Bob Dylan's mic

[sunbulls]

I was curious about some of the early mics used in Bob Dylan’s new official trailer, specially this skinny microphone with the large windscreen as shown in the photo. It was mentioned that only period (1964-1965) mics were used in the making of this movie. Thanks to others asking this same question, the general consensus was a Schoeps CMT 20 mic with a Schoeps W20 windscreen. "The CMT 20, launched in 1964, was a milestone for the company: the first transistorized phantom-powered condenser microphone in the world. It was powered by 8.5 Volts with the plus pole grounded."

I would love to have one of those windscreens, but not for the price dealers are asking nowadays.

 

[BC Coyote]

Collecting vintage microphones is a VERY expensive hobby!! Some really rare ones go for mind boggling four and even five figure amounts!

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

I was curious about some of the early mics used in Bob Dylan’s new official trailer, specially this skinny microphone with the large windscreen as shown in the photo. It was mentioned that only period (1964-1965) mics were used in the making of this movie. Thanks to others asking this same question, the general consensus was a Schoeps CMT 20 mic with a Schoeps W20 windscreen. "The CMT 20, launched in 1964, was a milestone for the company: the first transistorized phantom-powered condenser microphone in the world. It was powered by 8.5 Volts with the plus pole grounded."

I would love to have one of those windscreens, but not for the price dealers are asking nowadays.
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I would have guessed that the condenser mic was invented a lot earlier. But it had to wait for the transistor to be invented first.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I have an RCA 44B microphone that is still in pretty decent condition considering its age. It was a studio microphone used in the very early days of the broadcasting company I used to work for. The ribbon is still in decent condition and the microphone still works. From some of the recent ads I have seen, I may consider selling it to fund a nice vacation or to put a new deck on the house. Man I can't believe they have increased in value so much in the last few years.

 

[nomadradio]

the condenser mic was invented a lot earlier. But it had to wait for the transistor to be invented first.

Not really. Early mikes from 100 years ago were condenser type that used 48 Volts DC bias with vacuum-tube preamps.

The 'electret' mike cartridge came later, using a built-in Jfet to step down the incredibly high impedance of the electret capsule.

The 44BX is my all-time favorite studio mike. Worked at a rural AM/FM simulcast in southern Georgia 50-plus years ago. The boss found a 44BX clearing out a closet. Sent it to RCA to rebuild. Mounted it in the air studio. They used the FM (mono) off-air monitor to drive the DJ's headphones. That way he knew right away if the FM transmitter took a hike. Had one of the biggest surprises of my life the day I crunched a potato chip on air. Sounded like I wasn't wearing headphones. Surprised the snot out of me. Not too many modern microphones with that kind of transient response.

73