[SteveB]

Hi

Thought I'd run this by you guys here in the forum.  I bought a Blue Stage One on the cheap,  sold as having "a blown capsule"...

As it turns out, the mic is actually low output...even when swapping out the capsule.  At this point I am unsure of the problem, though there seems  to be a short in the preamp body.

My question is this...  I just completed a tube "Royer Mod" mic on perf board (thanks to this group).  I was thinking... maybe I should just do another one inside the Blue body... then I would have cmv 563 style mic. One concern I have is that the Blue B8 capsule says 70v on it...does the voltage need to be dropped? Any experience with Blue capsules out there?

Any other circuit suggestions?  Or is the Stage One worth maintaining as stock? I am still considering sending it to Blue for repair. (I have other bodies as well, so its more about what will leave me with the best sounding mic .. stock or something DIY)

I appreciate the advice. Learning a lot thanks to this resource!

[dhammer]

I am just starting to think DIY and can't give you any advice about mods on the Blue BUT I can say that the mic amp itself is very good.  It's a very low-noise, transformerless circuit that pretty much stays out of the way.  The components are good and it's in another league from the cheap mic amps typically considered ripe for modding.  Not to say it couldn't be improved by component swapping, but it's very good as is if you want a low-distortion (low-color) mic amp.  From my experience, it would be a waste of a very good amplifier to gut it just for the use of the bottle-style body. 

But it would be great to see someone offering a body like that with bayonet mounts for DIY.  There are a lot of great bayonet capsules to choose from right now – the old Neumanns, Blues & the Violet VINs.  Flea has one but it's very expensive

Anyway, for my money, I'd get the Bottle Rocket fixed.

[gary o]

Cant help you fix the blue circuit but agree on fixing the blue circuit..... they seem to be quite expensive to buy.....Re DIY I have a Violet Vin 67 capsule also expensive & Im told very similar to Blue lollipops, I have used it on DIY C12, Ela250, Oktava MC012 & MK47 circuits and works well the capsule sound comes thru the circuit in each case, for my own DIY mics Im worrying less about the electroncs of my mics .......& for what its worth I dont think Vin67  was worth the money....I have been wondering why the Blue & Violet mics were soooo expensive....

Best of luck will be interested to see how you get on all the best.

[Rohan white]

Hi Gary , i noticed you mention using a Violet capsule on a DIY microphone. I am thinking to build a tube mic possibly from an apex 460 mod kit from microphone parts and then mount the bayonet mount onto the diy mic. What was your experience with the violet capsule especially in relation to polarization voltage.

[Gus]

I would fix the microphone.
is it this one?
https://www.bluemic.com/en-us/products/bottle-rocket-stage-one/

Do you have a picture of the circuit inside? The link above has it as transformerless.

Did a search because I was curious what the circuit might be. I did not find a picture of the Blue stage one however, I found the following for the bluebird
https://microphone-parts.com/pages/bluebird-capsule-swap-tutorial
and then I found this in the images
https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33056897772.html
 

[Rohan white]

Hey guys,  thanks for chiming in but I was actually trying to make a tube mic  body for my blue capsules. I want to get a sound like a Cmv 563 or a modern blue bottle tube microphone.  I just want to get a warmer sound from the capsules which are detailed but lack silkyness. A nice tube/transformer body would do this.

[Gus]

Pick a tube circuit and build it.
I am guessing you want a triode or pentode wired as a triode plate out to a transformer.
Lots of schematics with a search.
However, with that simple gain stage every thing can matter tube, transformer, a cap or two type in certain places other cap places not much difference.
Remember the capsule environment is a big part of the tone maybe more so than the other parts

Search this forum and be prepared to spend some time reading. This being the web, question every thing you read about microphones in forums.

[Rohan white]

Thanks @gus .  I am now considering using a apex 460 and modifying the power supply to change the polarisation voltage rather than the capsule pattern which is what the Blue rocket power supply is designed to do. I have a feeling this mod may be possible but I'm not sure where to begin on the power supply.  Any ideas?

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