Is the capsule mounted in a brass or white teflon mount?

If it's brass, you might have a real gem on your hands. I suggest sending it to a respected mic restorer, like Klaus Heyne for instance.

I'll second that, if it is the brass mounted capsule, you can either get it restored or sell it to me for cheap.

I remember it well... 1980, it was... Or '79.. or '81? I remember some of it pretty well.....

I was at a real studio for one of my first freelance VO jobs. Kind'a nerve-wracking. The engineer asked me what mic I wanted to use. I said, very professionally and confidently, "The Electrovoice RE20, of course!". He said, OK and set it up, as well as some other mic, on a seperate stand right next to it, then went downstairs to his control room... He brought us up in my phones and said, ..."try the RE20". I said, "OK. Testing, testing 1,2,3... Yeah this mic is fine, love these things!"(Still do.). He said, "try the other mic." I said, "OK", trying to sound bored... "Te--!!! I'll use THIS one!", says I... It was the AKG C414EB. I've used them and dozens of other mics since, in lots of studios, in every imaginable price-range. I've never sounded any better than on that mic...

$350.00 to get it in shape? No prob. I'd give any amount of my wife's money to have one of those. The "ultimate" mic? I suppose not. It's more than worth $350.00. I'll bet your Dad got a lot of good use out of it. I hope you will, too.

Thankx for the memory flogger!

Teddy G.

chriscavell wrote: Is the capsule mounted in a brass or white teflon mount?

If it's brass, you might have a real gem on your hands. I suggest sending it to a respected mic restorer, like Klaus Heyne for instance.

Just thought I'd add, after re-reading my statements, that even if it's got the white teflon capsule, it's still a great workhorse of a mic. It's been a very long time since AKG has used components and circuitry of that quality...the last transformer balanced 414 if memory serves. Seriously, send it to Klaus. No "new" capsule will come close to the original CK12's mounted in brass that are often found in those EB's, and it takes a real specialist to restore them if funked.

Klause is the microphone master! He moded a vintage u87 for me that I'd put against a u47. Usially a 2month wait and quite costly but his work is amazing.

Thanks for the input.

Klaus Heyne charges $2500 to work his magic on the old 414s, but you will end up with one of the finest mics on Earth. Many consider it to be as good as the Telefunken ELA M251, which routinely sells for $20,000. I would imagine the price of the older 414 EB will be $5,000 in the not-too-distant future.

The downside is that few of the capsules in existence have diaphragms that retain the correct tension, and Klaus Heyne thinks re-skinning is inadequate at best, so it's really a matter of luck regarding the condition of your capsule. There are some simple tests you can do, but they can be harmful if you don't know what you are doing. If very loud sounds cause the sound to drop out, it can mean the diaphragm sticks to the backplate, which is an indicator that the tension in insufficient. Any other tests should be left to a serious pro.

John

Late to the thread but I just picked up one of these unfortunately the Teflon mount.

Will let you know what I think, and in happier climes, will definitely post it to Klaus,

J