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Lafayette and Shure Brothers vintage microphones

Vintage Lafayette and Shure Brothers microphones restoration

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These vintage Lafayette and Shure Brothers microphones were typically installed in an industrial setting, an announcement system for the staff at a factory for example,- and appear to have been hacked for a different usage at a later stage. Apart from being very very dirty inside, the large mike has a socket (instead of pins) inside, and needs refitting. I am hoping to use them for performing @ https://media-arts.w3rkhof.ch when I'm done!

The Lafayette had a hacked connector and was crating a lot of noise. So I pulled out the old connector and replaced it with a brand new rewiring inside its socket. The problem there is the connector output is made for 2 channel only, and I had to solder one line to the case. So I now have a shielded cable attached. Further sound checks are needed to see if this is performant enough.

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Shure Brothers Fat Boy is from ca 1940

JPEG Image - 1.73 MB - 12/02/2017 at 14:32

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close examination inside

JPEG Image - 1.83 MB - 12/02/2017 at 14:32

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JPEG Image - 2.01 MB - 12/02/2017 at 14:32

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the cutest repair of the deteriorating foam cushions <3

JPEG Image - 1.36 MB - 12/02/2017 at 14:32

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Pulling the transformer out of its socket. The connector is reversed and broken, and needs replacing. The solder at the connector need de-soldering and the cable can be pullet out. Cleaning and repair can begin.

JPEG Image - 1.98 MB - 12/02/2017 at 14:32

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  • Lafayette reconnected, neutral soldered onto case

    jana°01/28/2018 at 16:46 0 comments

    I opened the Lafayette, as it was working, but very weak signal and very noisy. Since the connector to the aluminium shaft was previously hacked and chewed, I pulled it out and soldered a brand new connector inside the metal case (discarding the plastic casing). It now correctly has a shielded three pin connector, however I soldered the neutral pin to the case, since it was a two pin before.

    The signal is much stronger now, but still very noisy. So I might have to come up with  a different solution.

  • Red paint turned brown

    jana°12/03/2017 at 09:44 0 comments

    Ok so, I took the FatBoy apart, and inside is a lot of brown powder.. First I thought it is rust, but then I realised it is paint. Researching, I found out that the microphone I have is one of the first Fat Boys released. They had the interior mesh (made of silk) painted in red, (which apparently turned brown after all these years..). The later models had a switch at the back (to select frequency empedence) and later again they released a much smaller FatBoy microphone which then became one of the most widely used microphones in radio broadcast etc. So I can safely date this mike pre 1946, which is when they fitted the switch.

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