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Post by c0rtland on Sept 26, 2017 19:21:19 GMT -6
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Post by rowmat on Sept 26, 2017 19:42:47 GMT -6
I guy I know whose father was a live sound engineer had two early Sennheiser 421 mics he claimed were the actual mics used by the Beatles during their Melbourne concert appearance at Festival Hall in 1964.
Although he had nothing to do with the Beatles concert itself (AFAIK), he was an inhouse engineer at Festival Hall for many years.
I saw these 421's before he passed away about 15 years ago. They were definately of that era, grey not black, and fitted with DIN connectors.
The mics went missing along with a lot of other vintage gear when his house was robbed during the process of cleaning it out after his death.
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Sept 26, 2017 19:46:35 GMT -6
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Post by c0rtland on Sept 26, 2017 19:46:35 GMT -6
That's a great story. Unfortunate. They didn't just steal some mics, they stole those mics from history. Which makes me think, maybe this isn't so dumb. Who am I to say? I know it was cool to see Jerry Garcia's guitar at the rock n' roll hall of fame. Along with michael jacksons bedazzled outfits worn at various performances. They were small enough a school girl would fit them. Seems silly this close to history but in 40 years the mic that was used on kurts vocals for in utero would be cool see in person. I'm just not gonna be the person to spend $15k + on it. I'm not in the historical relic market though. Neither are most people on reverb I would assume. Too special for eBay? Not special enough for the fancy auction houses?
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Post by rowmat on Sept 26, 2017 19:55:49 GMT -6
That's a great story. Unfortunate. They didn't just steal some mics, they stole those mics from history. Of course there's no way to prove it one way or the other but he knew a lot of industry people and had a lot of vintage gear with bonafide historical links.
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Sept 26, 2017 20:17:22 GMT -6
Post by rowmat on Sept 26, 2017 20:17:22 GMT -6
That's a great story. Unfortunate. They didn't just steal some mics, they stole those mics from history. Which makes me think, maybe this isn't so dumb. Who am I to say? I know it was cool to see Jerry Garcia's guitar at the rock n' roll hall of fame. Along with michael jacksons bedazzled outfits worn at various performances. They were small enough a school girl would fit them. Seems silly this close to history but in 40 years the mic that was used on kurts vocals for in utero would be cool see in person. I'm just not gonna be the person to spend $15k on it. I'm not in the historical relic market though. Neither are most people on reverb I would assume. Too special for eBay? Not special enough for the fancy auction houses? Sometimes in discussions with other sound people Ray's name would occasionally pop up. Often someone would say... "Did you know Ray's got those mics the Beatles used at Festival Hall in 1964?"It appeared anyone that knew Ray were aware of the "Beatles mics". It had crossed my mind that whoever robbed his house may have also been aware of that.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Sept 26, 2017 21:13:34 GMT -6
I remember when Tom was trying to sell the Original Smart studios Scorpion that Butch had recorded his original Nirvana demo's on. Couldn't sell the Damn thing, I think it ended up with Wendy Schneider who did the Smart Documentary. I have had so much stuff from famous studios and tours over the years that I forget the source and fame, at the end of the day it doesn't smell or sound any better.
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Post by rowmat on Sept 26, 2017 21:45:56 GMT -6
I remember when Tom was trying to sell the Original Smart studios Scorpion that Butch had recorded his original Nirvana demo's on. Couldn't sell the Damn thing, I think it ended up with Wendy Schneider who did the Smart Documentary. I have had so much stuff from famous studios and tours over the years that I forget the source and fame, at the end of the day it doesn't smell or sound any better. I dunno, I heard that the mic John used smelt like Strawberry Fields but later someone said it was more like Walrus!
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Sept 26, 2017 21:51:08 GMT -6
I remember when Tom was trying to sell the Original Smart studios Scorpion that Butch had recorded his original Nirvana demo's on. Couldn't sell the Damn thing, I think it ended up with Wendy Schneider who did the Smart Documentary. I have had so much stuff from famous studios and tours over the years that I forget the source and fame, at the end of the day it doesn't smell or sound any better. I dunno, I heard that the mic John used smelt like Strawberry Fields but later someone said it was more like Walrus! Nah I know that smell, it's legal in CO NV & WA! Walrus it's not but I'm pretty sure some was used on Tusk!
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Post by rowmat on Sept 26, 2017 22:11:52 GMT -6
What makes a particular piece of gear so valuable that it has to retired from active use and sold to the highest bidder in order for its heritage to be preserved? AFAIK Frank Sinatra's 'Telly' U47 is still in active use (try putting a price on that!) and plenty of other pieces of historical gear are still being used daily. There's no doubt some pieces of gear have been used to record not one or two but many famous artists over the decades. The moment you retire a piece of gear from active use the option for it to be used to record the next Nirvana or Adele or whoever is gone. I maybe completely wrong but methinks there maybe more to this auction than just preserving history?
