If you want to learn about old microphones,

[mayfly]

Here's a good place to start:

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

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Nice pictures of the Sony C800.  Now to find someone that makes a repro transformer set...
Patrick

 

[Cagey]

Rarely a day goes by where I don't marvel at the wonders of the internet. Can you imagine trying to find all this specialized data on your own? And here it is, fractions of a second away, all organized and presented for free. Even if you had access to the Library of Congress and an unlimited amount of time available to you, it would still take months or even years to compile a reference like this.

 

[mayfly]

Yep.  It's pretty nutty.  I have an urge to find an AKG C12 at a garage sale now...

 

[AndyG]

Yep.  It's pretty nutty.  I have an urge to find an AKG C12 at a garage sale now...

Great link ...thank-you for posting it.

They're not all old mics, BTW.  Some are pretty recent, and others (like the AKG 414 or Neumann U87) haven't changed much in 30 or so years.

I've personally used about 40% of the mics listed in one capacity or another. 
And good luck on finding the C12.  I'll be on the lookout for a U67  :glasses9:

 

[mayfly]

howabout a U47 instead? 

http://www.tab-funkenwerk.com/id63.html

The kit is about the same price as a warmoth!

 

[alterbridgefan]

Didn't the Astronauts use U-47's? Top of the line back then, even some of the biggest bands chose to rent them rather than buy.