RE20 restoration - NICE!

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:37 pm

I hope this is the right subforum to post this.

I bought a used RE20 off eBay about six years ago in order to use as a saxophone mic on live gigs that were being recorded. The mic sounded good, but would make these weird little clicks randomly. I took it apart and tried to track down the source, but never could. As such, it has mostly sat un-used in my mic locker.

On Christmas Day, I was perusing the DIY Forum and saw this thread about RE20 restoration. The pictures looked great and people seemed pleased with the service. I decided I would send my RE20 to Mic Daddy to have serviced. I emailed Ben McEntarffer to see if the free matte black finish was still available and he wrote back saying I had won a free refurbishment! He posted on Christmas that the first person who emailed him would get a free refurbishment and it just happened to be me! Cool!

Anyway, I sent him my RE20, which I had just taken out again to use for recording my jazz trio organissimo (details in this thread). Here's a picture of it on the Leslie. Again, it sounded great, but I had to remove some little clicks here and there in the recording via Cubase's wave editing feature. Bummer.

The mic came back last week while I was on the road and I just opened it today. WOW! It looks fantastic and sounds better than when I sent it. I also don't hear any clicks or pops (turns out it was some tiny rogue whiskers on the XLR connector shorting pin 2 and 3 even now and again).

Here's how it looks now:

Picture 1

Picture 2

I highly recommend Mic Daddy's service. Even if it wasn't free, I'd be recommending it. Ben's service was fast, his communication with me on the progress of the work was detailed and timely, and the shipping was top notch. ?If you've got an old RE20 lying around, you should look into this service.

I have no affiliation with Ben other than I think he's a great guy and he does great work. I hope this is helpful to someone out there. I believe Ben also works on other EV dynamic mics.

contact:
ben@micdaddy.com
www.micdaddy.com

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:25 pm

That is fantastic. Thanks for the feedback, glad to know this can be done properly by someone other than Electrovoice/Bosch/whatev.

How much was it supposed to cost?

There site/service seems to be down, according to the linked web page. I may have to email them regarding a sen md421 repair, and an Electrovoice PL11.

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:44 pm

From the groupDIY forum post:

"RE20 repair rates generally range from $109-$159 with some exceptions."

I was assuming mine would be about $130 before I found out I won the free refurb!

Yeah, definitely shoot him an email, he's a nice dude.

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:01 pm

b3groover wrote:From the groupDIY forum post:

"RE20 repair rates generally range from $109-$159 with some exceptions."

I was assuming mine would be about $130 before I found out I won the free refurb! Yeah, definitely shoot him an email, he's a nice dude.

Thanks! sorry i didn't read the link.

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:48 pm

I saw that a few weeks ago, and I'm saving some money right now to get my RE-20 fixed. I bought it for $75 on Craigslist, knowing it may not work, and it definitely isn't working properly. I'm planning on sending it to this guy too, glad to hear he's reliable!

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 2:22 pm

I'm gonna send mine to Ben sometime.

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 2:34 pm

drumsound wrote:I'm gonna send mine to Ben sometime.

I'm wondering if he's getting busy with this stuff, I sent him an email about my RE20 over a week ago and haven't heard anything.

ghaines · Post by **ghaines** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:55 pm

We sent our RE-20 to Ben and he repaired, restored, and re-finished it in a day. We shipped it on Monday and had it back for a session that same Friday. He was responsive and cost less than 50% of what EV wanted just to look at the mic! Very highly recommended.

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:09 pm

Nice!

ghaines · Post by **ghaines** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:21 pm

ott0bot wrote:That is fantastic. Thanks for the feedback, glad to know this can be done properly by someone other than Electrovoice/Bosch/whatev.

We originally called EV to find out about repair. They wanted:

a) us to pay shipping both ways
b) $250 to evaluate the mic
c) they were not clear if the $250 went towards any repairs, parts, or labor if they agreed that the mic was not working.

I was not pleased with that response. Think about it, a new one is around $400 street...

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:29 pm

Just sent him a note, since I have 2 ailing RE20s in my locker. Thanks for the tip!

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:00 pm

Hmmm, my re20 just died...

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:12 pm

WEIRD!

this past XMAS day I spent 5 hours repairing my own RE20

What a PITA..I mean beyond annoying..the repair itself was easy but the assembly and reassembly was a hell I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and was heightened by a stripped screw I had to dremmel out..ARGH..well I had no experience with it so it was like that for me..now I know how to do it though and that's cool..

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:45 pm

Anyone know if this guy is still doing repairs? I emailed him once initially about my RE20 (after finding him on another site, then seeing the recommendation here). Initially, no response for about two weeks. I emailed again, and he emailed saying my email must have gotten lost, and to resend the info I had originally sent. No response again. I believe I emailed one more time a few weeks later. That was over a month ago, no response. Anyone know what the deal is?

Micdaddy · Post by **Micdaddy** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:44 am

Hi Jesse,

I replied to your inquiry on January 29th and did not hear back from you. (I've only seen one email come across from you)

My emails come through to my phone, and if I can I try to respond within the same hour I receive them.

Sometimes this is not possible, but I do try to get emails answered right away.

Sheep in Punk Clothing congrats on your repair! What was the extent of the work you performed on your microphone. For some, if the foam is all that needs replacing I will help walk folks through if they want to 'attempt' to tackle it themselves.

If there is further work needed to be done with the acoustic element, I advise against trying this DIY.

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RE20 restoration - NICE!

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