Members rasputin1963 Posted October 11, 2015 Members Share Posted October 11, 2015 I'm watching a good TV series called BOMB GIRLS. Set in 1942, it chronicles the lives of several young women who work in a munitions factory in Canada as "Rosie the riveters", the women hired to build bombs for the Allied WWII effort. This girl is to give a speech. Can you identify this vintage microphone she uses? Is it indeed a "period" mic from 1942? Is it just your bog standard mic of the day... or was it a costly number? Did it have a good sound? ras Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beck Posted October 12, 2015 Members Share Posted October 12, 2015 I think we can be fairly certain this is a 1940 Astatic model... either Model WR-40 or WR-20. The two models look basically the same. Here's what I found for the WR-40. Made: c.1940 Manufacturer: Astatic Type: Dual diaphragm crystal uni-directional The WR40 was the most expensive microphones in the Astatic line at the time, selling for $39.50 in 1941. The dual diaphragm design produced exceptionally high output and surprisingly smooth frequency response - and it was designed for cable lengths of up to 200 feet, making it ideal for location use. I did not know any of this off the top off my head, but I was interested enough to do some sleuthing on google image search with my super secret magic key words because it touches on an interest of mine. I have an actual poster of Rosie the Riveter that I can't find on the web. It was in my dad's collection of WWII posters. He was a WWII U.S. Army Air Corps (Air Force) veteran. In my poster the girl is holding an electric drill and I also have a working drill just like in the poster. Unfortunately I can't find an example of my poster on the web, but I think I found your mic. My drill is in a box somewhere in the basement. I may dig it out if I get time. The poster too. I've moved twice in as many years and I don't know where half my crap is exactly at this moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Good sleuthing Beck. BTW, Astatic is probably more familiar to you under their modern name: CAD. Is the mic any good? By the standards of its time it was pretty decent but nothing spectacular. Crystal mics tend to be really susceptible to handling and stand-borne noise, and a good ribbon mic from the same era (like an RCA 44) would generally be thought of as a much better sounding microphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted October 12, 2015 Members Share Posted October 12, 2015 Good work, Tim! I would have put this design style nearly a decade later off the top of my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted October 15, 2015 Members Share Posted October 15, 2015 I suspect this would be an excellent mic for blues harmonica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2015 I think we can be fairly certain this is a 1940 Astatic model... either Model WR-40 or WR-20. The two models look basically the same. Here's what I found for the WR-40. Made: c.1940 Manufacturer: Astatic Type: Dual diaphragm crystal uni-directional Oh, thank you Bexter!!! What would we do without you?? An embarrassment of riches! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beck Posted October 19, 2015 Members Share Posted October 19, 2015 You're welcome. Glad to help when I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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