im trying to build the same thing, but ive read that you can use plastic rod for the frame. at least thats what im gonna try once i pressure my lazy/broke ass into orderin all that stuff.

at least that would solve all the insulation problems.

This guy has plans for building your own ribbon mic:
http://www.rickshawrecords.com/ribbonmic/
It costs $10, which is fine by me as he has a lot of insight. He uses brass tubing as his mic body and goes into a lot of detail about how to deal with the ribbon. He also has a list of where to order things from if you can't find them locally.

I haven't built mine yet, so I can't offer any insight. Still - looks like he might be able to answer a few questions for you.

Uncle Ovipositor wrote:This guy has plans for building your own ribbon mic:
http://www.rickshawrecords.com/ribbonmic/
It costs $10, which is fine by me as he has a lot of insight. He uses brass tubing as his mic body and goes into a lot of detail about how to deal with the ribbon. He also has a list of where to order things from if you can't find them locally.

I haven't built mine yet, so I can't offer any insight. Still - looks like he might be able to answer a few questions for you.

You nailed it. These are the exact plans that got me started on this whole trip. I bought them and read thru them and built the plastic frame and then decided to build the same frame out of aluminum. Which brought up a few new issues.

Overall rickshaws plans are great. I just wanted to fuck around with the design a bit. I'm also going to make my mic body rectangular and out of aluminum also but with a bigger grill.

He's already given me much advice and answers emails quickly. A very nice and intelligent guy.

I just bought an old Lafayette stereo mic (crystal I think) and plan to either turn it into a stereo LDC or stereo ribbon. It is huge and seems to have a lot of room to work with inside. I'll post a pic if I get a chance.

otisroom wrote:These are the exact plans that got me started on this whole trip. I bought them and read thru them and built the plastic frame and then decided to build the same frame out of aluminum. Which brought up a few new issues.

Why are you making the frame out of metal? I'm curious. I'm trying to think of how the end result would be different, and I don't see much basis for there being a big difference - not that there isn't one, just that I'm slow. It shouldn't be too difficult to insulate the metal properly, but it's a little more work.

I do like the idea of getting a flatter mic body, at least where the grill is.

Uncle Ovipositor wrote:

otisroom wrote:These are the exact plans that got me started on this whole trip. I bought them and read thru them and built the plastic frame and then decided to build the same frame out of aluminum. Which brought up a few new issues.

Why are you making the frame out of metal? I'm curious. I'm trying to think of how the end result would be different, and I don't see much basis for there being a big difference - not that there isn't one, just that I'm slow. It shouldn't be too difficult to insulate the metal properly, but it's a little more work.

I do like the idea of getting a flatter mic body, at least where the grill is.

I just didn't like the idea of making the motor frame out of plastic. Yes it's easy to cut and cheap and you don't have to insulate the clamps but I've never seen a "real" ribbon mic that uses a plastic frame. And if I'm going to spend my time and money on this thing I want it to hold up.

So I guess I'm making out of metal cause I'm kind of a snob.

I'm making the body rectangular and not using the brass he used because according to him the body he made tends to resonate and ring at certain freqencies. I figured a flater body could be made easier and out of thicker stock and thus avoid the bell like ringing I'd imagine a thin brass body is capable of.

Also I found some cool mesh to make the screen out of and bending it into perfect half cirlcles would be a pain.

I want this thing to be beefy and sturdy. Like my women.

japmn wrote:I just bought an old Lafayette stereo mic (crystal I think) and plan to either turn it into a stereo LDC or stereo ribbon. It is huge and seems to have a lot of room to work with inside. I'll post a pic if I get a chance.

Yes lets see it when you have a chance.

n-eight wrote:I re-ribboned my Shinybox 23 with some foil liner from a soft pack of cigarettes (the cheapest I could find, as it usually has thinner foil)

What brand ? I had a hell of a time with signwriter's leaf and I'm looking for something that will actually give a decent output.

otisroom wrote:I'm also going to make my mic body rectangular and out of aluminum also but with a bigger grill.

Watch out for internal reflections if you're going for that shape. Shouldn't be a problem if much of the sides of the mic are made from grill though.

Uncle Ovipositor wrote:Why are you making the frame out of metal? I'm curious. I'm trying to think of how the end result would be different, and I don't see much basis for there being a big difference

If you use the frame to connect the ends of the magnets then you get a magnetic return circuit which basically increases flux which is a good thing. It's used on some older mics. It's probably not necessary on modern mics using neodymium magnets since they are so strong.

m.koren wrote:I had a hell of a time with signwriter's leaf and I'm looking for something that will actually give a decent output.

Watch out here as with the original transformers the output impedance will already be quite high. With leaf foil you might be increasing that by three or four times (since its resistance is higher compared to the original foil). Watch out for any lack of bass as well as level and maybe try using it with a preamp with a higher input impedance to reduce the losses.

m.koren wrote:

n-eight wrote:I re-ribboned my Shinybox 23 with some foil liner from a soft pack of cigarettes (the cheapest I could find, as it usually has thinner foil)

What brand ? I had a hell of a time with signwriter's leaf and I'm looking for something that will actually give a decent output.

I think they were Doral or something. I'm not a smoker so I didn't pay attention. I just asked the guy for the cheapest soft pack he had. He handed me these and said, "They're two-for-$5 today" and I said, "No thanks. Hopefully this will get me through my project." He looked very puzzled as I paid him.

Trying to explain to my wife why I was dismantling a pack of shitty smokes was fun too. "I'm trying to fix a microphone" didn't really cut it for her. Then I threatened to smoke them all at the same time like that "guinness book of world records" dude. She left me alone after that.

So... yeah. Doral.