[Ramshackles]

I've been building microphones for some time, and I have had a pair of U87 clones for a while (occasionally I have sold/given one away and built another...).
For a long time, the parts to build such a microphone were fairly difficult to come by (mainly the body). Things have progressed to the point where there now a number of different sellers providing various parts for the mic.

So I have been wondering about providing an assembly service for such mics.
I can get an off the shelf 'all included' kit such as this: https://microphone-parts.com/collections/microphone-kits/products/s87-microphone-kit
and assemble it for you, or do a more custom, high quality build, similar to this mic:






Before I start doing this; is this the kind of thing that would appeal to home recordists (you guys) at all?

These mics typically have the kind of parts, quality and sound you would expect in a mic worth more like £700-1000, of course the catch being that you have to rely on internet 'gossip' and user reviews for such testimonials and it depends on the assembly.

As a rough guide, I would do an assembly for £120 + parts cost (which you can provide or I can source) + postage.

[tone]

Depending on how much the parts cost, I'd be interested

[Boydie]

Me too 

I think if you were able to personally find the best/right kit to use and provide a high quality assemble - and perhaps even a special RAM mod to be able to produce an amazing U87 mod for a fraction of the price - e.g. A really high end mic for a low/mid range price would be really interesting

Everyone should have at least one "amazing" mic and I think most home recordists would consider investing - e.g. The Slate Virtual Mic System is around £1k, which models lots of mics/pre amps

I was just talking to @montydog about the high quality of some of his recent recordings I have mastered and his acoustic and vocal recordings are of a pro quality with an sE 2200a, which is currently just under £200

How much do you think you could produce a good U87 clone for? If you could genuinely source the right parts and put them together to produce a killer "boutique" mic that has the RAM stamp of approval I would be VERY interested

[Ramshackles]

Had to think about this to find a balance between offering options and overwhelming you with choices....

So I think I would offer the following

The 'Ramshackle' microphone*.

• Standard version - 530 GBP. High quality U87 recreation microphone and shock mount.
• Deluxe version - standard version with a superior brass body and a nice wooden box, 625 GBP.
  
• 'Super Deluxe'. I need to verify the quality of the extra parts so I don't have a price for this yet, but it will essentially be the same as deluxe but with a more expensive output transformer and capsule

* What is the 'Ramshackle' microphone.
Similar to the pictures in my first post.
Firstly, I don't want to mislead you into thinking I am doing anything special with the electronics that you cannot do yourself (if you know a bit of electronics). Basically, the 'Ramshackle' microphone uses a faithful recreation of the vintage U87 circuit board from here:
http://www.vintagemicrophonepcbkit.com/DU87.html

I then source the highest quality parts (e.g. polyester capacitors, silver teflon wire and so on) from my usual suppliers (essentially, Farnell, Mouser and a couple of small retailers for hard to find parts).

The body comes from here:
http://store.studio939.com/product/budget-yt-body-kit
or here for the delux version:
http://store.studio939.com/product/syt-5-microphone-body-kit

Likewise the 'deluxe' version wooden box comes from the same shop.

Finally, I use a capsule from here:
https://microphone-parts.com/collections/capsules/products/rk87-microphone-capsule

So, as you can see, everything I'm doing is readily available. So what do you get for this 'service'?:

- The legwork. I'm gonna actually build and test the thing for you
- The electronics expertise. I am *not* an electrical engineer professional. However I do have some formal training and the experience and equipment necessary to do this stuff. I've been running an online electronics shop for recording equipment a few years now. And I have built plenty of these mics and other equipment before. I have already sourced the best parts, tested different possibilities (e.g output transformers) and so on.

The price breaks down as essentially parts price plus approx £125 for the assembly and testing.