Topic: can someone modify a microphone for me?

[backwhereubelong]

I have a old Realistic 33-1065 Stereo Electret Microphone (see picture) that I would like to have changed around a bit ... it has dual 1/8" plugs that I would like to be condensed to just one stereo 1/8" plug.  I know I can purchase an adaptor, but I would really like to avoid adding another adaptor (something that could come loose or disconnected) to my recording setup.  I prefer something more "permanent".  I imagine this would be an easy fix for someone with skills and knowledge, I have neither, so I'm hoping someone here can help.  I don't use this mic all that much anymore, but on occasion I like to break it out and use it.  It's actually a very nice (vintage) mic.

Let me know if you can help and how much you would charge for the mod/fix.

[stevetoney]

You're right, it's a very simple job that you can easily do yourself.  All you need is a soldering iron, soldering flux, heat shrink, and a continuity checker or multi-meter.

First, buy a stereo mini-plug from Radio Shack and some heat shrink.  I like the connectors that have a spring built into it...the spring provides stress relief for the cable. 

The old cables have two leads inside them.  Before you hack the old connectors off, check the existing cables to make sure you can tell which lead is which...sometimes one side of the cable has a white strip or ribbing to differentiate it from the other side.  If the cable doesn't have this, you'll need to take the cover off your mic to get access to the bare leads as they enter the box.  Anyway, the purpose of this is that you need to use the continuity tester/multi-meter to determine which wire connects to the connector tip and which connects to the sleeve.  If the sheathed cable has the marking I mentioned above, you can do this AFTER hacking the ends off.  Just match the leads up and use your tester to determine which lead has continuity with the tip and which has continuity with the sleeve.  If the cable doesn't have any markings, use the exposed leads inside the mic box to do the same thing.  The sleeve wires are your ground wires. 

After you've verified how the old wires are connected, you're OK to hack off the two old connectors and solder up the stereo connector. 

The stereo connector has three points you'll want to solder to; the tip is your left mic, the ring is your right mic, and the sleeve is ground. 

On the two cables coming from the mics, pigtail the two ground wires together, slip your heat shrink into place, apply flux and solder the ground wires together onto the sleeve post.  Note that I usually will snip about 1/4 to 1/2 inch or so off the length of the ground wires before soldering so that there's no excess slack when soldering the other two wires.  Solder the remaining left mic wire to the tip post and the right mic wire to the ring post.  (a convenient way to remember which is which...RIGHT= RING)

Make sure everything is clean and there's no excess solder drippings...you don't want any of the posts or stray wires to cause shorted between posts. If it's not clean, I sometimes resolder or sometimes I just use some snips to trim away excess wire or solidified solder.

Test that everything is working fine and once you confirm, shrink your heat shrink onto the wires.  Note  that if you don't have a heat gun, you can use a ligher or match, but don't hold the flame too close or youll burn the shrink off...defeats the purpose of having shink if you burns if off after soldering up.

Slide the sheath in place and test to make sure everything is working fine after the sheath is screwed in place.  there's not muh room inside the sheath and you want to make sure nothing gets scrunched together once you screw the sheath on.

Done.