SELA - Old Swedish Condenser mikes

Those of you who like old condenser mikes will probably find it interesting.

http://www.fsfl.se/backspegel/sela.html

All in Swedish but the pictures says a lot too.

Thanks for the link. Interesting pictures and schematic.

wow! that's odd how they have a tilted capsule, but I guess that would make it easier for a boom operator. That must of sucked back then before you had carbon fiber fish poles and you had a big tube mic on the end of a lead pipe. :?

carbon fiber boom poles make a good degree of noise and have their share of problems. For whatever you give up in weight you gain in flex, so you need a longer pole creating a bigger arc causing more pressure on your body than you necessarily might if you had a pole that was heavier made out of a stiffer material. The weight of the boom pole is not really the issue, its gravity, if you stand with your arms above your head for 8 minutes you'll get the idea, let alone holding some pole.

With a mic like that, with the tilted head, its kinda hard to imagine that anything like that would ever go on a fishpole. Those mics were more than likley design for fischer type booms which are %100 mechanical and used commonly for TV. I would be pretty suprised if you could put a tube mic like that on a fish pole, I think the microphonics from the tube would basically drive you nuts from the handling noise.

Ive used sela mixers before and they are really interesting. the guys I know who know those mics have always held them in the same regard as the old neumann tube mics, which based on my limited experience with sela, is not hard to believe. Ive never heard one though.

dave

Oh I just saw this photo and thought WTF? that must weigh a ton.

Guess I should'nt be saying this, 'cos it'll only be even harder to pick up one of these babies for a song . . . .

These are fan-f@@kin'-tastic mics. M7 capsule, ac701 tube . . . slightly odd to sing into it from an obtuse angle . . . and they don't have the headroom of a M49 or U47. - Don't try it near a kickdrum! Awesome overheads, tho'. They also don't weigh too much, so you can sling 'em up high, where an M49 just topples of da stand.

Please, Santa, I've been good, can i PLEASE have a pair of these for Xmas, or a even a pair of M269's, if you think I've been REALLY good . . . . .

ANdyP

[quote author="nacho459"]Oh I just saw this photo and thought WTF? that must weigh a ton.[/quote]

well, I dont doubt its heavy but probably pales in comparison to what the average mixer will hand a modern boom operator for exterior scenes. One of my friends still uses an 816, thats just torture outside...

dave