The overheads on Ringo’s kit were AKG D19s. Vienna’s AKG gave studios the D12 in 1953, the first single-diaphragm cardioid dynamic, and the CK12 capsule that sits behind the C12 and every C414 since. We’ve got C451s, C414s, C12As and D-series dynamics coming through, plus the capsules and mounts that keep them working (a C451 without its CK capsule is a handle).
Rudolf Görike and Ernst Pless started AKG in postwar Vienna making cinema equipment, and by 1953 had both the D12 and the C12 out of the door. The C12’s CK12 capsule then did the rounds: the C24 stereo valve mic, the Telefunken ELA M 250 and 251, and in 1971 the C414, which put that capsule behind a solid-state circuit and became the large-diaphragm condenser most studios reach for first. The C451 arrived in 1969 with interchangeable CK capsules, and the BX20 spring reverb followed in 1970.
Small diaphragm or large? Our C451s run from the E and EB to the C451CB, with CK1, CK3, CK5 and CK22 capsules and A51 swivel joints to go with them, and the C414 turns up as the EB, the B-ULS, the XLS and the XL II. The C12A and the stereo C422 carry the CK12 capsule too, the C460 sits alongside them, and the dynamic mics take in the D12 and D12E, the D19, D19C and D19E, the D112, D123 and D190E. The odd BX5 spring reverb comes through as well.
Most of this passes through rather than sits about, C414s and D12s especially, so if the one you want has just gone, put it through Find Me Gear and we’ll flag the next one. Every mic is checked, cleaned and packed here before it goes anywhere, ready to ship UK-wide.
