Posted by Slim Jim on December 11, 2002 at 08:36:14:
In Reply to: Re: homemade mics posted by blu.P on December 10, 2002 at 14:49:07:
: : looking for any and all info on home building
: : microphones. what other type elements are
: : adaptable for harmonica use?
: one place to find some basic info to craft to your needs is at planet harmonica. you might even want to try building their simple i-mic; the testers gave it rave reviews (http://www.planetharmonica.com/ph2/VE/TMResultatsUK.htm).
: as for elements, i have searched around and found that mouser electronics (www.mouser.com) sells various dynamic, crystal, and ceramic elements fairly cheap (see page 633 of their onlione catalogue). depending on what they have in stock, you can also sometimes find steals at http://www.surplussales.com/Microphones-Audio/MicroAudio-3.html.
: lastly, i recently stumbled upon a fairly unique idea. apparently, if you take the carbon element out of OLD telephones it gives a very dirty sound. on the other hand, i know for a fact that carbon doesn't give good high frequency response, so keep that in mind depending on what sound you want. i haven't tried this yet, so let me know what you think if you test this out.
: i hope some of this is useful.
: blu.P
Yes this helps,thanks. About an hour before posting this question I had opened the reciver of on old dial type phone to have a look at the element. It's in an original mickey mouse phone and my wife will kill me if i use it so I'll be hunting the thrift and pack rat type stores looking for some to try. I'll post my results here. Keep on harpin' S.J.