PM42
34 posts
Oct 10, 2017
7:21 AM
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I've got a 520DX that I don't use much and I'm wondering if I can replace its dynamic element with a CM or CR. Is that a process I (without any mic building experience and only very basic electrical knowledge) could manage to do myself, or does it require the services of a mic customizer?
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jbone
2365 posts
Oct 10, 2017
3:49 PM
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Can you do fairly fine soldering? I've swapped a couple in my time. Heat shrink tube is a good thing to have handy.
Sometimes the mounting of an element is a bigger hassle to deal with than the solder job. I've opened one bullet up to find it was full of hardened epoxy. Another was mostly full of silicone caulk. All of a sudden a quick swap turned into a major project!
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Reverbnation
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Dragonbreath
95 posts
Oct 11, 2017
8:32 PM
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Yeah man it's super easy. I pretty much had no electrical or soldering experience and if I could do it so can you. Watch a couple soldering vids on youtube, maybe do some practice solders, google some CM solder bullet stuff for pics and tutorals, and off you go.
I did the CM istall on a bluesblaster bullet, works great, sounds great. I connected the mic to amp and held the wire ends aginst the connectors on the CM and tapped on the element to listen if I heard any sound from amp, and when I did I knew what cable goes where and soldered it.
My volume control turned into more of an on/off switch and I guess I could switch the volume pot but it doesn't bother me. The gut that sold me the CM included a gasket that fits jt-30 and bluesblaster, you'll need a gasket too probably, I don't know how the CM fits the gasket for 520dx element, maybe you can get it to work with some DIY.
It was my first mic job but I've done a couple more since, along with cables, plugs, guitar pickups swichcraft connectors to cable for ultimate 545 (that was the hardest so far but I found good guidance by googling) and whatever else I can find to solder :) Nothing broken so far knock on wood.
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Arrick
115 posts
Oct 12, 2017
5:52 AM
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I swapped out a CM element in my 520DX and it works perfectly. The volume control works great. Very easy if you can do basic soldering.
I found my CM element in a plastic (1980s I think) Shure desk mic. It was dual impedance, so I had to make sure I wired it correctly to Hi-Z. I got the mic for $15 at a flea market. ;-)
I really don't know why Shure puts those dynamic elements in the 520DX. They sound awful, but as a newbie I just saw a $100 green bullet that I could buy local so I bit. With a CM, this is a totally different mic. My dual-impedance CM isn't one of the highly coveted ones, but was still a huge upgrade at very low cost/effort.
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Arrick
116 posts
Oct 12, 2017
6:02 AM
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I bought a NOS ceramic element from this Dave at The Harp Mic shop and had a great experience. He took time to help me find the right element for what I was after. Here's his CR/CM page if that helps.
LINK - The Harp Mic Shop - CM Elements
You might also look to Greg Heumann. He can get you a new Heumann Element with a gasket to fit your 520DX.
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BnT
110 posts
Oct 12, 2017
11:39 PM
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Like people said it just takes a little soldering, or...
I had an Astatic 200 with the handle chopped off. Greg Heumann sells new, nicely made gaskets. Mark Overman (San Jose, CA) has great selection of vintage CR and CM elements (I chose a 1949 black label CR) and for a very reasonable fee he installed a VC at the rear, lined the interior of the shell with copper tape, wired up and installed the amphenol connector and element. The quality of the work far exceeded the cost. This "new" mic should be good for another 70 years of use.
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BnT
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