WTB: Bock / Soundelux ELUX 251

[bellchilton]

Hey all,

Thought I'd start my first post off with a bang.

Looking to buy one of these puppies.

PM me if you're looking to sell.

Cheers,

Darren

[tunetown]

Good luck with that. You'd have to prize mine from my cold dead hands.

These are fantastic mics and well worth the search. You just don't see them up for sale very often. Lewis at Awave sell them new here. http://www.awave.com.au/index.php?cPath=119_151 .

Cheers

[rick]

peter is probably right they are thin on the ground and the owners world wide seem to be keeping them for now
i have only ever seen the one ( peters ) in the flesh - looked pretty well made to me

ironically that is one more then the real tele 251 which i am proud /ashamed to say i have never seen
the way people talk about them they are common !

well until maybe 10 years ago there was just the one known to be living in australia and that went back over seas before i ever saw it.
what with the tele usa rival series/ ebay who knows how many live here now ..?

[bellchilton]

Hmmm yeah I thought that would be the case. No harm putting it out there anyway I suppose...The Awave price is about 1k over budget for me. I've seen a few on ebay US go for about 3k which is more realistic for me.

I guess I'll just have to keep my ears peeled.

Cheers!

Darren

[geareyes]

There is an orig ELA M here in Sydney that I have access to, it is currently receiving some TLC from Andreas G in Berlin.

FWIW , David Bock beli  
eves that his current Bock 251 is his best 251 to date.I have heard a Soundelux (6072), seriously kick ass mic!

Best of luck!

Mike Longhurst

[rick]

Hey mike
Has that elam been here forever?
I only know of the one that one of the sydney film sound companies
sold off in the late 1980s
i had assumed it went out of the country but i never saw it personally?
AWA had no records of importing any to our shores or servicing any

it would be great to have a chance to finally check one out
when that one you get to play comes back some time down the line


i did get involved in providing a third party reference in LA for the one the neil finn bought
in the late 1990s
i would have loved to have seen it but it went
from the us straight to neils studio in nz
he paid ALOT for it sight unseen
that is how mythical they were/ are

[geareyes]

Hey Rick,

No, the orig ELA M is mine and I got a hold of it last year.I shall be collecting it from Andreas next month when I am in Germany and bringing it back to Sydney.You are welcome to have a play on its return.

I think the more mythical mic out of this family of mics is the Siemens/AKG SM204/23.Larger T14 + shallow-dish CK12 version of the C12. I would love to get my hands on one, very rare though.

@ Darren.I apologise for the brief hijacking of your WTB thread!

Mike

[rick]

Understood about the siemans thing mike , they did u47s as well never seen one for real
but i was just throwing the idea out there
that the 251 everybody seems to assume is something we all need
just didnt historically come into play locally
i had a girl ring up the other month wanting to hire a few tele 251 ( original ones) so she could pick the best one and then hire
it for one day for her single !
her manager said i would know where to get them
she was quite distressed when i told her it wasnt going to happen locally
she even asked me if i really was me - not just somebody who worked for me
maybe she could call back later when rick was available !
"It couldnt be that hard to get a few telefunken 251 together everybody uses them dont they ?"

[Gian]

Could the real Rick O'Neill please raise their hand, lol.

[rick]

People mistake me for somebody else alot
i remember hiring a c12 to midnight oil once
i got to the studio with it but got stopped at the studio door
by a middle man of some kind
" just leave it with me they said"
" no thanks i said i am giving it to nick ( launey) or jim (mgenie) personally
they rang me an hour ago
"well that wont be possible" says the middle man
nobody gets in to see the band

"ok then the band dont get my mic " i said
"get em to call me when there are ready"

i get back to the studio and the record company ring me up freaking out
"they really need that c12 mic down at the studio right now"
oh yeah rick just so you know that kid you sent down with the mic has way too much attitude
to survive in this business get rid of him"

now i would tell you who the middle man was but he didnt last long enough in the game to figure out i was one and the same or for me to remember his name

[geareyes]

Yo Rick,

Some laughs right there! She wanted one to throw up for her single, I'd bet a good amount of dosh that she had never sung into one, let alone understood that when ELA M's sound wrong on the wrong singer, they sound wrong! Hire her your M49, best desert island mic, EVER!.

