# Can You Identify This Microphone?



## DrPinto (Sep 12, 2011)

Can anyone tell me the manufacturer and model number of the microphones in this video? It's driving me nuts!


Skeeter Davis -- The End Of The World - YouTube


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## Nelson (Sep 12, 2011)

I don't know but I want some! That is so much sleeker and smaller than the usual mics we use today.


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## SHARYNF (Sep 12, 2011)

Nelson said:


> I don't know but I want some! That is so much sleeker and smaller than the usual mics we use today.



I believe it is a Bruel and Kjaer 4900 series mic. If you do a google image search on: bruel and kjaer mics 4939 you can find some better pictures.

These were tiny capsules that could be attached to a variety of bases 

Sharyn


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## derekleffew (Sep 12, 2011)

Reminds me of Gene Rayburn's Microphone | Facebook .




(Great song, BTW. )


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## Nelson (Sep 12, 2011)

SHARYNF said:


> I believe it is a Bruel and Kjaer 4900 series mic. If you do a google image search on: bruel and kjaer mics 4939 you can find some better pictures.
> 
> These were tiny capsules that could be attached to a variety of bases
> 
> Sharyn



WOW, I don't think the bean counters will let me buy any of those!


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## SHARYNF (Sep 13, 2011)

Nelson said:


> WOW, I don't think the bean counters will let me buy any of those!


 It is also quite possible that this is a totally phony mic. Back in those days very few "shows" which involved a singer performing a hit were actually live, the record was played and it was all lip synced. Remember that at that time all film had the audio added later, since the cameras made quite a racket

American Band stand (now I really am dating myself) was ALL lip synced the mics were on stands with NO cords

Sharyn


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## DrPinto (Sep 13, 2011)

SHARYNF said:


> It is also quite possible that this is a totally phony mic. Back in those days very few "shows" which involved a singer performing a hit were actually live, the record was played and it was all lip synced. Remember that at that time all film had the audio added later, since the cameras made quite a racket
> 
> American Band stand (now I really am dating myself) was ALL lip synced the mics were on stands with NO cords
> 
> Sharyn



I was thinking the same. Maybe they ripped a fuel line off a Farmall tractor and stuck the end of a turn signal lever from a '57 Chevy in the end and made a prop microphone. But then I saw this video where, during the introduction, one guy turns away from the mic and his voice is noticeably softer. This song wasn't lip synced. Also, both singers make a big effort to sing into the mic: 

Patsy Cline & Bobby Lord - (Remember Me) I'm the One That Loves You - YouTube

I did look at the Bruel and Kjaer mics, but it seems that they're geared more toward the scientific community. It's not the Gene Rayburn mic. That was a Sony ECM-51. The Sony looks different from the mic in the video clip.

It HAS to be a real mic. I must know!!!


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## FMEng (Sep 14, 2011)

It looks too small to house the magnet and matching transformer for a dynamic. Condensers were rarely used outside of recording studios in 1965. TV production didn't often put effort into sound because lip syncing was much easier in a noisy, acoustically bad TV studio.

The closest I can come to that mic is an Altec 21B. It has the right shape and size, but there is no lump for the vacuum tube, and it would have had to be within inches of the capsule.

Altec 21B

That's leads me to the conclusion that the mic is a fake. Even if the show wasn't lip synced, the mic could be prop for musicians not comfortable with TV, and the sound could have been from an overhead boom mic. Booms were very commonly used in TV because the mics of the day had to be larger than desired for appearance.


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## sk8rsdad (Sep 14, 2011)

It might be a Marantz Superscope.


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## FMEng (Sep 15, 2011)

sk8rsdad said:


> It might be a Marantz Superscope.


 
I could be wrong, but I think the Marantz Superscope mic came along about 5 years after the video was made. It took a few years before FET transistors were quiet enough to make it. Prior to that, all condenser mics had tubes in them for amplification, along with multiconductor cables for the various power supply voltages needed..


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## DrPinto (Sep 15, 2011)

sk8rsdad said:


> It might be a Marantz Superscope.


 
That's the Superscope EC-12B. It's a cheaper version of the Sony ECM-51 microphone. Still not the same mic in the video.

I'm starting to lean toward the conclusion that it's a prop mic, but I'm still going to do some research.


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## DrPinto (Sep 18, 2011)

FMEng said:


> It looks too small to house the magnet and matching transformer for a dynamic. Condensers were rarely used outside of recording studios in 1965. TV production didn't often put effort into sound because lip syncing was much easier in a noisy, acoustically bad TV studio.
> 
> The closest I can come to that mic is an Altec 21B. It has the right shape and size, but there is no lump for the vacuum tube, and it would have had to be within inches of the capsule.
> 
> ...


 
You're probably correct about the mic being a prop. I've been on the Welcome to Microphones site many times before and never saw anything like it. I even emailed Prof. Coutant and sent him a link to the video. He replied that he and his colleagues are puzzled as well.

Most likely it was a prop that was designed so that it wouldn't get in the way of the camera shots. There's nothing worse than having a microphone in the way of a shot...


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