Vintage microphones and head phones.

[Carl Miller]

So, I made a dump run this weekend trying to clean up the house and saw a guy tossing these microphones in with a bunch of other trash. I asked if he'd mind me taking them and he told me to help myself.

I was curious if anybody here knew anything about them. I still think they look neat, even if they aren't desirable.

 

[Giftmacher]

These are great! I was thinking of some old headphones for my Garrett metal detector )

 

[LizzieMaine]

Those are very rugged microphones -- that type of mike was commonly for remote broadcasts or public address work. Stromberg Carlson was a quality manufacturer, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if they still worked. There's probably an XLR connector in the base, along with a socket for a stand.

THe headphones are likely high-impedance models made for professional or military applications. They aren't high-fidelity, but they weren't used for hi-fi purposes. The cord looks like it needs to be replaced, but once fixed, unless the coils are burned out, there's no reason why they shouldn't work.

 

[alsendk]

The company SHURE made models like these right from the fourtees.
We still have such a SHURE microphone in my jazzband, and it is working fine. As Lizzie writes, it is fitted with a male XLR socket, and has a fine natural caracteristic sound, though a little mellow,which can easily be corrected over the mixer pa.
I have seen numerous artists singing in front of microphones like this. LittleRichard ElvisJerry Lee Lewis and Sinatra.
This model was very much in use during the late fourties and the fifties, and are very much sought after in Denmark for it`s sound quality, and the gimmick/iconery to have such one.
But exactly this brand I have never heard of.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Stromberg Carlson was a company best known for making telephone equipment -- its quality wasn't quite on the plane of Western Electric, but it was many notches higher than consumer-grade equipment of the time.

Shure still makes that type of mic today -- we have one at the theatre.

 

[Vornholt]

Looks a lot like a Shure SM55 (or variations thereon), the so-called "Fat Boy" model. They do still manufacture one like it today, though with modern internals.