Fake K47 Neumann Capsule? How do I tell if this is a counterfeit?

[777funk]

 

[radardoug]

How much did you pay for it? Who did you buy it from?

 

[user 130681]

Fleabay and cheap, usually means fake.
Capsules usually cost in the realm of £145 or more for the dual element gold flashed 3 micon thick Mylar elements. £30 with free postage from Shenzen.
I bet you can't guess which one is fake.

 

[Whoops]

You should ask that in Klaus Heyne's forum,
he knows how to identify different Neumann capsules from different eras and your type of question is common over there.
Your capsule looks similar if not the same to this one:

https://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,37322.0.html
other similar posts to yours:

https://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,36952.msg535812.html#msg535812
https://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,37567.0.html
https://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,37585.0.html

 

[Whoops]

One more interesting link:

https://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,37334.msg538147.html#msg538147

 

[777funk]

How much did you pay for it? Who did you buy it from?

It wasn’t cheap. The seller was on ebay and sells Neumann capsules regularly (several a week). They recapsule Neumanns with an alternate capsule then sell the stock capsule. The only other regular seller is Peluso who reskins originals and sells just south of $500.

 

[rock soderstrom]

They recapsule Neumanns with an alternate capsule then sell the stock capsule

I have heard this story before. Isn't it a strange business model to recapsule original Neumann microphones with (clone?) capsules and then sell the stock capsules on ebay?

Do the owners of the Neumann mics know about this upgrade? Who makes something like this?

 

[Wordsushi]

I'm not averse to outing these people for this shady practice. It's Music City Pro Audio on Reverb and this is a screenshot of a message thread from Reverb concerning one of their u87's for sale. This is some really greasy stuff and if they're still doing this, they need to get called out for it.

 

[vintagelove]

You know, I've often wondered about why they would do such a thing. It looks like now we know. Sell Neuman's with a fake capsule to people while making a few hundred extra for the real capsule.

 

[777funk]

I can totally see buying a used guitar with unknown pickups and I never expect a non collector grade guitar to be stock unless stated as such, but I don’t like the idea with a mic. I wouldn’t buy even an SM57 that wasn’t stock (or at least noted as modified). With amps or outboard gear I wouldn’t mind as long as it sounded good. Still nice to know though on something like that.

 

[rock soderstrom]

At the end of the day, everyone can sell their microphones the way they want. Personally, I do not like to change the original condition for financial reasons.

These practices become a real problem when such microphones are sold without any indication of the replacement capsule. That seems to be the case here.

This is not improved by the fact that the seller then reveals this information after repeated inquiries.

It is the intention that counts here, some buyers will not ask because they rely on the original sales text.

The value of a Neumann microphone is defined in large part by the capsule.

Pretty shady behavior from my perspective.

Thanks for information.