I just killed another ribbon mic

[rick]

You know what .. either I am going to commit learn how to reribbon microphones better then anybody in Sydney
or I am going to stop using them forever .

can not decide really cant

[Wiz]

How did you kill it?


I had one tip the mic stand the other day, and it survived... I did fill my jocks for a second though...

[Djembe]

Rick, maybe you should start using this:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261148890711?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[Wiz]

Wow.....



Andy Worhols mic!

[rick]

How did I kill it
Just on vocals but a big pop
...
I am going to Perth in a week to produce a few tracks
So I started going through my mics to see what to take
Went into the box of ribbons to see what is matched what works
What doesn't
( actually none are matched don't know why I thought they may have matched themselves after years of
Sitting in a box )

I found a few candidates started checking them out
One was sounding iffy .. One vocal pop later
Well it's fucked

Honestly I want to be like everybody else and like ribbons
But .. They shit me .. It takes two or three reribboned
Jobs before I am happy .. And before you know it they sound different again

The only ribbons I have ever been happy with are
RCA 44 .. But they are worth too much to keep
A bunch around unused ..

I don't know ..seems to me I have to learn to fix the buggers myself
So it's just like changing guitar strings before a session .

I don't understand how the rest if the world does it

Wes Dooley told me daniel lanious books all his ribbons in for reribboning
At the start of every session ..
On a certain level that makes a lot of sense to me .

Yes yes I just ordered the online ribbon fixer kit
Stay tuned .

[geareyes]

While you're @ it, would you mind taking a stab @ learning how to re-diaphragm a CK12 so that it impresses like an orig.I'm confident your place is sterile enough .......

[The Tasmanian]

imagine having a big enough budget to re ribbon all of your mic's before every session?
ive got the wrong clients......

[Lee]

Last night I tested our new pair of SE voodoo ribbons as overheads and they sounded great! I really hope they don't break.

[rick]

Wes told me lots of secrets about reribboning
Based on the idea that its not that hard if you
Know what your doing and use the right test gear
( which it seems nobody on the net does ? )
And the fact we are a million miles from him
And I promised not to tell
.. But it's only theory .. Every time I have tried
Previously I wasn't great .

But really what's going on ... do we all just silently
Mumble about ribbons changing sound
Or do the new ones stay the same year in year out ?

Don't answer that it's rhetoric .

I taught myself to fix old Swiss wristwatches to a
Vaguely competent degree ..

I have a box of ribbon mics that give me the shits

I think it's time

Who else here reribbons their own ..?

[Drumstruck]

Who else here reribbons their own ..?

I don't but I see a world of opportunity opening for you there Rick - and a new title of "the ribbon king"!!

Actually looking forward to hearing how those kits work

[Wiz]

yellow oak re ribbon services... ??

[Sammas]

I think the easiest solution is to convince yourself that all your ribbon mics are the wrong colour, Rick.
The rest of us will form an orderly line in the classifieds forum.

[stosostu]

I spoke to Wes Dooley, at length, about re-ribboning mics, when he was in Adelaide a few years ago. I described my techniques and whilst they are primitive and take way more time and cursing than his more automated system, he thought the results were acceptable. Mind you, I only do my own, I would not even consider doing it for money, re-ribboning, that is, it is way too frustrating.

[Chris H]

I have two that need new ribbons; an old torpedo and one of my TNC, ACM 4's. I have been thinking of doing them myself.

[Chinagraf]

Made any headway on this Rick? Ribbonmania has been taking hold at my place, fixing up some Reslos and modding a couple of other ones. A guy named Kevin Geist in the US sells different foils and a neat corrugator (I don't know how to spell that) and has been really helpful sourcing stuff. I wish the postage was cheaper though.
http://shop.geistnote.com/#gsc.tab=0

I am working on the tuning method that is similar to testing a speaker's free resonance to get consistancy in the results but haven't quite got it down yet. The 2.5 micron foil is pretty handle-able but I am yet to try to 1.8

[rick]

I have a box of pretty stuff from the same supplier as you Andy
And I recently installed a couple of Lundall transformers into some really old mics 1940s
with Good ribbons but questionable output and freq response and humms
Problem instantly solved !

As yet I have never had a truely repeatable reribboning experience
And although I have the test equiptment and in fact vastly superior to what I need
Now I have the ribbons I have the methods .. As yet time and the seemily lack of a good
Light source in my house which is full of energy saver light bulbs
Has had me stalling ..

