Good, affordable donor bodies are getting much harder to find

Has anyone else noticed this? Seems like the standard inexpensive donor mic pool is drying up.  I mean, they're out there, but it appears they have all gone way up in price in the past 6 months. I asked Micparts Matt about selling bodies and he said, quote, "Never." And that's a shame because I bet he could move some product, too. Sure there's the Aurycle body, but I don't want to have to paint it and even the el-cheapo Chinese BM-800 type bodies, which I'm not keen on anyway, seem to be made more cheaply than they were before.

So where are people going for donor bodies these days?

Just saw this:

https://www.bax-shop.nl/grootmembraan-condensatormicrofoons/devine-m-mic-xlr-bk-condensatormicrofoon-zwart

Doesn't look too bad (in my eyes anyway) and a shockmount is included.
Don't know how the build quality is, but as far as I see the only thing you will have to do is spraypaint the bodytube.

Sterling Audio ST51 is fenomenal mic, and can be found cheap in the states. Yes it is partly SMT but there is a lot of room inside, and i think people overreact in regards of SMT. I find it very easy to work with.

RuudNL,
Hey man, that doesn't look so bad. Not keen on the small form factor. They look like the same kind of Apex 435 variant that I used to see in the US under the name "Legend".

KingKorg,
I actually have a ST-51 body here. I like how much heft the body has but it is unfortunately too narrow. I'm not looking to mod. I would like to find bodies I can build some D87's into.

Overall, I'm trying to find donor bodies that have the same size as the CAD GXL 2200, or the Aurycle but I don't want to paint because I'm not a fan of the rattle-can paint jobs and the supplies of CAD mics , the Apex 430's and such, are starting to dry up because I fear they just aren't making new ones and modders have driven up the prices of what's out there.

Not too long ago, you could find GXL2200's on Fleabay for $30-40 all day. Now, those same mics are going for twice as much or more.

What would be kickass if if someone could arrange a group buy of decent and inexpensive donor mic bodies. Hint.. hint... 

Wordsushi said:

What would be kickass if if someone could arrange a group buy of decent and inexpensive donor mic bodies. Hint.. hint...

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That someone could be you.

Yes I agree the ST51 is great, but it’d be nice to have a larger option as well for certain mics you don’t want to go up to 939 prices; yes, there are budget-939s, but I’m kinda spoiled with the full-939.

By the way, Microphone-Parts sold me a couple B-Stock bodies quote some time ago... I don’t think you’re missing out on anything. I never used  for anything for a reason.

Banzai said:

That someone could be you.

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Yeah, no... too much on my plate and not enough bandwidth for that. It would have to be someone else. You know, someone who has done stuff like that before and knows how to pull it off without too much trouble... hint hint.. .

Maybe contact Shuaiy directly? I know (from experience) that they are willing to sell unmarked microphone bodies.
The only question is what their minimum order quantity will be.

http://www.shuaiy.com/product02.asp?plt=71&pone=5

RuudNL said:

Maybe contact Shuaiy directly? I know (from experience) that they are willing to sell unmarked microphone bodies.
The only question is what their minimum order quantity will be.

http://www.shuaiy.com/product02.asp?plt=71&pone=5

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Okay, why the hell not? Right? I emailed. So lets see if there's a response. If I hear back, I'll post details here.

Did you already get a reply from 'Jenny'? 

RuudNL said:

Did you already get a reply from 'Jenny'? 

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Actually, just this morning. Jenny did reply and asked for my location since I forgot to mention it and said she would put me in contact with a dealer, which means another middleman to increase my potential cost, but hopefully will lead to getting some bodies unless they blow me off. Keeping my fingers X'd.

Wordsushi said:

So where are people going for donor bodies these days?

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You should check the micbuilders@yahoogroups. There is a very recent discussion about a $12 donor.

abbey road d enfer said:

You should check the micbuilders@yahoogroups. There is a very recent discussion about a $12 donor.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they may be talking about those really el-cheapo BM-700's and BM-800's you can find on Ebay anytime for less than $20. I've bought those before and they really suck. The body tube is super thin aluminum. The inner metalwork is not really great either. Generally though I think they're a bit too small for a D87 pcb or a very tight fit once you add the traffo. I put one of Dany's 84 LDC variant PCB's in one last year and it fit, but I generally don't find those really super-cheap bodies to be of my liking.

Personally, I'd be happy if I could find a few MXL 2001 size bodies. The trick is finding these in excellent shape, in any kind of small quantity. I'd go after the Aurycle, but I'm not looking for something I have to paint or get painted. It's a tough ask, I know, but hopefully, I'll find a few that will work.

Wordsushi said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they may be talking about those really el-cheapo BM-700's and BM-800's you can find on Ebay anytime for less than $20. I've bought those before and they really suck. The body tube is super thin aluminum. The inner metalwork is not really great either. Generally though I think they're a bit too small for a D87 pcb or a very tight fit once you add the traffo. I put one of Dany's 84 LDC variant PCB's in one last year and it fit, but I generally don't find those really super-cheap bodies to be of my liking.

Personally, I'd be happy if I could find a few MXL 2001 size bodies. The trick is finding these in excellent shape, in any kind of small quantity. I'd go after the Aurycle, but I'm not looking for something I have to paint or get painted. It's a tough ask, I know, but hopefully, I'll find a few that will work.

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I haven't personally checkked this particular item, but members of the micbuilders group seemed to be satisfied with it. I don't know what were there expectations, though.
But I think your request would be better served on micbuilders than on this group.

abbey road d enfer said:

...members of the micbuilders group seemed to be satisfied with it...

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I fyou see some of the constructions there, I suppose they will be satisfied with anything that looks like a microphone... 

One thing i like about bm800 is exactly that thin aluminium tube. It is much closer to u87 than more expensive donors.

Heavier tubes ring like a cymbal and are very hard to dampen.

Anyone who opened an u87 know what i am talking about. It's tube is very thin and non resonant.

I am not saying it's perfect donor body though.

kingkorg said:

Anyone who opened an u87 know what i am talking about. It's tube is very thin and non resonant.

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Yeah, if you only 'look at them', there is a dent in the body tube...
(And if you want to replace them: they are only 190 Euros.  ;D )