This leads me to my next thought, although I LOVE their sound, not as much air as a C12 & a more robust lower mid character, I personally don't prescribe to the hype ELA M's generate.These mics don't age graciously.There are so many originals out there that drastically vary in condition.The plastics in these mics just dont stand the test of time.Amp board, body plastics, switch assembly.It is only a matter of time, if it has not already occured, before these parts in your orig begin to create a mess.Thank god for Tele USA in this regard.Often or not, the mint examples of these mics are only still intact internally because they have been sitting unused in someones VHS porn draw for 30 years.This is where Neumann gets my respect, U47 = John Derre earth mover!

Mike

Mike

[rick]

thats an interesting take on the tone mike - i always found my c-12 difficult to place on a singer unless it was the right voice (anybody ever heard the vocal on silverchairs world wide hit - "tommorrow" )
that was my c-12 - he was just a child in those days a 47,67 & 87 just didnt work and they called in my c-12 it really helped - dunno what he uses nowadays but he has a different tone / style as a man anyway

i always imagined a elam as a warmer slightly louder version of a good c-12
by all reports i had a good c-12 but i never used it enough because of the kinds of singers i like and have access to record
i figured "wants the point of sitting on a 12k microphone just to hire it out to somebody else for $100 once or twice a month"
so i sold it for big bucks the first time i had the chance

as for the elam plastic parts i remember hearing back in the 80s from some american engineer that every elam on the planet was broken or altered in some way as the pattern selector switches had disintergrated and if only somebody would remake the plastics they could all come out of the drawers again
whatever the company was called before it was tele usa did it
and just the plastics switches for 10 years or so - more power to them for that as it was a cash negative move to make the moulds just to sell spare parts - so the story goes


if its possible to get back on track
the bock 251 has NONE of those plastic parts inside and if it wasnt painted green
i can see little "look a likes " between it and a telefunken
but by all reports the sound speaks - the bock is a 251 !

[tunetown]

Rick,

You would be more than welcome if you would like to trial my 251. Just let me know and I'll drop it over.

Cheers

[rick]

gee thanks
if i could get your bock 251 and mikes tele 251 and it was warm again
we could have a
TRM bbq
251 show and listen

[geareyes]

Rick,

You are correct about what you heard with your C12.IMHO if a C12 is paired with the wrong singer, go home & soak chick peas or something, don't bother hitting record.They do air like no other on some female vox, though.A 251 can sounds denser to me.A good ex of a 251 is Jason Mraz's last record.No one can argue that C12's & 251's are both stunning mics used on the right singer on the right song.Sonically, I admire them in bucketloads, equally.

Yep, I see no reason not to get together for a BBQ when it warms up.I'm a vego, so I'll bring an eggplant.

Included is an internal shot of the 251E I've got.If appropriate, I can have a C12 come along aswell.

Mike

[rick]

Mike i had to put a couple of u47 projects i have going on behind yours on the bench at gunters the other week which made me smile..
then i discover your chatting about

+ your elam c12 67 49 ....

umm
i think you have it really bad
takes one to know one

You should book yourself in at OSA (old stuff anon)
we meet every weds night at a hard to find location
there is help available if you want it
even if your a vegetarian!

[JamesM]

Hi guys

this thred http://prorecordingworkshop.lefora.com/ ... fferences/ is an interesting read.

[geareyes]

Rick

Yes, I love these old mics.

When these old beauties sound great on a great tune, time really does stand still for me.I adore learning about their designs, materials, sound etc.They are like little humans, each having their own history, constitution and mannerisms..... Yep, unfortunately for me & my bank balance, I have what has proven to be an incurable problem.

I'll have to pat Gunter on the back for keeping you firmly in the queue ;-) I feel very fortunate for having him around.I also hold an immense amount of gratitude for his selfless nature in accomodating my zeal and at times silly misgivings.

Happy mic hunting Rick!