Good evening everybody,
For a very long time I was looking at different DIY microphone projects I could do. There are many great kits out their but for me there is one thing besides the sound that is super important. I want not only the internal parts but also the outside to feel and look as original as possible. Living about 60km away from Vienna obviously makes me a big AKG fan. I always loved to use their mics, especially the old ones. I acquired a nice pair of C414B-ULS and C451E over the years and I have acmes to 4 more 414B-ULS and 2 414EB-P48. There is just something really nice about them and I love to work with mics that just sound great by going through a nice preamp.
A couple of months ago I did a little jazz trio session with 2 C414-B-ULS on the upright bass, 2 C414-EB-P48 on the grand piano and a D12, C451E and 2 M582 on the drum kit. It sounded awesome but something inside me has always wanted to have a pair of tube mics and 2 nice C12 would be the perfect match for my collection I think. So here we are, December 2021, the start of a probably very long journey to get (for now) one working C12 DIY clone.
I know that I will probably not reach the sound a original C12 has, but I think I can get really close and it makes more fun to build and test stuff than just go out an put 5000€ on the table and just buy a built FLEA 12.
Some facts about the build:
Body
As stated before I absolutely love it when it looks and feels original, so I will be using a FLEA body kit with the super expensive swivel mount connector. They seem to be the only ones who really get everything right. Headbasket, capsule mount, internals.... I know it's not the cheapest way, but who said that DIY is cheap.
Tube
I think there are a lot of choices here but to get it close to the original I need to look for a nice NOS GE6072 5 Star tube.
Electronics
For now I will be using modern parts. I do have ordered some soviet PIO caps to use as output caps and I am still looking for polystyrene caps to use in the build. Not easy to find some that are rated for more than 50V. I will probably be looking out to source a couple of NOS Siemens Karbowid resistors, just to try out and see if they change the sound in a good way. But this will probably take some time, cause these parts to get harder to find every day.
Capsule
I heard a lot of good things about Tim's CT12. But I think it will be really hard to get one these days. So right now I am looking for alternatives. I know that there are great ones out there and they are all in the same ballpark. It's just a very personal sound choice. I am looking to find one that is close to the original in terms of transient response, off axis response, mids, "3D sound". If actually don't really mind if one is a little brighter or the other a little darker. But I am still looking for the classic airy, but smooth sound.
Transformer
Another really personal choice I would say. Some have more low end, some less... I settled on the Haufe T14/1. Only need to find one for a reasonable price.
PSU
Ordered some PCBs already and 2 cases from Analogvibes. Will be using 7 pin Binder mic connectors and normal Neutrik 3 pin connectors. I think all those parts should be on the way or are at least ordered for 2 PSUs. Not a bad idea to have two I think.
If anyone has some ideas or knows where to get some of the parts I am still missing I am happy for any response. I hope I can share a lot of pics of the build over the next months (year?)
All the best,
Johannes
For a very long time I was looking at different DIY microphone projects I could do. There are many great kits out their but for me there is one thing besides the sound that is super important. I want not only the internal parts but also the outside to feel and look as original as possible. Living about 60km away from Vienna obviously makes me a big AKG fan. I always loved to use their mics, especially the old ones. I acquired a nice pair of C414B-ULS and C451E over the years and I have acmes to 4 more 414B-ULS and 2 414EB-P48. There is just something really nice about them and I love to work with mics that just sound great by going through a nice preamp.
A couple of months ago I did a little jazz trio session with 2 C414-B-ULS on the upright bass, 2 C414-EB-P48 on the grand piano and a D12, C451E and 2 M582 on the drum kit. It sounded awesome but something inside me has always wanted to have a pair of tube mics and 2 nice C12 would be the perfect match for my collection I think. So here we are, December 2021, the start of a probably very long journey to get (for now) one working C12 DIY clone.
I know that I will probably not reach the sound a original C12 has, but I think I can get really close and it makes more fun to build and test stuff than just go out an put 5000€ on the table and just buy a built FLEA 12.
Some facts about the build:
Body
As stated before I absolutely love it when it looks and feels original, so I will be using a FLEA body kit with the super expensive swivel mount connector. They seem to be the only ones who really get everything right. Headbasket, capsule mount, internals.... I know it's not the cheapest way, but who said that DIY is cheap.
Tube
I think there are a lot of choices here but to get it close to the original I need to look for a nice NOS GE6072 5 Star tube.
Electronics
For now I will be using modern parts. I do have ordered some soviet PIO caps to use as output caps and I am still looking for polystyrene caps to use in the build. Not easy to find some that are rated for more than 50V. I will probably be looking out to source a couple of NOS Siemens Karbowid resistors, just to try out and see if they change the sound in a good way. But this will probably take some time, cause these parts to get harder to find every day.
Capsule
I heard a lot of good things about Tim's CT12. But I think it will be really hard to get one these days. So right now I am looking for alternatives. I know that there are great ones out there and they are all in the same ballpark. It's just a very personal sound choice. I am looking to find one that is close to the original in terms of transient response, off axis response, mids, "3D sound". If actually don't really mind if one is a little brighter or the other a little darker. But I am still looking for the classic airy, but smooth sound.
Transformer
Another really personal choice I would say. Some have more low end, some less... I settled on the Haufe T14/1. Only need to find one for a reasonable price.
PSU
Ordered some PCBs already and 2 cases from Analogvibes. Will be using 7 pin Binder mic connectors and normal Neutrik 3 pin connectors. I think all those parts should be on the way or are at least ordered for 2 PSUs. Not a bad idea to have two I think.
If anyone has some ideas or knows where to get some of the parts I am still missing I am happy for any response. I hope I can share a lot of pics of the build over the next months (year?)
All the best,
Johannes