RCA BK5A vs RCA BK5B

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by corky

You might want to pass that on to Fletcher who opened that can of worms--not me. And please show me where I slandered Kane in any way. It wasn't me who slandered Kane--it was Fletcher who slandered Sank.

First off -- you should lean the definition of "Slander" -- it is based around a false statement. None of the statements I made were false, otherwise I would be calling a lawyer to defend a "defamation" suit due to "slander".

I'm happy your pleased with his work. What I heard was shit. Two different sets of experiences... and so it goes.

[corky]

First off -- you should lean the definition of "Slander"

I know quite well what it means, but you may want to pass this along to your friend Larry who first used it--not me. So why aren't you leaving him a message about the use of the term since it was he who first brought it up and misused it? Could it be that you're just a self serving person who cares nothing about fairness and decency? Hmm? I don't know if I'll ever own another ribbon mic; probably not, but based on your rudeness throughout this thread I know I won't be using any of your friends to work on one if I do. The shame of it is that if you had just acted even halfway decent about things and simply left a note saying you knew someone else who did good work on old RCA mics and related your experience, people, including myself, would have probably listened to you. Instead you've inspired just the opposite reaction.

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by corky

Apart from your obvious commercial motive for saying that Kane does better work than Sank, I heartily disagree. But you let me know when he's been quoted from in as many articles, or when his own microphone designs have recieved as many rave reviews as Sank's Cloud mics have.

And having merely worked for RCA is obviously not the same as having been in charge of actual micrphone design like Sank's father was. Oh, and then there's the fact that Steve has a ton of NOS ribbons and other original RCA mic parts that no one else does. But hey, you can just keep on disrespecting people to puff yourself up more if you like.

So here you are basically saying that the guy who was the head tech for RCA's mic division (for over 30 years) doesn't know as much as one of the mic designers SONS... yeah right...

Lets see "Kane does better work than Sank, I heartily disagree"... hmmm now how much repair work has Clarence done for you over the years??? None I would imagine otherwise you'd be really impressed with Clarence Kanes work and wouldn't find a need to put him down to make YOUR GUY look good...

... sure sounds like slander to me.

"Oh, and then there's the fact that Steve has a ton of NOS ribbons and other original RCA mic parts that no one else does."

You are so wrong here it is not even funny...

...oh that's right, Clarence Kane doesn't count because "having merely worked for RCA" he couldn't possibly know anything about mic design or have the equipment and supplies to repair the mics... oh, but one of the original mic designers SONS can!

Whatever dude, I don't really care other than the fact that you put Clarence down to prop your guy up... who is REALLY doing the disservice here?

You insult a man who is at the top of his craft and had been well respected for many years in this business... give me a friggin break...

Now can we please get back to the discussion of the BK5A vs. the BK5B?

[corky]

So here you are basically saying that the guy who was the head tech for RCA's mic division (for over 30 years) doesn't know as much as one of the mic designers SONS... yeah right...

What I un-basically said was that a guy working for RCA does not in any way make him more knowledgable than a guy who actually designs and builds his own mics and who learned from his own father, the guy who invented some of those mics that Kane worked on. Still with me? Yeah, right................. Oh look, I can make more dots than you.

Lets see "Kane does better work than Sank, I heartily disagree"... hmmm now how much repair work has Clarence done for you over the years??? None I would imagine otherwise you'd be really impressed with Clarence Kanes work and wouldn't find a need to put him down to make YOUR GUY look good...

I'm sorry, where did I "put him down"? I believe the word you are looking for is "nowhere". But you can keep lying about it if you want to. You aren't impressing anybody but the devil himself. I don't know how to improve on Sank's work. Neither do you.

... sure sounds like slander to me.

Sure sounds like lying to me.

You are so wrong here it is not even funny...

YOU are so wrong it's disgusting. And, no, you're not funny. Funny looking maybe...dunno.

he [Kane] couldn't possibly know anything about mic design or have the equipment and supplies to repair the mics

Why would you say such an unflattering thing about your friend? I know I wouldn't and didn't.

I don't really care other than the fact that you put Clarence down

See, now THAT is called slander. Actually it's called libel, but I don't want to confuse you any further. I haven't seen writing like that since Al Capone had his own newspaper.

You insult a man

Odd that the only lies (i.e. examples) you've come up with read like something from The Screwtape Letters. Are you training junior demons?

Yes, if you're done lying, lets do indeed get back to the scheduled programming.

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by corky

Could it be that you're just a self serving person who cares nothing about fairness and decency?

Yep - that's me.

Self serving prick... never did anything for anyone out of pure altruism.

Nailed me.

Damn you're good!!

