Can anyone tell me some good places to look for a vintage U-47? I wish I didn't like the mic but I do. Too much. Thanks for the help!

You'll break your heart trying to find a vintage U47 in half-decent condition that costs less than your car. Before doing that consider auditioning one of these wonderful U47 re-creations:

Heiserman H47tube
https://heisermanaudio.com/products/h47tube

Pearlman Tm-47
https://pearlmanmicrophones.com/product/tm-47

Flea 47
www.flea-microphones.com/mics_vintage.html

I’d look at Abbey Road or get in contact with Paul McCartney. Make a very, very serious offer. Maybe they are getting tired of those giant dinosaur mics.
Interesting that this is your first post. Unless you inherited some oil wells this doesn’t seem like a reasonable ask.

I have a Wunder Audio CM7. Sounds incredible. Parts are interchangeable with the vintage units (except the tube which is a modified EF-14 instead of a VF-14). I’ve compared many times to vintage U47’s in shoot outs. Sounds like a quality U47!

It’s tough to find a vintage U47 that has a good tube and a good capsule that isn’t drenched in 70 years of spit and cigarette smoke! But if you need the real deal, you will pay large $$$!

Yeah, either pay a ton to get one gone over by somewhere trustworthy, or audition some clones.

I've often seen some pop up at Vintage king Audio on occasion. https://vintageking.com None there now though. In a search for a vintage 47 in good condition, patience will be required. Oh, and $15-20k.

Like others have been telling you here, some clones are very, very close (I'd suggest Heiserman) and will get you there for a lot less money and without the fear of impending breakdowns and $4-5k bill for a new tube or capsule (if you're lucky).

If you're still stuck on an old vintage Neumann, I might suggest you consider a U-67. My main go-to mic for years and I often choose it over a 47 anyway. Replacement parts are still available and very inexpensive in comparison.

om28e asked a simple question: where can he find a real U47 in great shape?

What he get was the usual answers from posers:
"because we cannot admit to ourselves that we cannot afford a real U47, we will bash the real U47, which we have never even seen up close, and pretend that the clones (which is all we can afford) are just as good."

And this is supposed to be the "High End"?

Why is that nonsense constantly repeated that the original tubes fail? I want to hear from an actual, REAL U47 owner who had single VF14 that used to work one day fail!

And if the clones are so great, how come every single serious professional studio will save up to get a REAL U47?

Lets get real: The real U47s are one of only a few workhorses that keep prooving their value as recording tool decade after decade. Or why is it that of all mikrofons, THAT one is copied the most? And why is it that, if the copies are so great, their value unlike the REAL U47 never rises?

I just bought one from Gearslutz. It sounds and looks great. It's my second so far. They are something special. I have got close to the sound with Horch, Nordic and Voxorama but there is an effortless magic with the real original components.

Check out @ INF ernalemachine instagram. It’s not just an account it’s pure art.

That's where my 47 came from. They are good people. @ datapanik on here is the guy.

Helmuth, Helmuth, Helmuth...
None of the posts so far have bashed the real U47. Noting that something is extraordinarily expensive is not bashing it.
Also, I don’t think anyone posting so far has mentioned even using a real U47. I didn’t. In my time in LA studios I saw many U47 fet, but in LA studios in that period tube mics and tube outboard were not generally as prized as they were before and since. Never saw a U47, U67 or 251.

“Posers”? WTF does that mean in this thread except as a generic insult.
Right back at you, drooler.

In my experience, the repair shops will be your best resource. Put the word out, they will know who is selling, liquidating, open to offers, etc. Plus they'll have an insight on how well it has been maintained.

The last Neumann U47 was manufactured over 50 years ago.

Is a Neumann U47 purchased today going to sound exactly like a U47 that left the Neumann factory sometime in the 1950's?

If not, that's a good reason to consider a modern U47 re-creation.

We are on Gearslutz... what do you expect

Wow, such attitude dude. I think you've completely misread the responses.

It's not always about not admitting that we can't afford one, sometimes it's actually about how we choose to allocate our resources.

Because the original tubes fail. Like a lot of other people here, I've been casually watching ads for these mics for a long time looking for a good deal. Probably at least 60% of old vintage 47s for sale have had the original tube replaced. and it's not because people have found a better tube. These tubes haven't been made since 1960. That makes even the newest ones over 60 years old.

Not every serious professional studio has a vintage 47 or cares to. Even when they can afford it, some have other priorities rather than trying to maintain an old, fragile mic.

Why don't 47 clone mics rise in value like a 47? The real reason vintage 47's continue to rise in value is because of a diminishing supply and growing demand. There are some clone mics that have been discontinued and they've also gone up in value. Most well made clones may not have gone up in value (because they're still being made), but these used mics haven't gone down in price either. Try buying a used Flea and see how it's held its value.

