Coles 4038 re-ribbon?

[Nat]

Heya,

Does anyone know where I can get a pair of Coles 4038s re-ribboned? Someone was looking at them the other day in my studio and slammed both the lids. Unsurprisingly, they no longer work! I've also got another 4038 which suffered a similar fate some months ago.

Anyway, I got in touch with Coles and they charge about $180 to reribbon just ONE microphone, which seems a bit high to me and is also way beyond what I can afford to spend right now. If anyone knows of anywhere else (esp. in the UK) where I can have them reribboned for less, please let me know.

Cheers,
--Nat

 

[Rob Flinn]

$180 may seem a high price.

A friend of mine has had his 4038`s re ribboned by coles a few times, & looked on one time while they did it. The mic is not just re ribboned, but serviced

They take the assembly to bits & put the magnet in a machine which restrengthens it, this means that you get a bigger output when you get the mic back.

Basically he said that the mics are better when you get them back.

 

[zebra50]

I pretty much agree with Rob. These are nice mics.

I have done some reribboning work on the lower end ribbon mics (reslos, grampians and others) with good results, but if they were mine I'd find the cash somehow and send them back to Coles for a service - I have heard good things about this service from a number of people now.

(If you're really broke & desperate drop me a PM).

Stewart

 

[Marik]

In US re-ribboning of mics like RCA, Beyer, B&O, etc. is usually around $120. For the amount of work, the price Coles has quoted looks fair, though. Don't forget, it uses 0.6um foil, which is muuuuch harder (and I'd imagine time consuming) to work with. Also, Alnico magnets lose their efficiency with time, so strengthening them would be a good idea.

Just in case, Coles resonant frequency of the ribbon is around 40Hz, IIRC.

 

[Consul]

And don't ever let anyone look at your Coles mics again. :thumb: :guinness:

 

[al_p]

i just went through this a few months ago with a 4038. like the guys said that price seems to be reasonable. especially with the magnet work.

i originally though it ripped as a result of what i was doing. [snare drum samples, mic about 18" away] but after speaking with a few techs i think the drummer i was working with must of coughed at the mic or something. the ribbons are super sensitive to air velocity, so be careful where you store the mics too, ie. don't keep them set up near an AC vent or high trafic area.
i now bag all ribbon mics when not in use and while moving them. i don't want to get that sick to my stomach feeling again when i open up a channel and find there is no more signal

 

[nacho459]

Wes Dooley at AEA works on Coles.

They are out here in Pasadena though, but he would be another option.

http://www.wesdooley.com