I finally succumbed to temptation and picked up an umber gray RCA 77DX on the bay of "e". It was recently worked on by Clarence Kane, but the main defect is cosmetic: there is a dent/depression in the front grille which I would like to have "pounded out), realizing that this will probably require re-sliking and may require re-painting, which is OK. Oh, and the RCA logo may need some paint touch-up (I need to examine it when it arrives).
I'm aware of no fewer than five businesses which restore vintage RCA mics.
Clarence Kane/ENAK
AEA
"Big D" Broadcast Exchange
Stephen Sank
Jerry Silvia
Does anyone have any recommendations or horror stories on any of these?
I wonder if Clarence, S. Sank or AEA have actual NOS replacement parts, as opposed to trying to bend the existing piece back into shape. However, the supply of these things is finite. A couple of years ago I had Clarence refinish a BK-6B lavalier and he said he was out of BK-6B motors, which was OK because all I wanted was refinihsing, but eventually some of these guys are going to run out of whatever original RCA parts they may have. I don't know how they would "undent" a dented grille and get it back to the original shape of a 77DX. Anyone?
Here is a video of a 44BX being refinished by "Big D". He seems to pay painstaking attention to detail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9BjOX4ocSI
I'm aware of no fewer than five businesses which restore vintage RCA mics.
Clarence Kane/ENAK
AEA
"Big D" Broadcast Exchange
Stephen Sank
Jerry Silvia
Does anyone have any recommendations or horror stories on any of these?
I wonder if Clarence, S. Sank or AEA have actual NOS replacement parts, as opposed to trying to bend the existing piece back into shape. However, the supply of these things is finite. A couple of years ago I had Clarence refinish a BK-6B lavalier and he said he was out of BK-6B motors, which was OK because all I wanted was refinihsing, but eventually some of these guys are going to run out of whatever original RCA parts they may have. I don't know how they would "undent" a dented grille and get it back to the original shape of a 77DX. Anyone?
Here is a video of a 44BX being refinished by "Big D". He seems to pay painstaking attention to detail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9BjOX4ocSI