Re-ribbon a Beyer m160?

EDIT: never mind, I just found it.

I need a replacement for the ring that holds on the headbasket, it went missing while the mic was on loan to a friend.

http://www.beyerdynamic-usa.com/cms/Maintenance_and_repair.1250.0.html?&L=1

Beyer did a new one I'd had a few months for free. I think the charge used to be around $120.

For various reasons, I'd recommend getting a quote from Beyer.

Otherwise, try Clarence Kane at Enak or perhaps ask Marik if he can help.

I'm working in a full-time job now, so don't really have time for re-ribboning, plus I don't like touching those double ribbons!

I just got one back from Beyer last month. They charged me $200 + shipping to refurb. The invoice + parts list indicates they replaced everything, ( i mean everything!). My *repaired* mic came in a new box w clip, case, manual, and freq graph. I didn't record the serial # of the one I sent in but I'm pretty sure they sent me a complete new mic.

And you sent it in just for ribbon repair?

No it had half of the windscreen missing and the motor was rattling loose. T'was a trash rescue.

I'm pretty sure that $200 is the price for just ribbon repair, which was all I mentioned when calling ahead to get an estimate. I knew that when repairing a ribbon they swap out the motor assembly and transformer by default, which is really all that's in there.

Now that I look at the invoice, I see the serial# of the mic I sent them (written on invoice, didn't notice before) is different than the serial# of the repaired mic. So looks like a straight up replacement, as I suspected.

Cool! I have a 160 in trash-like shape somewhere. Maybe I should get my self a new one for 200 bucks. What do these cost new?

/Anders

I´ve been at the Beyer factory some weeks ago and talked to the woman who assembles and repairs all ribbon mikes. She is the only one in the factory who is able to do this job because she has the most quiet hand. I really doubt that you will find many people who are able to do this re-ribboning-job.
She gave me a ribbon just to see how thin this thing is and I tore it apart (without willing to do it, of course) only by touching it :shock:
It´s a miracle to me how somebody can work on this stuff :roll:

And btw I think that Beyer mikes are the most underrated mikes around. They have some fantastic mikes besides their ribbons and the classic M88/M201s.

I'm a Beyer fan as well. I have an M500 ribbon, and a number of mooving coil dynamics. They're all excellent mics.

The protection screen had come loose on my used M500, so I got to see the actual ribbon. The precision is really incredible. The clearance between the ribbon and the magnets is less than a hair's width :shock:

[quote author="jensenmann"]She gave me a ribbon just to see how thin this thing is and I tore it apart (without willing to do it, of course) only by touching it :shock:
It´s a miracle to me how somebody can work on this stuff :roll: [/quote]

Which is exactly why I'm hesitant to tinker with it myself. Best to leave it to the experts.

I did get a quote from Marik, and I think it's a winner. He was very cool to offer to help me out like that.

EDIT: I just remembered that FUM had posted internal pic in the great, big Ribbon Mic Dissection thread. I just had a look. Cool stuff, so delicate I don't dare touch any of it with my shaky digits.

Thanks for the input everybody!

Brian

That's interesting to hear about the Beyer factory / repair workshop, Jens.

She is the only one in the factory who is able to do this job because she has the most quiet hand.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it is very difficult to keep your hand "steady" which is important with small ribbons like the Beyers. Especially if you have had a drink the night before....

I've got one month off from work at the moment (changing department) and will hopefully have time to add some ribbon mics to the dissection thread. I have a ridiculous number of different ribbon mics, so it would be cool if I could show a few rarer ones.

An update. My m160 doesn't need re-ribboning after all. The person I bought it from stated that it sounded distorted and he suspected the ribbon.

As soon as I received it I opened it up to check. The ribbon looked fine. Some paper had been placed inside the rim of the head basket to keep it on tight. I removed it and now the retainer ring will just fall off when the mic is turned upside down. I wonder if that paper was somehow making the sound that the seller heard as distortion.

Anyway, I have a working m160, I just need to figure out how to hold the retainer ring on. What would still be removable, but hold it on firmly?

no problem.

Around the rim of the microphone, you will see a couple small holes. These are for the pins that normally hold the headbasket on.

Get some small wire that fits the hole, cut some small pieces, insert through holes until flush.

done

And yes, I've re-ribboned the 160, with a custom fashioned ribbon. Took many hours to get right(and I'm sure it sounds different than what the factory does), but was worth it =)

Bump.