As an early anniversary gift, my wife has given me three incredible vintage mics from an estate. They're all in fabulous condition with the exception of the RCA 44-BX which someone apparently decided needed a black all-over paint job. Anyone know of someone locally who restores microphones? I see people on the web that do it but I'd like to have it done locally if I can. If you want to avoid cluttering up the message board, email me: bmiller@kpam.com

Thanks!

I will be glad and honored to sell them on Ebay for you.
What is the point of collecting stuff?
Take the money now!

Hey Bob, post this on the other side of the board to. There may be someone over "On The Dark Side" that can help you out! Great song as well!

If there's anyone out there wondering what a RCA 44BX looks like:

http://www.highlandlab.com/images/44BX_480x480.jpg

It's too bad that somebody decided to paint the RCA-44BX black, thus destroying the beautiful RCA logo at the bottom of the mic.

maybe a jewelery store could do it??

I believe an RCA-44BX is a huge mother. The kind one used to find in the storage area of radio stations in the 70's, after we had switched to the much smaller and more modern RE-16's.

Bob, nothing like some laquer thinner, rags and Q-Tips to wipe that bad enamel right off. Laquer thinner will bring it off nicely without harming the plating.

I just surfed and you have a lot of restoration options. Just ask your chief engineer for a recommendation about local folks, if there are any. You will likely have to ship it somewhere.

These relics are very basic and fabulous, uncomplicated and sound great. I have frothed over having my own DX-44 and DX-77, my first two mikes.

Here's a Great Old Mike Site

Kq4: WOW! What A GREAT Website This Is! Spent almost 2 hours on it. Loved the old celebrity mic photos, what a trip!

Found the mic I've been stumped on for a long time. Visited KKEY Burnside studios around 1970. Key had 3 or 4 mics on a table. One for the host and guests. My impression at the time was, these mics should be in a museum! They looked ancient to this freshmen high school kid. I was used to seeing mics on TV. Here's that ancient mic. An "Altec" I believe:

http://www.coutant.org/altec639/index.html

If you Google "microphone restoration", many choices come up.

Here's an example of some restoration:

http://www.bigdmc.com/WTNS.html

Museums would use what's called an "objects conservator" for something like a microphone. There are some private conservators around the country but I don't know if there any in the Portland area.

When I was a student at Benson, I remember BOTH a 44-BX and a 77-DX in the KBPS studio, mounted on booms... Man, those things sounded great! Still do, if you can find one...just take good care of it.

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions both here and via email. I think I've narrowed it down. A couple of people are jumping at the chance to restore this baby. I promise to post pics when the work is done.

miller

Maybe it's just me but when I look at those old microphones I do get misty eyed.

These old microphones are like cars from the era. They had character and style. They looked serious.

Yep, if these things could talk, I bet most of them could tell some fascinating stories !! Anything known about the history of this mic ?

Jr. do a Google search on "History of Microphones" lots to choose from.

Bob, many folks in the recording industry swear by Clarence Kane. His reputation is stellar.

http://enakmic.com/

Markandrews, I used those mics too. I remember we cleaned out the attic in 1990 (?) and there were boxes of old microphones, transcription turntables and other ephemera.

It's spooky, but I went to the same site, looked for a long time for the first mike I remember at KIHR back in 1966. It wasn't there, so I went back to the Net.

Finally found it, and, yes, it was the same Altec that Craig found above. In our caset was suspended from above with an ingenious system. Pipe comes down from the ceiling, bends toward the board at a 90 degree angle, then bends back down another 90 degrees. After the jog, the mike was positioned comfortably in front of the board (an old RCA, I believe, with great big bakelite pots).
The top was set up to rotate so that the mike at the end of the jog would describe an arc as you pivoted in your chair to one of the three 16 inch turntables or the copy bin, or to look out the window behind you to see if it were raining.
Worked slick as could be.
The next year it was replaced with a perfectly good, but mundane model sprouting off the table.

Seguedad: Here's the first mic I used on the air. This was at KCYX. For a green kid, this mic really intimidated me because it was SO BIG! Not like the mics I had learned on at KPCC, Portland Community College. Later I was shown the mic wasn't big at all! It was just wrapped in thick foam. Take a look:

http://www.coutant.org/sm5b/index.html

markandrews...the RCA 44 & 77 mics you fondly remember are still at KBPS and safely stored away. Plans are being made for a display cabinet in the lobby that will house both mics, a few of the hundreds of awards the station has won in years past and some historic KBPS photos. I'd love to hear from anyone who has old photos from their days at KBPS.

Craig: The first time I used the SM5B was at Z100. Even with poor mic technique you could still hit the sweet spot every time.

The only issue I had was it was so big I had to look around it to find the board. Hit a few open sliders unintended.

I remember a great old dusty RCA mic at KGAR with it was in a house out behind the tracks in Vancouver. The arm could keep it stable, but not hold the weight. So the ingenious solution was some heavy twine nailed into the ceiling hanging down to support the arm.
Gordon A probably got the twine on trade. Or would that be Wally R?

Craig: That's another classic, foam or not. If I wasn't intimidated by the Altec, it was because it was the first broadcast mike I'd ever seen. I came in with no previous experience as a 17-year-old because the station owner had gone to the high school to ask the principal for a recommendation on a suitable incoming senior. He wanted someone to train for backup and fill-in work. I was picked because I had some speech and drama background. Now it's 42 years later, and I'm still cutting spots for local stations on the side.