A found vintage mic?
Hi Greg,
First I am a beginner LOA2 and purchased a 520DX Shure bullet mic which I really like.
I will like it better as my abilities improve however a few days ago my Guitar buddy reaches into the back of his closet and pulss out a mic he has had for a long time but never used. In fact he has no idea if it is any good.
I think it is.
The label on it is:
Tha Astatic Corp.
Model No. 10-C
It has a grey body and stainless grill with a stainless steel extension likely for a stand of some sort.
It is in great shape except the chord is a little pulled out of the jack fitting end which seems easily reparable.
There is no volume control unfortunately but it looks to me like a good find. Especially for the price of nothing.
I have breifly tried it and it does work.
What are your thoughts on this mic as far as its vintage, adding a volume control and repairing the chord?
John
Hi, JohnWelcome to your new disease......The Astatic 10-C is a semi-directional dynamic mic. It has decent tone as a harp mic, but it is on the large and heavy side which makes effective cupping harder to achieve - and cupping is the MOST important aspect of getting good tone from any mic. In fact, your green bullet is pretty big and heavy too, but a little easier to cup than the 10-C.
The connector on the 10-C is an old design that isn't made any more. You can still sometimes find cables for it on eBay but they are no longer made. I have converted many of these connectors to switchcraft screw-on connectors as shown in the picture here. This connector IS still made and although you can't buy cables at Guitar Center, people like me still make them.
Once it has a screw-on connector it can be used with an in-line volume control - or - I can actually build the volume control into the stalk, like this:
Doing that type of work requires some fabrication so it is $55 to install a connector, or $95 to do it with the volume control. If you love the mic - it is worth investing in. If not - you might want to put your $$ toward a project with a smaller, lighter shell, such as an Astatic JT30, or, even better, an Astatic T3 (which has the same connector stalk as the model 10) ... or one of my wood shells.
Cheers
/Greg
http://www.BlowsMeAway.com