A few months ago I bought a pair of TRC-458's from a guy out of Conroe. One came with a microphone, the other did not.
Today I got a shipment from FleaBay... 5 mics (there were 6 in the picture, and there were 6 in the bag when they arrived, but the ad says five... so this is a "baker's five" I guess!) for a little under $30. One was a perfect match for the TRC-458 that needed one.
It was pretty dirty so I split it and washed the case. Cleaned up nicely. Then, I took a look at the front of the mic element...and... lo... it looked like you could not even see holes... or see through to get any air through to the microphone. Curiosity got the best of me....and away I went.
First the little cloth cover came off... hold it up to the light..and there was some kind of "scuz" all in the fabric. I will try to wash that. Next....a little rubber ring with what appeared to be a metal screen. Problem was... the metal screen... appeared to be rusted to the point where the "screen" was not open any more...and I mean...at ALL! No way was any air getting through there. I tried gently scraping with the tip of an exacto knife and rust started falling off like crazy...but the holes would not clean out. So I got my little fiberglas brush set and started applying a bit more pressure.... oh yeah..... rust came out...but so did patches of the screen. It had rusted..and was weak... it caved in. At this point... I took a look at the mic element face. It is clean. It is clear and pliable... I think it is probably working. So I took the rubber ring and scraped the entire remaining screen out of the ring...and am going to clean it....THEN comes the fun!!!!!!
My wife has some old nylon "footies" (think socks made of nylon hose material!). A number of them have runs and are bad. I am going to confiscate one of those and using a thin film of glue... glue it to a good spot on the footie and trim it off when it dries. Then .... wash the little fabric screen cover and let it dry... then reassemble. I had nothing else to do....it's a Friday..... it was either this..... or nothing.... so "this it is"!!!!!!!
In retrospect.... what in the Hell happened to this microphone? One should not be screaming into it with mouthfuls of beer, soda or other caustic substances!!!
Anyway, I sure hope this works. If it doesn't .... well.... it was fun writing this posting anyway!!!!!!
Have a good weekend!!!!
Bob
Today I got a shipment from FleaBay... 5 mics (there were 6 in the picture, and there were 6 in the bag when they arrived, but the ad says five... so this is a "baker's five" I guess!) for a little under $30. One was a perfect match for the TRC-458 that needed one.
It was pretty dirty so I split it and washed the case. Cleaned up nicely. Then, I took a look at the front of the mic element...and... lo... it looked like you could not even see holes... or see through to get any air through to the microphone. Curiosity got the best of me....and away I went.
First the little cloth cover came off... hold it up to the light..and there was some kind of "scuz" all in the fabric. I will try to wash that. Next....a little rubber ring with what appeared to be a metal screen. Problem was... the metal screen... appeared to be rusted to the point where the "screen" was not open any more...and I mean...at ALL! No way was any air getting through there. I tried gently scraping with the tip of an exacto knife and rust started falling off like crazy...but the holes would not clean out. So I got my little fiberglas brush set and started applying a bit more pressure.... oh yeah..... rust came out...but so did patches of the screen. It had rusted..and was weak... it caved in. At this point... I took a look at the mic element face. It is clean. It is clear and pliable... I think it is probably working. So I took the rubber ring and scraped the entire remaining screen out of the ring...and am going to clean it....THEN comes the fun!!!!!!
My wife has some old nylon "footies" (think socks made of nylon hose material!). A number of them have runs and are bad. I am going to confiscate one of those and using a thin film of glue... glue it to a good spot on the footie and trim it off when it dries. Then .... wash the little fabric screen cover and let it dry... then reassemble. I had nothing else to do....it's a Friday..... it was either this..... or nothing.... so "this it is"!!!!!!!
In retrospect.... what in the Hell happened to this microphone? One should not be screaming into it with mouthfuls of beer, soda or other caustic substances!!!
Anyway, I sure hope this works. If it doesn't .... well.... it was fun writing this posting anyway!!!!!!
Have a good weekend!!!!
Bob
