In this short series ‘Old and New’ some of the team are going to share an old, reliable piece of gear that we use all the time and something that has come into our lives in the past year. First off is Steve DeMott:

One of the joys of having a commercial studio is constantly trying to meet the expectations of clients. And one of the ways that manifests itself is in building an appealing mic locker. As we all know, no mic will be great on every source. Every mic design has pros and cons that predispose it to be stellar on some things and anywhere from passable to horrible on others.

New - Signal Art Electronics U47

One of the mics we picked up this year was the Signal Art Electronics U47 Premium Reference Edition. This mic has been nothing short of awe inspiring on vocals, In fact, every singer who’s auditioned it has chosen it as “the biggest and best” sounding on their voice. It has a weight that brings authority and command to the vocal.

The mic is made by Chad David Kelly using, what he believes to be, the best options for each stage of the build, including an Eric Heiserman HM7 capsule and a matched pair of Western Electric 408a (6028) pentode valves. It has a real heft and feels very well made. Even the power supply weighs in heavier than you would expect.

I expect to be happy with this mic for a very long time.

Old - JoeMeek VC2 Tube Channel

Sometime around 1998 I had the opportunity to pick up a few pieces of gear at a great price. We all know the story: guy sees gear. Guy buys gear. Guy brings gear home. Significant Other asks how much. Guy Sells gear. And that’s exactly how I scored a JoeMeek VC2 Tube Channel. It’s basically a tube preamp with an optical compressor and a saturation circuit dubbed “enhance” in a single, bright green, 2U enclosure.. It was one of my first “real” preamps. I had been able to use high end stuff at studios (like API, TubeTech, Millenia, ADL, Grace), but my home setup was far more humble. The JoeMeeks had a street price of around $2k new and I was able to get this one for about a third of that.

I’ve used this pre on so many recordings. It has a sound and color that makes things feel “real”. I often refer to it as giving a sound girth. I also really like to DI my bass right into it, add a little of that opto compression & a touch of the enhance circuit, et voilà!

This is one of those pieces that I don’t think I will ever part with & consistently find use for.