Finding alternatives to obsolete components for U47 tube mics

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Joined
Apr 6, 2016
Messages
13
Location
Michigan, USA
Hello All,

I am a new member to GroupDiy, and an electronics novice, and I have a few questions.

I'm very interested in building a U47 from a kit, or from sourced parts.  I have done a few newbie projects like guitar pedals, a fet microphone, and even a guitar tube amp head but all were from kits which included all parts. 

Now I would like to build the D-47 from http://www.vintagemicrophonepcbkit.com/D-47.html but the Mouser BOM https://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=161226b413 contains several parts that are obsolete and unavailable.  So, my question(s) are:


Can I buy different components that are of the same specs/values but from a different brand? 
If so, is there anything I should know about doing this so I don't buy the wrong parts? 
Will alternative parts make the mic sound different? 
Is it ok as long as the component is high quality? 
I clicked on the "find alternative" link but it only shows the obsolete part, not an alternative component. (did I miss something?)

Mics I am interested in building but haven't decided yet:

Vintagemicrophonepcbkit.com D-47
Mic and Mod U47 kit (website is pretty vague, not sure about the capsule quality, not much info)
ioaudio MK47 kit
AMI U47 kit
Fox Audio 47 Gold kit
Microphone-Parts V-47 kit

Not sure what my best option is.  Opinions?

I have already built the microphone-parts T-12 fet mic and I love it!  But I want to try a tube mic now.

Any input would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you,
Troy
 
Mic and mod is pretty expensive for chinese "made in france" parts.
Go for vintage resistors and capacitors, you will love the sound of it.
MP as output capacitor - don't use MKP - yes really :)
Look on ebay, there is many auctions with vintage stuff.
Resistors - Siemens, Beyschlag, Rosenthal, Resista, Piher, Draloric etc.
Don't use metallized or carbon composite! Vintage carbon or wire wound.
R3, R5, R6 and C2, C3 are most important parts! For R2 you could use 100M
That's my opinion!
 
Mouser has a function on each component's individual page to compare with other parts. You can use this to replace the parts they don't carry. You can also just search for the component name. Sometimes it's just "something" about the individual part that's obsolete, not the part or package itself. For the most part, anything that was ever on a project's Mouser BOM is still available EXCEPT most through-hole FETs.
 
Welcome and as a new to the DIY community we will stay with-in the communal spirit.*

The answer is yes you can experiment with any component as long as the values stay the same or you , in the case of caps , keep the voltages in the safe zone as it pertains to the circuit. Keep this in mind all you need is the schematic to build a mic the rest, layout, component choice, mic body, wire type, capsule type are all choices to be made and experimented with. The two most important choices in my opinion are the Capsule and the Transformer.

If you read the BOM closely you will see that those Caps that show unavailable  are alternatives option choices in the same BOM are caps of the same values.

READ READ READ the build groups as most of your questions will be answered already also you will garner excellent build options and techniques especially when it comes to component choices and things like keeping the build clean which with tube mics is really important.

Surf through the WHITE MARKET. 

I myself have built some great mics using in no particular order:
https://www.beesneezmicrophones.com.au/store/
http://www.thiersch-mic.de/en/estm_produkte.html
http://store.studio939.com/
http://groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=35667.0
http://tab-funkenwerk.com/id53.html
http://microphone-parts.com/
and of course EBAY

*With one blaring exception. Mic and Mod are a sad lot and in my opinion should be avoided. They are an option if you live in europe if you live in the States Dany AKA Poctop at http://www.vintagemicrophonepcbkit.com/index.html are a better choice for the exact same stuff and besides he designed all M&M's stuff anyway. It was a dark time in GroupDIY history but we are the forgive and forget lot. Want to follow the saga do a search for Mic and Mod or Yanik.

 
Thank you Pip for all the great info.  I think I will go with the vintagemicrophonepcbkit.com D-47 now that I know I can still get the parts!  :D :D

I just got the lowdown on Mic and Mod from Ding also on another post.  I had no idea.  Now that I know this I will not do business with them.  The website seemed shady to me anyway.

Thanks,
Troy
 

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