If that was true, AKG C61 or Neumann KM76 or AKG C12A prices would be in the stratasfere.
Nothing becomes more expensive just because there a less of it. That includes mikrofons.

If cloners could make a copy that performed like a U47 their prices also would be in the stratasfere.

Why does everyone here think that if you can REALLY make a mikrofon that performs as good as the Neumann U47 it would sell for cheaper? Because Mr. Bock or Mr. Telefunken USA or Mr. Heisemann or Mr. Flea are nice people who want to give you free value?
No, they are cheaper in comparison to a Neumann because they sound cheaper. That is all there is to that equazion between value as a recording instrument and price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-84WhqZdx0

Play this video, take your eyes off the screen and tell me which is which. Then tell me again how bad the clones are.

So you believe the power of advertizing? Is that how you would buy your next car? Ferrari and Cadilac same finish line? OK, let's buy the Cadilac! So much cheaper!

If you think you can judge an MP3 file and specially a recording that you have no idea how Sweetwater manipulated it, so that the mikrofon they are selling comes out winner, I cannot help you.

A Healthy amount of skepticism is good, being overly cynical... not so much. I don't really care how they might have manipulated it. If I can manipulate it the same way, get that kind of nearly identical result and save $12,000.00 in the process, I'll take it.

Besides, we're getting way off topic. We're trying to help the OP find a 47.

You know how you can do that real easy? You lower the quality of the real U47sound in the clip to the point that it will sound the same as the clone.

Sources for a good U47? Sometimes Vintage King has them. Good company. Goo warranty. More usual: the engineers and artists grow old or need money. That means these better mics stay of ebay and go to the next owner because people know and trust each other.

I've had a few.some good and some not so good.same with 67's.hit or miss.
best ones I ever heard were a matched pair w KK47 capsules bought from Madooma for around 35K.that was a while ago.they'd probably fetch 40-45k now[insane]
Ive heard some real turds too.
a good one on the right singer is really .
I see VK sells a lot for 12-15K without the original vf14's.the best ones Ive heard had VF14's although Ive heard a couple nuvisters I wouldn't mind using.
I know a couple dudes.I'll ask.
be prepared to spend at the very minimum $15K unless you have a friend cutting you a deal.a really good condition one up to 20K.no guarantee its going THE mic so hopefully try before you buy.
yeah I use various clones a lot too with good results.no problem.

I'll sell mine for 20k for sure

Yeah... No. Somehow, I don't think Sweetwater is going to risk intentionally damaging their reputation by releasing a video where they've lowered the sound quality of a venerable old vintage mic just so they can make one of their suppliers look a little better. Not impossible but very improbable.

Perhaps it's just easier to let go of your cognitive dissonance and accept the fact that some clones (this one at least) are there. They've matched the sound of an original very closely. Oh, and by the way. If you compared the price of a new Neumann U-47 sold in 1950 to today's dollars (I think they were about $300), it would sell for around $3-3.5k. The rest of the markup is just down to supply and demand.

I will try to save a lot of people time and post all the proper responses.

1. All you really need is vocal lessons
2. If you don't know where to buy one you obviously can't understand or appreciate a vintage U47
3. It sounds like you couldn't tell the difference between a vintage U47 and an sm57
4. Just buy a Fearn mic pre.
5. Just buy a sheffield mic pre.
6. If you record your guitar parts with a strat instead of a les paul it will free up the frequency ranges that are being masked by your current mic and you really only need to buy another Distressor.
7. Upgrade your Pro Tools
8. The Warm Audio mic is exactly the same.
9. Don't even consider Warm Audio
10. Flea makes a perfect copy of a vintage 47
11. I've heard the Flea and it sounds nothing like my buddy's U47.

Hope this helps.

It was a drop and run. He gone.

Maybe at the gearslutz Classified forum sometimes some are poping up. Maybe you can find a seller in your near to check it directly at the sellers place out. It's always dangerous to buy such old equipment and not be 100% aware of the condition. The VF14m tube is kinda rare to find on the used market there are often fake or noisy tubes around. So if your tube fails you have a big problem. Check out Gunter Wagners U47w page here you can find everything about U47's and also about the tube.
Don't know your mic arsenal but i would go for something more reliable if you doesn't have too many microphones already.

Drop and run,
One and done...
The OP and his “quest” weren’t very believable anyhow.

Ask Allen Sides

There have been many times where we chose the wunder cm7s over vintage.
They’re both great.it’s one mic sometimes just works better on a particular vocalist

You ask Allen Sides.