How come no modern manufactured crystal?
Fri, 09/25/2015 - 13:50
Greg,
So how come someone isn't manufacturing (real) crystal elements these days? Seems there is a need. Is it toxic? Explosive? High cost?
But then, I do see them on eBay every so often... 2 for $25.
Hi, BluesThe market for a harmonica microphone element is prohibitvely small. Growing the crystals in lab condtions is only part of the battle. Tooling up to produce an enclosure and diaphragm to turn that into working product is an extremely expensve proposition. When the crystal elements we know and love were originally produced, they were NOT produced for harmonica players. They were inexpensive, mass produced general purpose mics aimed at a much, much larger market - which justified the startup costs to make them.
In fact there has never, ever been a single microphone element designed and manufactured for harmonica. All known harp mics use something that was designed for a more general purpose.
The closest thing there is is my new "The Heumann Element". I start with a pro-class vocal mic element made by someone else. I then make both mechanical and electrical modfiications to it to make it more attractive to harp players. That is the closest you'll come to a purpose-built harp mic element.