dontfeartheringo wrote:Hey, etch-
I have a pair of the Fat Heads and I love them. I got them too close to a Mesa and a kick drum, respectively, and blew them up.

I have sent them back to Cascade to get them re-ribboned.

I love the Fat Heads for room mics. I've heard they make great overheads, too, but to have four of them in a room, each with 180º in the polar pattern, you're asking to have phase issues, I would think.

Of course, feel free to correct me if I am wrong, wiser men.

What? You blew them already? You fuckin crazy man.

otisroom wrote:

dontfeartheringo wrote:Hey, etch-
I have a pair of the Fat Heads and I love them. I got them too close to a Mesa and a kick drum, respectively, and blew them up.

I have sent them back to Cascade to get them re-ribboned.

I love the Fat Heads for room mics. I've heard they make great overheads, too, but to have four of them in a room, each with 180º in the polar pattern, you're asking to have phase issues, I would think.

Of course, feel free to correct me if I am wrong, wiser men.

What? You blew them already? You fuckin crazy man.

Otis, I am a bull in a china shop in most every aspect of my life.

Full story here.

Thanks Ringo, I think I'm going to try the stereo pair of the Fatheads and see how they go. I'm in the middle of attempting to acquire some analog recording gear so that will be in the mix since they're affordable.

There were some really nice tape machines on the Atlanta Craigslist a few weeks ago. Let me see if I can dig it out....


ADDED:: Got it.

Selling 3 analog tape machines:
1 - Studer A80 2" Widebody - fully functional
1 - Studer A80RC 1/2 2 track - functional at 15ips, 30ips needs attention
1 - Studer A810 1/4" 2 track - will not power up
20 reels of mixed used 2" tape (mostly Ampex/Quantegy)

Make offer.

One of these machines used to belong to Mr. Albini, apparently.

Thanks for digging that out Ringo. I had seen that ad, but didn't know it had been Steve's or Rob's. I know Rob and my brother-in-law works for him doing the bio-diesel thing.

I had been looking at Otari and Tascam eight tracks to do like a mobile fidelity thing between the spce and my house but if the Studer is in good condition and not sold already, I'll have a look.

Dave Barbe used to LOVE 16 track 2" tape, and when he was roaming, before he opened his own place, we'd go hunt one of those machines down for five-eight projects.

He's a pro tools buy now, mostly, but I bet he's still a little nostalgic for 16/2.

otisroom wrote:

etch wrote:Ben,
Has anyone tried building the Rickshaw ribbon mic? I thought about giving it a go, but it looks like an unbelievable pain in the ass.

I'm almost done building the rickshaw mic. I've been having a really really hard time cutting the ribbon foil properly. Other then that I have the motor built and the tranny.
It's not as easy as I thought it would be.

First, let me say that my own Naked Eye kicks ass. C&T have a winning combination in a sub-$1000 ribbon mic... and add a Roswellite Ribbon, and you can't lose.

With that said, the Austin design is a DIY project. Yes, it's far more difficult to build one than it is to order a production microphone and have it delivered... But it's not meant as a substitute.
It also sounds pretty good. (Read the quotes below credited to Bob Crowley himself)

Besides a fairly good mic, the benefit of a DIY project might be to learn about ribbon mics, and understand how a mic like the Naked Eye is so much different than a Chinese model from Cascade, Avantone or Nady. You don't even have to build one - just read the plans. Ringo could also learn how to re-ribbon his Cascade, so he doesn't have to send them back!
I have learned a ton about design, and I am working on improvements for an upcoming project.

For example: Here's a new method to cut the ribbon (for the next rev. of the DIY Austin Plans):
- Fold a piece of printer paper in half
- Slide the sheet of ribbon foil between the two halves of the paper
- Line-up one edge of the Aluminum sheet with the inner edge of the fold
- Using sharp scissors, cut strips of foil starting at the fold. (Akin to making skinny, 1/4" wide paper dolls)

When you use paper as a "vehicle" for cuting the foil ribbon, it works much better.

Now for the unsolicited quotes:

at Pot luck Con I was talking ribbon mics with bob crowley and I told him I was making the Austin ribbon mic. He said they are pretty nice sounding mics when done right. (TapeOp Message Board)

Rick has done an outstanding job jumpstarting the do it yourself ribbon mic activity of late. (Crowley on TOMB)

Crystal clear, very interesting and accurate too. - Bob Crowley (an email from Bob to me)

- Rickshaw
http://www.rickshawrecords.com/ribbonmic

Your right I learned a lot just trying to build this thing.

I stumbled on the paper sandwich method my self just last night. I stopped working on this build a month or so ago because even with thicker ribbon foil (I sprang for the good stuff) I was having no luck. Then just yesterday I thought that if I sandwiched the foil between 2 pieces of paper I could avoiding the foil ripping that was the usual problem.

Within 20 minutes I was attaching a freshly cut ribbon to my motor

It works like a charm.

otisroom wrote:Your right I learned a lot just trying to build this thing.

I stumbled on the paper sandwich method my self just last night. I stopped working on this build a month or so ago because even with thicker ribbon foil (I sprang for the good stuff) I was having no luck. Then just yesterday I thought that if I sandwiched the foil between 2 pieces of paper I could avoiding the foil ripping that was the usual problem.

Within 20 minutes I was attaching a freshly cut ribbon to my motor

It works like a charm.

sound. samples.

eliya wrote:sound. samples.

There are several sound samples from various people who have built the Austin mic at:
http://www.rickshawrecords.com/ribbonmic

- Rickshaw