with that.

Could anybody shed any light on exactly what I'm supposed to be doing though? I have the phone opened up (read: broken with a boot), but I don't want to do anything else until I know what I'm supposed to be doing.

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:22 pm

Also, where might I find one of those old 60s mics and how much would I be looking at spending?

Screamin' Armadillo · **Posted:** Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:06 am

Floyd--

Keep an eye out for any old Realistic mics from the 1970's, especially any that are "retro" styled (like the Shure SM55 "Elvis" mic)...they are bright, overdriven easily and overall, wonderfully terrible.

I have one that my brother's wife bought at an auction ($5) years ago: it looks awesome but sounds, well, less than perfect. We use it in my studio to record alternative vocal tracks (we'll put two or three vocal mics in front of me and blend a rich clean mic with a dirty overdriven mic and then maybe a third brighter mic like you are looking for, and it sounds cool).

They were made/designed in Japan and the tone shows it; if you listen to any Japanese pop music of the era, the vocals are always thin, tinny and bright. I guess it was partially due to their microphones, as well as the EQ.

You could also try a CB mic, but generally they're more mid-range-y than bright.

Let us know what you figure out!

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:42 pm

Screamin' Armadillo wrote:

Floyd--

Keep an eye out for any old Realistic mics from the 1970's, especially any that are "retro" styled (like the Shure SM55 "Elvis" mic)...they are bright, overdriven easily and overall, wonderfully terrible.

I have one that my brother's wife bought at an auction ($5) years ago: it looks awesome but sounds, well, less than perfect. We use it in my studio to record alternative vocal tracks (we'll put two or three vocal mics in front of me and blend a rich clean mic with a dirty overdriven mic and then maybe a third brighter mic like you are looking for, and it sounds cool).

They were made/designed in Japan and the tone shows it; if you listen to any Japanese pop music of the era, the vocals are always thin, tinny and bright. I guess it was partially due to their microphones, as well as the EQ.

You could also try a CB mic, but generally they're more mid-range-y than bright.

Let us know what you figure out!

Thanks, I'll see what I can find. I'd imagine that if it sounds like that through a PA or whatever you are using, the guitar amp just might push it over the edge into what I need.

I'm also still going to try to figure out the phone earpiece, though Mr. Dwyer himself has yet to shed any light on the matter... Hopefully he'll respond to my email. If not, I suppose I'll just have to get a bunch of these phones and try whatever I think of until I get it right. :roll:

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:29 pm

So I got some results... kind of...

See, my phone wasn't a Bell, it was some Chinese made toy phone my sister had. Earpiece was contained in a plastic casing that can't come off, so no screws. However, when I touched the stripped guitar cable to the bare phone wires, on a VERY small spot it worked as a mic. Unfortunately, I couldn't get lasting results because the spot was so small, the electrical tape wasn't sticky enough to hold it, AND the guitar cable dies every few minutes (I had to keep cutting the end and striping more). Going to try with my grandmother's old rotary phone next, but I still need to solve the problem of the cable's lifetime being a whole 10 minutes. ANy suggestions?

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:08 pm

I FIGURED IT OUT!!!!!

It turns out I had to touch the ground of the guitar cabe to one wire and the actual wire to the other. I'm gonna try soldering it to see if it makes it last.

Floyd_The_Barber · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:17 pm

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0BZ9HXgQFHG

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