chunger
Well-known member
Scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit, I have been able to find a couple of decent quality microphone bodies that I feel can be quite useful for various DIY projects, and I went ahead and ordered a few hundred to try and make them available for some existing kits and hope that designers may find them useful for basing new projects around.
The point of the exercise was to reduce the build cost for some popular microphone builds significantly and improve the form factor for the "bottom tier" entry level builds. This can be useful for intentionally building expendable bodies that can sustain drummer damage or other more hazardous uses. . . or to simply allow for building more microphones within a budget. I don't think these will be winning any beauty contests, and machining/finish imperfections should be expected.
First is a budget iteration of the SYT-5 microphone body. All of the internal dimensions are the same as the Gen 2 SYT-5 so current PCB kits designed to fit that body will fit right in. This version uses Chinese mystery pot metal for the bottom cap as well as the threaded base piece that houses the XLR insert. I also believe the headbasket base is cast zinc. The body tube is anodized aluminum, and the body markings are screen printed instead of engraved and ink-filled like the gen 2 SYT-5. For some mysterious reason, different factories like to use different bottom bell threadings, and this one uses 21mm which happily fits some economical/compact elbow joint mounts as well as the included shock mount.
http://store.studio939.com/product/budget-yt-body-kit
The 2nd is a 3 rail U47 body with very similar specifications. The body tube is anodized aluminum, and the bottom cap is Chinese mystery pot metal. This body is designed to use Binder threaded connectors:
part number: 99-2026-00-07
part number: 99-2026-09-07
The headbasket. . . well, it's not exactly perfect and the meshing alignment can be a little crooked, but it is functional. Also, the meshing is a Chinese standard 2 layer. . . not vintage correct. But, fortunately, the very good headbasket from the Alctron MK47 microphone which IS vintage accurate fits perfectly as an upgrade option, but pushes the price up significantly.
No doubt the build quality of this body does not even nearly approach that of the ioaudio MK-U47, FLEA U47, or Aputis (Andriejus) bodies. . . or even the OEM Alctron mk47, but again for the budget project, it can get the job done at a happy price-point. Because this body is so cheap, I plan to experiment and cut down the body tube and frame rails to make a FET47 build that looks a bit better than the GT-2B based builds.
http://store.studio939.com/product/budget-47-body-kit
I hope some folks will be able to find use for these budget body kits. Given my low original expectations set by the samples I examined before ordering this production batch, I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the ones that I have opened so far look. I have, however, had to re-tap a lot of the screw holes to assemble the mics which is a pain, but in general, I'm hoping these 2 low-cost options can help a few people out.
The point of the exercise was to reduce the build cost for some popular microphone builds significantly and improve the form factor for the "bottom tier" entry level builds. This can be useful for intentionally building expendable bodies that can sustain drummer damage or other more hazardous uses. . . or to simply allow for building more microphones within a budget. I don't think these will be winning any beauty contests, and machining/finish imperfections should be expected.
First is a budget iteration of the SYT-5 microphone body. All of the internal dimensions are the same as the Gen 2 SYT-5 so current PCB kits designed to fit that body will fit right in. This version uses Chinese mystery pot metal for the bottom cap as well as the threaded base piece that houses the XLR insert. I also believe the headbasket base is cast zinc. The body tube is anodized aluminum, and the body markings are screen printed instead of engraved and ink-filled like the gen 2 SYT-5. For some mysterious reason, different factories like to use different bottom bell threadings, and this one uses 21mm which happily fits some economical/compact elbow joint mounts as well as the included shock mount.
http://store.studio939.com/product/budget-yt-body-kit
The 2nd is a 3 rail U47 body with very similar specifications. The body tube is anodized aluminum, and the bottom cap is Chinese mystery pot metal. This body is designed to use Binder threaded connectors:
part number: 99-2026-00-07
part number: 99-2026-09-07
The headbasket. . . well, it's not exactly perfect and the meshing alignment can be a little crooked, but it is functional. Also, the meshing is a Chinese standard 2 layer. . . not vintage correct. But, fortunately, the very good headbasket from the Alctron MK47 microphone which IS vintage accurate fits perfectly as an upgrade option, but pushes the price up significantly.
No doubt the build quality of this body does not even nearly approach that of the ioaudio MK-U47, FLEA U47, or Aputis (Andriejus) bodies. . . or even the OEM Alctron mk47, but again for the budget project, it can get the job done at a happy price-point. Because this body is so cheap, I plan to experiment and cut down the body tube and frame rails to make a FET47 build that looks a bit better than the GT-2B based builds.
http://store.studio939.com/product/budget-47-body-kit
I hope some folks will be able to find use for these budget body kits. Given my low original expectations set by the samples I examined before ordering this production batch, I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the ones that I have opened so far look. I have, however, had to re-tap a lot of the screw holes to assemble the mics which is a pain, but in general, I'm hoping these 2 low-cost options can help a few people out.
