cedd Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Over the last week or two I've been doing some work on some old Calrec mics. I've now got a set of 5 working CM1050's, which isn't bad out of a box of bits that was destined for the bin! Just wondered if anybody else had any vintage "gems" still out there in daily use? These mics are destined for pit orchestra reinforcement, but will probably find their way on to some of my band work too at some point. I really like them and when you handle them they just ooze a feeling of quality. Who's got the oldest piece of kit still in regular service? A friend has a good stock of vintage mics (mainly Calrec, including a soundfield, but also some true vintage mics from the early days of TV which he uses for props) and a lot of them still find their way on to various shows. Not sure if the people he's mic'ing up quite know the history behind the kit he's using! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Siddons Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Vintage Kit still going strong, I think thats half the members here! Not exactly sure how old a piece of kit has to be to be Vintage? There are no doubt plenty of 58's still going strong from years ago, I have an old unidyne which gets pulled out for work every now and then and that must be 30 years old. Would something like the Yamaha Promix or Allen and Heath Icon count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I sold all my old STCs on ebay a while back and people paid really silly money for them. I had a few handheld (Eamonn Andrews sticks), and 3 of the weird 4033 ribbon/dynamic models. The Reslos went at the same time. I was hanging on to them for nostalgia reasons, but they really didn't sound that good by modern standards. I've still got an old D202 AKG which is great for certain things, but not really 'old'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianknight Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Vintage Kit still going strong, I think thats half the members here! Darn - you beat me to it! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 Yamaha Promix are probably getting that way aren't they! I know of a pair of early 02R's still in regular use, but compared to some analogue consoles they're nowt but little nippers! There's still a DDA Interface that comes out of the cupboard occasionally that I know of too.I was hoping not to narrow it down too much with an age range, and I know I mainly majored on mics, but that's only because most of the rest of my kit is pretty new. Feel free to list anything that might be of interest. I was told recently a local venue have only just removed a 100v line valve amp. Goodness knows how long it's been running! Old lighting kit seems to be a bit more common than sound. I dread to think how old the Strand followspots are that are slowly rusting in the corner of our clock tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Old lighting kit seems to be a bit more common than sound. I dread to think how old the Strand followspots are that are slowly rusting in the corner of our clock tower. Certainly we still have P23s and P123s in use, in common with a lot of places. We still, in our lighting store, have a couple of pageants, that are probably more use as props than anything else these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Vintage Kit still going strong, I think thats half the members here! Darn - you beat me to it! :PAnd me...! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldradiohand Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I've got some Calrec CB20/CC50s that get used occasionally - they're nice, but I'd love some of the other capsules. I keep an eye out on EBay...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csg Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 STC 4038 ribbon here from the early 50's. sounds gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldradiohand Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 STC 4038 ribbon here from the early 50's. sounds gorgeous. Definitely a time and a place mic, but lovely and smooth if the ribbon's still good, and completely dead off axis - it's why they still make them. One of my fave studio mics for male speech, even if they're a bugger to mount and use properly. I do have a small stock of skip dipped audio transformers rescued from old 60s broadcast kit which I'm gradually boxing up for use as DI boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 I may be vintage but I'm not so sure how strong I'm going. Any, as for kit, I don't exactly have them anymore (I sold them when I moved to Aus) but in 1985 I purchased four channels of Audio Ltd RMS2000 VHF radio mics which were still working perfectly when I sold them to a friend in 2007 and, last I heard, are still work horses to this day. They're built like miniature tanks and could possibly last forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
office monkey Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 This morning I loaded six CP62 into parcans , they were first used new in August 1998 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard P-W Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Our show relay is provided by a Realistic MPA 90, feeding 4x 8ohm speakers (with variable attenuators) all connected in parallel on long enough cables for it not to go bang. Been running for nearly 30 years now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingwalker Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 When I was younger I was a member of a group that restored old Strand kit which I can still get access to if required. At its height we had over 350 different types of boards and dimmers and 600+ lanterns ranging from 1903 through to the 1990's. If memory serves me right amongst others we had around four or six bracket handle boards, a similar number of Stelmar followspots and one of only two remaining Thyratron dimmers left in the world (the other being somewhere in California). All items were donated to us on the premise that we would go and collect from the venue. The only item that was ever purchased was an ex TV desk that had to be bought to keep the books balanced within the organisation. It's original value I believe was around £46K but was sold for the princly sum of £1 plus VAT when tax at that time was just 15% As the majority of items we held were Strand related we gained a lot of interest from the great man himself Mr Fred Bentham who wrote about us in his book "60 Years of Light Work". He even gave us his prototype for the Patt23 which was based on a projector type unit with a single lens and a dish in which to hold the lime into that you burned to create a light output. Happy days. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 I get a D12 out from time to time for use on various things. Tends to be kick drum although they are very good on most things (just not practical). I keep meaning to take the Roland Space Echo on a gig but never seem to find the right job for it. We found an old AKG D900 the other day too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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