What`s the deal with these strange looking fellas ?

I`ve got one that I never had a cord to work with it.

The damn things been collecting dust for ten years but today I did a google on it and figured out what the hell it is.

I also found the cords for cheap on ebay.



So what do you guys think ?

Is it worth shelling out the $3.00 for a new cord or am I better off buying a beer. heh


Is this thing good on anything ?

I like using old EVs as the second mic on gtr amps. I'll rotate an RE15, RE55, or a 665 through that position according to what kinda grit I'm after, but they all can get close, close, close with no appreciable proximity effect.

It's a classic blues and 60's garage band microphone for vocals and instruments.

Check out some old photos of blues concerts or
on club stages sometime.

Chris

It was my very first mike! They sold for $49.95 in 1962 and were a competitor to the Shure 545 which was a predecessor of the 57.

They sound great on electric guitars, bass drums and some vocalists. I'd think of it as a very low-end RE-20.

I use mine for vintage sounding electric guitar and vocals. Also, if you have a kick drum that is too boomy with your usual kick drum mics (M88 or 421 for me), try the 664 right up near the beater. It rolls off some of the Subbass but is still punchy.

Also, Make sure the cable is wired right for lo-z. The pin out is on the side of the mic near the connector.

They're best used for looking cool on stage.

A 664 gives off that nice swanky vintage aura.

Plus, they are solid as hell, so they're good if you feel like abusing your mic

When I was the sound guy at Tam high in the 60s we had a gold plated one - I used it on the principle so he'd think he was special. And Bill Champlin sounded great singing thru it when we had the Opposite Six (pre-Sons) play at rallies. I think George Duke used it once or twice too.

Wonder where it is now?

<L>

Thanks a lot for the responses guys.

Very uplifting stuff.

I`m gonna grab that cord off ebay and put this sucker to use.

I did a search on gearslutz and some other forums and found very little info on it but anything I did find seemed surprisingly positive for a mic that seems to be going for about $30 on ebay these days.

I wonder how this one slipped through the cracks as a useful dynamic mic.

The only reason I didn`t throw the thing out years ago was it was just too darn cool looking to get rid of.

Now it looks like it may indeed be a usefull mic after all.

I`ve never been so pshyced about a $30 mic before.

I may have to pick up 5 of them for $150 off ebay !!!

I have one of those gold colored things that I got off ebay for 30 dollars. It's the only mic I use on my guitar cab. Works great.

664 also known as THe Buchanan Hammer....
there are many reports of it being used to drive nails into the stage then screwed onto a mic stand for lead vocals!!
i guess its made out of Zinc!
Those old EVs are scarry cool....
i love a good chrome mic

this page has a bunch of docs and a sound clip
Good Site

It is a beutifull looking mic.

The metal and curves kinda remind me of the robots on Battle Star Galactica.

Maybe one of their guns or something.

I bought a couple of these - one sounds amazing as an 'effect' mic (its probably broken!) - zero top and bottom, just this crazy midrange...nothing else I've used sounds remotely like it

I guess I missed this thread by a month. And it's about one of my current favorite "fetish" microphones, the EV 664.

For the record, I've got 4 of them, 2 silver and 2 "gold". It's my favorite inside the kick mic, and also a fav for "different" sounding electric guitars.

As for the" Buchanan Hammer" moniker, it's all true. It was common practice in the '60's to use a 664 to pound a few spikes into the stage to keep the kick drum from sliding away from the drummer (crappy 60's drum legs....), then you would screw the 664 onto a stand, and use it for your lead vocal!.

BTW, it's not chrome per se, but polished zinc, which looks a lot like chrome. That's also why so many of them are pitted on the outside now. Zinc is more chemically reactive than chrome.

My appointment was late and didn't call, so I went to garage sales! This one never drove spikes to hold a drum in place.

I still want a 666 to put in the 667 box with the EV external EQ .

Same sale produced vintage bicycle parts and Marilyn Monroe Singing cassette.

Cheers.

oh i think i've seen that eq box at SelectSound's Microphone Museum..

if you're ever in Milwaukee..

http://www.coutant.org/paquette/museum1.htm

i'm insane with jealousy...
good find man..
Monroe singing...

and the mic is great as well...

Talk about digging up a grave...

Anyhoo, I recently came across one of these mics, and I don't recall what the issue with the connector was but currently it is in a state of disrepair.
There are four colored wires, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me step by step how to re-solder this mic back into working condition.

There's a red, green, yellow, and white wire coming out the bottom of the mic.
Anyone know which ones go to which pins, also, do I need that special cable to use it or can I modify it to use a regular XLR with it?

This is pretty much my first contact with a vintage mic so I'm pretty clueless.

Thanks!