Originally Posted by corky

What I un-basically said was that a guy working for RCA does not in any way make him more knowledgable than a guy who actually designs and builds his own mics and who learned from his own father, the guy who invented some of those mics that Kane worked on.

I don't have any idea how I could have been so blind to think that a co-worker at the original factory could possibly have more experience in the field than the son of the designer.

I stand dully corrected, I mean how could 40-50 years of experience possibly be a substitute for genealogy. It took a while, but I get it now.

A sincere thank you for helping me see the light!!

[corky]

And I don't see how a guy that merely works on mics can know as much about them as a guy like Steve whose own Cloud mics might just be the best ribbon mics ever designed. But that's just me kiddo.

[Fletcher]

Yep - again you're spot on!!

Don't forget that Wes Dooley doesn't know shit either... even if he designs ribbon mics too... but you've tried those too [along with the Royer R-122V] so you know all there is to know and me and my buddy Larry are ignorant fools.

Again, sincere thanks for the "wake up call"!!!

I can't thank you enough for showing me the error of my experience. How I got through the last 35+ years of being an audio engineer without your guidance is an absolute mystery... but I know I will be better for your guidance!! ...and being better for your guidance is what life is all about.

Thank you once again for setting my ass straight!!

Peace.

[Harvey Gerst]

Hey, everybody,

Is all this crap slinging really necessary? There are three guys in the world I would recommend to fix an old RCA mic:

1. Clarance Kane - because he has a bunch of the original ribbon materials and RCA tools, and because he worked on the originals when he worked at RCA.

2. Steven Sank - because he has a bunch of the original ribbon materials and RCA tools he got from his dad, and because he learned a lot from his dad (who designed a lot of the original ribbon mics when he worked at RCA).**

3. Wes Dooley - because he has a bunch of the original ribbon materials and RCA tools, and because he's an RCA ribbon mic fanatic.

**Note: Yes, Steven did have some issues a few years ago with some unhappy customers, due to health issues and a major move from New Mexico to Arizona, but I believe all those problems got resolved.

[anguswoodhead]

Could we please have a Moderator come in and clean all this crap up so a great thread about the BK5 mics can be read without all the BS.

[tubeaudiofan]

Problem is we have two guys who are longtime posters, pretty respected guys in the biz, who between them have 10K worth of posts, vs a guy with 66 posts... Yes I know that quanity doesn't = quality, and I'm a guy with under 100 posts as well, but these two guys are not slackers. You might not agree with all things Fletcher, but he isn't a shill, and has heard more gear than most people here have seen in magazines. He slags stuff he doesn't like, and calls it how he see's it. Doesn't mean he right, but he isn't a tout. Larry has posted a ton of historical stuff, vital info, and has vast knowledge base as well. I have read many of his posts and been impressed with his knowledge. Clarence and Wes are longtime audio legends, and deserve our respect. I think I met Wes at the '81 AES meeting, and he was a an audio dealer, and was a straight shooter then and now. The R84 is flat out a great mic. Clarence was the original go-to guy for RCA work 20 years ago+, had a little ad in R/EP classifies, when nobody but a few of us cared about ribbon mic's. Mr Sank is a newcomer, may do good work, I don't know it, so I can't speak to it.

So who is Corky and why is he sooooo mad? What does the devil have to do with RCA mic's anyway? He would appear to be the only person here selling ribbons anyway. Fletcher works for Tele, and Larry doesn't make gear. So it would seem that the "commercial motivation" would be Cork's.

I for one learned a bit from this thread, and don't want to see people with a vast amount of knowledge [Fletcher and Larry] get chased away, or too pissed off to contribute. Let's take a deep breath, and get back to MICROPHONES!

[corky]

So who is tubeaudiofan? Hmm? Shouldn't be too hard to guess.

[corky]

Don't forget that Wes Dooley doesn't know shit either... even if he designs ribbon mics too... but you've tried those too [along with the Royer R-122V] so you know all there is to know and me and my buddy Larry are ignorant fools.

I don't know if Mr. Dooley "knows" anything or not. And I've never once said anybody else didn't either despite your lies. I've not downed a single person's work anywhere in this entire thread. That was all your doing from the moment you you slithered in.

I don't know if you and Larry are ignorant fools about microphones or microphone repair or not. I never heard of either one of you and don't know anybody who has. What I do know is that you've both exhibited behavior that is clearly irrational and at times downright psychotic. I may or may not let you near my recording equipment. I definately wouldn't allow you near my children or trust a single word you ever said. You both sound like a couple of street hoods that fell out of a tattoo parlor and into a biker bar.