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ericn
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Sept 26, 2017 23:01:47 GMT -6
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Post by ericn on Sept 26, 2017 23:01:47 GMT -6
What makes a particular piece of gear so valuable that it has to retired from active use and sold to the highest bidder in order for its heritage to be preserved? AFAIK Frank Sinatra's 'Telly' U47 is still in active use (try putting a price on that!) and plenty of other pieces of historical gear are still being used daily. There's no doubt some pieces of gear have been used to record not one or two but many famous artists over the decades. The moment you retire a piece of gear from active use the option for it to be used to record the next Nirvana or Adele or whoever is gone. I maybe completely wrong but methinks there maybe more to this auction than just preserving history? The thing is Capital made that mic Franks's, historically there wasn't one "Franks mic", he was known to have used Sony's M49's amongst others. Frank has a long history and trusted the engineer. Remember Frank convinced Putnam to Move to LA and build United/ Oceanway! So anybody who knows the history of Frank knows well that's the mic at Capital, and the lineage of everybody who used it at Capital makes it worth what ever it's worth knowing it will probably never hit the open market. Was watching the Video of Neil Finn's latest release and saw a FET 47 with a "Hit Factory " sticker on it , dose that sticker make it more valuable?
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Post by notneeson on Sept 26, 2017 23:02:47 GMT -6
Three contradictory thoughts:
1. Steve Albini has said (I'm paraphrasing, obviously) he does whatever it takes to keep the lights on at his studio complex while keeping the rates affordable for independently financed artists— including winning at poker (which he's apparently pretty good at).
2. The man's entire mission and philosophy seems to me to be based on archiving, documenting, making records of things in the more generic sense of the word. Applying that to a set of mics used on an historic album doesn't seem so very far fetched. Add to which, he's selling like, 5 things on Reverb at the moment. Doesn't exactly reek of a fire sale. Billy Corgan on the other hand seems to be trying to grab that cash— 30K for an ADA pre, yikes.
3. That's a hell of an ROI on the EV.
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Post by rowmat on Sept 26, 2017 23:12:23 GMT -6
I get that the album Albini is best known for is 'In Utero' and it's likely that with his current mic collection he simply may not have used these mics he's auctioning for years. I did read (but don't take it as gospel) that Electrical Audio costs around $30k per month to keep the doors open. I also read that he owns the bullding but even so it is no longer cheap to even operate a Lemonade Stand these days assuming you can even get a permit for it. Unless of course he 'bet the farm' on a round of poker, lost and needs the $$$!
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ericn
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Sept 26, 2017 23:52:28 GMT -6
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Post by ericn on Sept 26, 2017 23:52:28 GMT -6
I get the whole punk ethic, but had he taken producer points he wouldn't have to worry about the light bill! I have heard from many he knows if it took the points he probably would have lost it pretty quickly!
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Post by drbill on Sept 27, 2017 0:29:19 GMT -6
"AFAIK Frank Sinatra's 'Telly' U47 is still in active use (try putting a price on that!) and plenty of other pieces of historical gear are still being used daily."Yup. It's still at Capitol, still working daily AFAIK, and last time I was there, I used it. It's a U48 though. <thumbsup>
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Sept 27, 2017 0:40:20 GMT -6
Post by spindrift on Sept 27, 2017 0:40:20 GMT -6
"AFAIK Frank Sinatra's 'Telly' U47 is still in active use (try putting a price on that!) and plenty of other pieces of historical gear are still being used daily."Yup. It's still at Capitol, still working daily AFAIK, and last time I was there, I used it. It's a U48 though. <thumbsup> I think its #4 but I can't remember for sure. But with the age of their U48s, there's probably a new capsule and/or tube in there by now making the waters a little less clear. Still cool to hold!
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Post by Ward on Sept 27, 2017 4:42:31 GMT -6
"AFAIK Frank Sinatra's 'Telly' U47 is still in active use (try putting a price on that!) and plenty of other pieces of historical gear are still being used daily."Yup. It's still at Capitol, still working daily AFAIK, and last time I was there, I used it. It's a U48 though. <thumbsup> I think its #4 but I can't remember for sure. But with the age of their U48s, there's probably a new capsule and/or tube in there by now making the waters a little less clear. Still cool to hold! conversely, the waters may be a little less murky with an unworn capsule or tube. But with a 47/48 part of what you're paying for is the murkiness. They still sound like SM58s
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ericn
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Sept 27, 2017 5:40:09 GMT -6
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Post by ericn on Sept 27, 2017 5:40:09 GMT -6
I think its #4 but I can't remember for sure. But with the age of their U48s, there's probably a new capsule and/or tube in there by now making the waters a little less clear. Still cool to hold! conversely, the waters may be a little less murky with an unworn capsule or tube. But with a 47/48 part of what you're paying for is the murkiness. They still sound like SM58s Very pretty expensive German Sm58's. Hell its only 10/11 away from 58!
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Sept 27, 2017 11:26:12 GMT -6
Post by m03 on Sept 27, 2017 11:26:12 GMT -6
I think its #4 but I can't remember for sure. But with the age of their U48s, there's probably a new capsule and/or tube in there by now making the waters a little less clear. Still cool to hold! Microphones of Theseus.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Sept 27, 2017 13:12:07 GMT -6
Damn, the studio I work at purchased a ton of big heavy boom microphone stands and large and small gobos from Hit Factory NY when they closed. In fact, there is a video of Michael Jackson singing into a C12 that is hung from one of those exact stands that I use on a daily basis.
I'm opening the bids at $10,000 (each)
I accept paypal and Fairchild trades only hahahah
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Post by adamjbrass on Sept 28, 2017 8:20:53 GMT -6
Some people have too much money and not enough brain cells.
Sadly, it looks like Electrical Audio stuff is more valuable outside the locker.
Good on ya, Steve! Turning a turd into a diamond right before our eyes.
I guess real engineering is magic after all
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Post by c0rtland on Oct 1, 2017 13:21:30 GMT -6
Ev-$11,750 Lomo (pair)-$9,300
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