They were the ubiquitous SM58 of their day. A good sounding dynamic.

My experience is exactly the same as delay1968's. Sound cool in the kick drum!

Found this in my files.............................

and this

i've got a couple of 664s in my drawer of old ev and shure mics. they are fantastic on many sources. in front of a deluxe, thru an altec 1567 is a beatuful sound. i have one wired lo and one wired hi imped. different sounds for different purposes.
rock on.
david

btw, just scored a shure 777 SA at the flea market last weekend. thought it would be a "novelty" mic like my collection of 40s ceramics. used it this week on a jam and it was very cool sounding. $5. i think i overpaid.
david

This site also has sound clips and tech data.

http://www.coutant.org/contents.html

first mic i ever owned '67... wish i still had it just for ambience...

All EV dynamics I've used----635 omni on guitar cabs, 664 for backing vocals, guitar cabs, inside kick drums----are great, virtually indestructible, and found cheap on ebay. The slightly harder to find 666 is basically a 664 without the low end rolled off, and was used on kick drums a lot back in the 1960's (it's supposedly the Muscle Shoals Sound kick mic, as heard on countless soul classics, as well as "Brown Sugar").

I dig my 664a, especially on bass.

The connecter on the 644 was a dual impedance setup so you could change from high to low impedance by simply switching the cable. Therefore, when converting to XLR you only need 3 of the wires. I don't remember the exact color code, but I'm pretty sure that green is ground . You can check with an ohm meter to figure out which the low Z connections are. It's been about 20 years, and my memory ain't what it used to be.

Electro-Voice actually ran ads saying that you could pound nails with the mic without damaging it. They also offered a lifetime guarantee, but good luck getting it honored now. When I was house soundman at San Francisco's legendary Mabuhay Gardens punk club it was my go-to mic for snare drum, as it didn't matter how hard or often the drummer whacked it. I also used it from time to time on lead vocalists who were particularly hard on mics - I have a funny story about Lux Interior of the Cramps when they played the Mab and his antics when confronted with an unkillable microphone.

The characteristics of the mic are extremely neutral, with virtually no proximity effect in spit of the cardioid pattern due to EV's "Variable D" port design, later (and presently) used in the RE series. The 664 is actually the linear ancestor of the RE-20, and as such makes a pretty good kick mic.

The mic was originally intended for use as a podium mic - you see them a lot in old newsreels and pictures of courtrooms. It was the major competitor to the Shure model 545 Unidyne III. The Shure was more popular with rock vocalists, who liked the proximity effect that had been engineered out of the 664.

Since it has no proximity effect the 664 tends to "woof" a lot less when used on acoustic guitar.

For a long time you could find these mics at flea markets and junk stores for $15 or $20, but unfortunately "mic collector" creeps on eBay have run the price up exorbitantly in recent years due to its "cool art deco look", may they rot in Hades for all eternity...... Mics are tools to be used by sound engineers, not ornaments for some dilettante's living room!

I just pulled my connector apart, I wired it with Mogami a few years ago but this will give you the info as to what you need to make the Amphenol 4 pin to 3 pin XLR connector.

On the Amphenol connector, pin 1 is ground. pin 3 is positive (hot) pin 4 is negative (neutral). So you ground wire would go to pin 1 of your XLR, pin 2 is hot and pin 3 is neutral.

Hi-Z operation uses Pin 1 for ground and pin 2 for hot. 664's sound cool plugged into your Fender Twin Reverb.

I have a gold anodized 664 with matching base. But my favorite Electro-Voice mic from that era is the 676. I have one of those in gold, one in broadcast grey and the stand mount version, a 674 in standard chrome.

BTW the earlier Shure 545 series used the same connector wired the same way. The sleek looking Shure version will fit the EV mic perfectly.

It was a legendary 1960'th microphone used for vocals, guitars, drums, an universal one like modern Shure SM-58 is used today.

Pressure-cast Zinc body made to damp acoustical resonances and to avoid sound coloration caused by diffractions.

The microphone is optimized for environments with high sound pressures, ambient noises, reverberations: it's cardioid directionality pattern cancel feedback and other noises coming from rear side of the microphone.

It has a high quality matching transformer inside. Using different pins on the socket you may select either 150 Ohm symmetrical output for modern or vintage recording consoles, or high-Z output to use it with a tube amp.

This mike is the perfect tool to get "that" vintage sound you have in mind! Also, it adds a vintage charm to your stage or studio.

I'm selling one on ePay currently.

Link?

I believe it is not allowed to post trade links on this forum, but let's hope the moderator forgiveth us...

Legendary Electro Voice 664 Dynamic Microphone - eBay (item 180359543324 end time May-27-09 16:39:35 PDT)