But hey, that's what an ignore list is for. Consider yourself(s) on it. Have a good life while you still can. But have it away from me.

[tubeaudiofan]

What's your guess? Michael Jackson? Forest Gump?
I live in IL, a long way from all these folks. I have NO professional connection with any of these people, other than having met some of them in passing, reading their posts, and seeing them at AES, etc..

I make records, all day, every day, in my studio- it's what I do.

Missing the sarcasm Corky? I think we can all agree Wes knows a lot...

Are we all troll victims here? Begins to feel like it...

Soooooooo-can we get back to RCA mic's again? The history early in the thread was pretty cool. I'm starting to feel like pointing the gun at myself instead of the mic's...HA!

[Silvertone]

Thanks for the kind words. I've always tried to share my knowledge since I've been in this business for over 35 years. Knowledge is power!

btw Corky... just do a search on me and weather you know it or not you've probably already read a thing or two from me since I've written for Tape-Op for over 10 years as well as numerous other outfits. I do beta testing for many of the companies you buy products from and I've designed and built over 10 commercial studios in my lifetime. I'm also a mastering engineer who has worked on thousands of CD's and have been nominated for several Grammys...

Who are you again?

Goodnight!

Originally Posted by tubeaudiofan

Problem is we have two guys who are longtime posters, pretty respected guys in the biz, who between them have 10K worth of posts, vs a guy with 66 posts... Yes I know that quanity doesn't = quality, and I'm a guy with under 100 posts as well, but these two guys are not slackers. You might not agree with all things Fletcher, but he isn't a shill, and has heard more gear than most people here have seen in magazines. He slags stuff he doesn't like, and calls it how he see's it. Doesn't mean he right, but he isn't a tout. Larry has posted a ton of historical stuff, vital info, and has vast knowledge base as well. I have read many of his posts and been impressed with his knowledge. Clarence and Wes are longtime audio legends, and deserve our respect. I think I met Wes at the '81 AES meeting, and he was a an audio dealer, and was a straight shooter then and now. The R84 is flat out a great mic. Clarence was the original go-to guy for RCA work 20 years ago+, had a little ad in R/EP classifies, when nobody but a few of us cared about ribbon mic's. Mr Sank is a newcomer, may do good work, I don't know it, so I can't speak to it.

So who is Corky and why is he sooooo mad? What does the devil have to do with RCA mic's anyway? He would appear to be the only person here selling ribbons anyway. Fletcher works for Tele, and Larry doesn't make gear. So it would seem that the "commercial motivation" would be Cork's.

I for one learned a bit from this thread, and don't want to see people with a vast amount of knowledge [Fletcher and Larry] get chased away, or too pissed off to contribute. Let's take a deep breath, and get back to MICROPHONES!

[bxt403]

Originally Posted by bxt403

Reading the info for the BK5- it looks to be a very resilient mic.

I store my mics vertically in my bin- since it allows the easiest access; however, read years ago that the ribbon can sag if stored horizontally.

The BK5 diaphragm looks cylindrical and doesn't look like most ribbons- so would the diaphragm even succumb to warping/sagging from improper storage?

I think it's funny that none of the posts following my BK5 specific question have an answer...there is quite a lot of jibber-jabber, though. My guess is that it won't hurt to have my BK5 stored horizontally (but I don't want to risk it so it's still stored vertical).

[Rascal Audio]

Originally Posted by bxt403

I think it's funny that none of the posts following my BK5 specific question have an answer...there is quite a lot of jibber-jabber, though. My guess is that it won't hurt to have my BK5 stored horizontally (but I don't want to risk it so it's still stored vertical).

The BK-5 (both A and B) are end-fire ribbons designed to be pointed directly at the sources they're capturing. When mounted on a straight stand with the body positioned horizontally, the ribbon is perfectly straight up and down. If you wish to store your mic with this ribbon orientation you can simply lay it down on a shelf upside down, so the stand adapter threads are pointed straight up in the air. This would be the equivalent of storing your more traditional figure-8 ribbons vertically.

I hope that makes sense.

Much peace,

Joel

[Peller]

If anyone is looking for a ribbon mic repairer in the UK or Europe, I would recommend Stewart Taverner at Xaudia. He recently fixed up a pair of BK5Bs for me and did a grand job at a very reasonable price.

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by Peller

If anyone is looking for a ribbon mic repairer in the UK or Europe, I would recommend Stewart Taverner at Xaudia. He recently fixed up a pair of BK5Bs for me and did a grand job at a very reasonable price.

Good to know in case of emergency!. as to who the best RCA re-ribboner is, well I don't know... but I sure know who the worst one is, cos it seems to be me!