What would you buy???

[Phil O'Keefe]

I've had the "if only I could time travel back to 1961 and buy a bunch of Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, Fairchilds, C12's, U47's, ELA M251's, etc. etc." conversation hundreds of times over the years. Heck, in the early 1980's, 251's were dirt cheap.

 

But there's the thing... you never know for certain what is going to appreciate in value, and what isn't.

 

I'm not an ecconomist like Stephen, but it seems to me that several things go into the equation. Rarity, demand, usefulness for a specific purpose that isn't quite matched by currently available products, use by and enthusastic comments from a high-profile user, intrinsic quality of the product, time since they went out of production...

 

In 20 years, chances are that a Soundelux, or a GML, Brauner or a DW Fearn will be worth more than it was new. I can't guarantee that, but it won't surprise me if it happens. Sure, you might lose a bit when you take it home from a dealer... just like you lost money if you purchased a 1964 1/2 Mustang convertible with a pony interior and 289 V-8 brand new back in the 60's and drove it off the dealer's lot... but today, that car is worth far, far more than what someone paid for it new. Ditto that for the '52 Les Paul that Lee Flier plays.

 

I generally buy stuff as working tools, with little thought to how they'll appreciate or decrease in value over the years. I'm more concerned with how valuable they're going to be to me for my work today, and ten years from now, than I am about how valuable they'll be - or won't be - to someone else.

[halljams]

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe I generally buy stuff as working tools, with little thought to how they'll appreciate or decrease in value over the years.

 

Sure, but when you are spending 5,6 7 grand on a mic it is something you might well put some thought into.

1,2 even 3 grand, not so much.

But that may all be relative to available $.

 

I don't know how you aquired your 251's but i bet they are worth a {censored}load more now then they were 10 years ago.

And what have you found made now that sounds as good? Brauner???? no way.

[seaneldon]

 

Originally posted by halljams And what have you found made now that sounds as good? Brauner???? no way.

 

 

yes, actually. i've been doing this for quite a while. i've used my share of vintage and reissued (Tele USA and other tributes) ELA M251s. i own a brauner vm1-khe. a very, very expensive microphone. i prefer the brauner on many singers and many sources. it's not trying to emulate a vintage mic. it's a new mic. it's extremely hi-fi. it sounds more full bodied and sexy than any other microphone i've ever heard in my life (thousands). especially on my own voice, which i've found is quite difficult to record. i USED to record with 251s. not anymore.

[umkcprof]

Come on, Hall. . .

 

. . . I am not, nor am I ever, defensive. . .

 

Phil hit the nail right on the head. That 1964 1/2 Mustang had the same new car hit when it rolled off the lot that the 2006 1/2 Mustang does today (in percentage terms, of course). And that's the point. The used "classic" mics of today (Soundelux, Royer, Manley, Brauner, Schoeps, DPAs, etc.) will all fall upon purchase originally, but are likely to hold their values quite well and, eventually, even become the sought-after classics of tomorrow.

 

I wish I had won that VM1-KHE, and I was going to be an aggressive bidder at the end, but someone beat me to the punch. And I'll bet that the "rich" soul who bought that mic for $7500 will be able to unload it for $7500 next year and the year after and the year after that.

 

Anyway, no hard feelings here. . . it's just that when precise comparisons (apples to apples) are possible, I like them to be that way.

 

Stephen

[seaneldon]

i'll just say that $7500 for that brauner was a steal. it most definitely won't get any cheaper than that...probably ever. i paid $9k for my mic. of course i paid a little extra to have it totally tweaked to be the exact mic i wanted...but still. $7500 is a wildly good deal for that microphone.

[Aldea]

I am deciding between these Preamps:

Manley VoxBox

Vintech X73

Great River MP-2NV

AMS-NEVE 1073 DPA

 

The preamps and dinamics that i have in my studio are:

Manley dual mic pre

Aphex 107

Apogee MINIME

 

DBX 160VU

DBX 161VU(x4)

FMR AUDIO RNC

ORBAN 622B Parametric EQ

 

I haven't decided anything about the mic yet. My partner wants to buy a neumann TLM 170R these are the vocal mics that we already own:

 

AKG C12VR

Neumann TLM 103

AKG C414

RODE NT 1000

 

as i said before the 90% of the recordings that we do are vocals a lot of a capella stuff like Take 6 and we really whant to have the best piece of gear that we can get for this application. It's a six piece vocal group with different tones so i need the mic and pre to be very versatile to handle the different textures an colours of their voices.So help me decide what to buy?

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

I'd go for the Vintech or Great River... nothing aganst Manley - it's great stuff. But you already have some of that, and a different "flavor" will come in handy. The Vintech has the EQ, which might also come in handy - especially since you only have the Orban right now. BTW, how do you like it?

 

On the subject of the TLM170, I really like those mics... but generally not for vocals. Please see my earlier comments regarding vocal mics for my suggestions.

 

Have a great trip, and please let us know what you decided on when you get back.

[Aldea]

Finally the mic that i am going to buy is a brauner but i am deciding between the vm1 and the vma any comments?

 

and with the mic pre i am deciding between the portico, the vintech x-73 and the great river. since i have a manley dual mic pre i think one of these preamp will work well in conjuntion with the manley.

 

i also getting a rosetta 200