DIY Valve Mic Kit

Not that cheap, but the finish looks nice, with no nasty logos:

http://www.diymic.com/

Only sells to USA and South America it seems to say when they have stock in. Shame because it did look like a good body for a donor.

Guess our North and South American friends here can tell us if they purchase one.

Sure looks like the Alctron HST 11a to me . . . .

which it is.

AKA http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_sct800_tube_mic.htm

AKA SE Electronics SE5500, which explains the DIY kit name: a5500

Good donor body, shockmount, PSU case indeed. That t-bone also has a heavy duty carrier case.

Actually also think it would be a great project to buy and work on ways to improve it. I think its quite cheap for what it is. Sure it would need most of the guts torn out and a decent capsule, xformer etc would cost more than the unit. But its the expedition that its about.

This very expedition would be done purely and for the sole purpose of learning how to problem solve circuits and learn as much as possible in the hope that I may ascend out of newbie status and into a land of respect from experienced members. Perhaps it would afford me some leeway, kind of like a contingency or credit system, should I ask a question later on which was construed as stupid or lazy I'm Just having fun here everyone - I am not trying to insult anyone or disrespect.  

If I could purchase it I think it would be a fun little cheap project.

Kindest

doesn't seem to expensive to me especially with the price of the dollar these days.

Has anyone reached out to Alctron to see if they would do a group buy of mic bodies?  Doesn't Peluso get his bodies from them?  Seems to me to pay $120 for a bunch of mediocre components, a crap transformer, a Chinese tube and lousy capsule with no QC is foolish.  All I want out of that kit is the body, the headbasket and the XLR connector.

Also, considering I just bought and assembled one for the same price....

Yeah it'd be great to have a source for just mic bodies. Lucky thing that Skylay is working on one. All I'd want out of it is the mic body and the power supply case.

Though for the price it would be worth building it just for the sheer fun of it. And if it doesn't sound any good you could replace the guts and stick in a G7.

Rob

It looks like a G7 would fit in there

I wonder if the PSU voltages are appropriate for a G7.

No need to fit a g7 PCB.  Just build the g7 using the board and socket you might need to cut a few traces and add a few parts.  Some of the China made supplies can be reworked for different voltages.  You might even want to try the stock capsule and transformer.

HI GUys,


If it is the same as Alctron, I can only suggest trying it as is, 'cos it ain't half bad - especially at that price! Improvements are easy. Swapping tube to a proper GE6072 5 star will make a BIG difference. 12ax7b(stock) is horrendous! Dropping the plate voltage to 120V is a good idea too, but it's not too bad as is (134V). I have swapped caPSULE for one of Tim Cambell's CK12's, and it is now quite stellar! I intend to convert it to T14/1 transformer, and loose Cathode follower ala C12 (actuaLLY Oliver Archut's C12vr modification circuit from Klaus's forum - more like 251 with M49ish remote pattern). Unfortunately, I made the mistake of lending it out, and it is SO in demand, I can't get it back! I have no intention to remove any mesh at this point- too irreversible for me!
  I have used it where i would have used a C12 or 251, esp. on female lead and BV's. I love it! Awesome on shakey/rattley percussion and acoustic guitar.


      Wish they would sell to UK, especially without capsule!


      Kindest regards,



        ANdyP

I think that's a cool kit for learning and experimenting; I don't think it's too expensive, either. I think they should include at least a basic how-to-manual, even more experienced solderers may not be as cautious as is required regarding the high impedance part.

I wish it was available in Germany. The body and the psu alone are pretty much worth the expense, and you can always use the capsule for experiments, or maybe you can even get it to sound decent with some filtering. BTW: I'd prefer a chrome basket; there are not many finishes that go with gold, and most of them would probably look very pimp-ish.

here's my pimped one for you
http://www.aurycle.com/smf/index.php?topic=24.0

i bought one to try to experiment a little. actually i bought a second one too, as i like the stock mic. thought i'd keep one stock and experiment with the other one and i'll have a reference along the way.

strangeandbouncy: did you have 134V plate voltage on a GE6072 with no modification!?!

The price is very decent. For a time ShinyBox was selling a similar power supply with cable and connector for $50. I thought that was reasonable and bought one. I bought an ADK GT-2 for $150 used, and thought that was worthwhile.

I can see from the pic that there are less grill mesh layers than come stock on the NADY or ADK variants.

I agree with Rossi on the gold headbasket. Kinda gaudy.