But the good news is yesterday I cornered Peter at CDA ( control devices)
Who are and have been the Lundall importers for years
I alerted him to the booming ribbon mod market via eBay
And the particular model transformers everybody coverts
Which are neither listed on his site or Lundall and where news to them

So basically be is going to get a box of the right ones in stock here in Sydney
And make them a available locally at eBay prices

Now THAT is definately a step into the right side of things !

[stosostu]

That is great, Rick, I'll be looking forward to hearing more about them when they become available locally.

[Chinagraf]

Look on ebay for one of them jeweller's lamps - they are circular with the globe around the outside and the middle is a giant magnifying glass. They also act as a bit of a shield so you don't breathe on the ribbon while installing.
The Tab Funk tranny is getting some good raps too. The samples of it I listened too didn't really suit my tastes though.

[rick]

Quote I want to read about ribbons but never see
So I figured I would write it myself


".. So you swapped out the transformer and spent hours getting the ribbon right
Does is sound amazing now ..? "

"No ...still sounds kinda dull"

[Lee]

There is a cool article in SOS about Wes Dooley and AEA with some pretty pictures. In it he mentions the importance of having a preamp that has a large input impedance to get the most out of the mic. I look forward to testing that.

[Ben M]

There is a cool article in SOS about Wes Dooley and AEA with some pretty pictures. In it he mentions the importance of having a preamp that has a large input impedance to get the most out of the mic. I look forward to testing that.

I'm a little off topic but...
Variable impedance knobs on preamps are a wonderful thing. You can take the ribbon signal from brighter and airy down to flat and woody...which to me is as good as EQ.
I have a couple of Joe's TG500 pre's with variable impedance and use them with AEA R84 ribbons (@ 1ft) as my goto electric guitar combination. Also great with drums.

[Ben M]

one more thing...
I can't see why variable impedance on modern preamps isn't more of a thing...with the broad range of vintage, ribbon and modern microphones in most people's kits these days.

...still off topic

[Lee]

That's great to hear Ben as I built the JLM baby animal and haven't had time to test the ribbons through it but I'm looking forward to it. More off topic but I'm also confused why i don't see more preamps with vari-phase knobs as this would be a great feature for tracking drums especially to tape where you can't nudge it.
Back to ribbons.

[Ben M]

More off topic but I'm also confused why i don't see more preamps with vari-phase knobs

I was mentioning the same thing to a colleague the other day Lee. I guess it's all a matter of faceplate real estate... or the fact that its a part of every engineers job to get phase relationships spot on by moving microphones rather than knobs.

[rob]

variable impedance ( technically variable resistive loading ) is trivial to impliment to any preamp if you want to go from a very low impedance to a modestly high impedance, say 3K. It gets harder to go higher than that and requires a specifically designed preamp to achieve it. AEA's ribbon preamps are an example.... and note you can't have a higher impedance and at the same time phantom power.
Variable phase is hard to do and do well and has distinct sonic impacts and also is not the same as time delay, such as the delay resulting from moving a mic

[Lee]

I was mentioning the same thing to a colleague the other day Lee. I guess it's all a matter of faceplate real estate... or the fact that its a part of every engineers job to get phase relationships spot on by moving microphones rather than knobs.

I personally agree with that being every engineers job too but it would be nice to have as an option I guess like eq.

[Wiz]

I have variable impedance on a numer of my preamps... I can't remember a time when I have ended up using it... And keeping the track.

I think a lot of this ends up this way because I am my own tracking engineer and I don't have a separate control room when tracking others.

But , honestly, I just move the mic and most of the time I don't even think to adjust the impedance.


All I have ever heard it do by reducing it from maximum, is make things duller, which I never seem to want to do....what situations sonically are you guys tweaking impedance for ? What sonic benefit are you getting by loading down the microphone?

[Drumstruck]

also have variable impedance on one pre - a 30/200 switch and a trim pot - doesn't make much noticable difference to the level, but when you get it in the sweet spot it is sweeter - sort of reduces the fuzzy edges around the sound ;-)

[rob]

the sonic effect of variable impedance on a preamp is totally dependent on the mic used, on some it will have no effect at all, on others very obvious tonal changes.

[Gian]

So do you just try it out and see what sounds good for that particular mic?