that was exciting, and stupid....

hollywood_steve · 26th October 2003

Spent a few minutes checking out the mics I used last night; it had been a very late night and we packed up quickly. I just planned to spend a few minutes making sure everything made it home safely and that I didn't lose any little parts. Well, I started with my mics and opened up a few cases and layed the mics out on a table covered with a thick bath towel. A pair of Neumann KM184s, a Royer R121, the Coles 4038 and the big BLUE Bottle mic. I noticed that the little 3/8 to 5/8" adapters hadn't been screwed back into the Neumann clips, they were loose in the wood case. So I spent a minute screwing the two brass adapters into their respective clips. Midway through the second clip, I caught some motion out of the corner of my eye and turned around in time to see the Bottle mic rolling across the table and gaining speed. Maybe because it was heading towards the middle of the table, I didn't react, I just watched with a "what the hell?" look on my face. Half a second later there was a bright metallic thud as the Bottle collided with the Coles 4038. There was no tilt to the table top; the big-ass magnet in the Coles had found the equally large hunk of iron in the Bottle (transformer) and had followed the laws of physics. The collision was not so hard as to guarantee damage, but it was certainly bad enough that there was a possiblity that either mic might be unhappy. (Preliminary test indicate that I will not have to suffer any consequence for my stupidity.) I'm just surprised that the force was enough to start a heavy stationary object to start rolling on a thick towel. I was so surprised that after I pulled the two mics apart, I put them back down and it immediately happened again! This time they were starting from much closer together so even though I tried to stop the Bottle, it hit with the same metallic clank. (I'm such a dork!) At that point I quickly put everything back in their cases and promised not to touch any gear until I smarten up a little.

RichT · 26th October 2003

Huh huh cool Butthead

Do it again huhh huhh do it again

ExistanceMusic · 27th October 2003

tutt

Freaky stuff. Haven't seen a Baby Bottle yet, but those 4038s are ALL magnet! Handy if you need to do some ironing in a hurry, just run 48v for a while to heat it up nicel........JOKING!!

Fletcher, put that knife down.

hollywood_steve · 27th October 2003

Haven't seen a Baby Bottle yet
*******************************

This was no baby bottle; this was the big daddy Bottle that could easily fit a half dozen or more baby bottles inside. I wouldn't have been that surprised if some little mic rolled over, but this was the largest mic manufactured in the past 50 years; 14 inches of tube and transformer iron. (I must admit that an RCA 44 or AEA version is at least as heavy due to the ribbon magnets) But the Bottle looks bigger than anything you'll find named "baby."

ExistanceMusic · 28th October 2003

Wow, I stand corrected, that sounds like one helluva impressive mic!

26th October 2003	#1
hollywood_steve Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: uh..... Hollywood Posts: 1,242 Thread Starter	that was exciting, and stupid.... Spent a few minutes checking out the mics I used last night; it had been a very late night and we packed up quickly. I just planned to spend a few minutes making sure everything made it home safely and that I didn't lose any little parts. Well, I started with my mics and opened up a few cases and layed the mics out on a table covered with a thick bath towel. A pair of Neumann KM184s, a Royer R121, the Coles 4038 and the big BLUE Bottle mic. I noticed that the little 3/8 to 5/8" adapters hadn't been screwed back into the Neumann clips, they were loose in the wood case. So I spent a minute screwing the two brass adapters into their respective clips. Midway through the second clip, I caught some motion out of the corner of my eye and turned around in time to see the Bottle mic rolling across the table and gaining speed. Maybe because it was heading towards the middle of the table, I didn't react, I just watched with a "what the hell?" look on my face. Half a second later there was a bright metallic thud as the Bottle collided with the Coles 4038. There was no tilt to the table top; the big-ass magnet in the Coles had found the equally large hunk of iron in the Bottle (transformer) and had followed the laws of physics. The collision was not so hard as to guarantee damage, but it was certainly bad enough that there was a possiblity that either mic might be unhappy. (Preliminary test indicate that I will not have to suffer any consequence for my stupidity.) I'm just surprised that the force was enough to start a heavy stationary object to start rolling on a thick towel. I was so surprised that after I pulled the two mics apart, I put them back down and it immediately happened again! This time they were starting from much closer together so even though I tried to stop the Bottle, it hit with the same metallic clank. (I'm such a dork!) At that point I quickly put everything back in their cases and promised not to touch any gear until I smarten up a little. __________________ steve Lexington 125 - High Resolution Location Recording lex125@pacbell.net http://www.lexington125.com

27th October 2003	#3
ExistanceMusic Gear addict Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 478	tutt Freaky stuff. Haven't seen a Baby Bottle yet, but those 4038s are ALL magnet! Handy if you need to do some ironing in a hurry, just run 48v for a while to heat it up nicel........JOKING!! Fletcher, put that knife down. __________________ Jesse Mahoney ExistanceMusic :at: hotmail dot com

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Was there ever a dbx 160VU that was white colored?	AlanTide	High end	4	18th June 2004 06:37 PM
Was there ever a dbx 160VU that was white or cream colored?	AlanTide	So much gear, so little time!	1	18th June 2004 03:37 PM

26th October 2003	#2
RichT Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Portsmouth, UK Posts: 1,469	Huh huh cool Butthead Do it again huhh huhh do it again

28th October 2003	#5
ExistanceMusic Gear addict Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 478	Wow, I stand corrected, that sounds like one helluva impressive mic!