Pictured in the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen with the U47 is Dweezil Zappa. Photo by David Goggin.

Dweezil Zappa, well known for his attention to sonic excellence, chose a Telefunken | USA U47 for the recording of his new solo album of original material, which also includes music penned and previously recorded by Frank Zappa. The U47 is one of a new line microphones which faithfully recreates the legendary vintage Telefunken sound. Detailed reverse engineering has resulted in meticulous reissues of the classic Telefunken microphones.

In addition to acquiring the new version of the classic U47, Zappa met with the company's founder, Toni Fishman to examine and evaluate Frank Zappa's collection of vintage microphones, some of which have been unused since the early 90s.

Fishman explained, "Frank Zappa had assembled a very original and complete collection of extremely rare and valuable German and Austrian microphones. We dismantled and carefully evaluated the condition of the mics, performed numerous minor repairs, replaced some of the tubes with NOS (New Old Stock) tubes, and then worked on mic systems integration by matching up the correct power supplies and cables. In total, we went through three Telefunken U47s, four Neumann M49s, and a beautiful matched pair of Neumann M50s, circa 1950 and four AKG C24s, circa 1960. We also worked on an AKG C-12A that was missing a cable and power supply and rebuilt a custom Telefunken Ela M251 using the existing capsule. It was an impressive collection, but if microphones are unused they tend to deteriorate, so we've given them a renewed life and got them up and running for Dweezil's upcoming projects."

Zappa added, "It's amazing how same-model microphones have very distinct characteristics, because of the subtleties of the capsules and the choice and condition of the tubes. The new Telefunken | USA U47 is a very finely crafted mic which fits beautifully into the collection that Frank put together."

The new Dweezil Zappa album, Go With What You Know, is available at www.zappa.com.

ABOUT TELEFUNKEN ELEKTROAKUSTIK

TELEFUNKEN | USA acquired the TELEFUNKEN Trademark for North America in 2001, and in 2009 the company was named the Elektroakustik (translation: Electrical Acoustics) arm of TELEFUNKEN and awarded the exclusive rights to manufacture a wide variety of professional audio products and vacuum tubes bearing the TELEFUNKEN name, in over 27 countries worldwide. Recreating the classic TELEFUNKEN microphones has been a labor of love for the company CEO, Toni Fishman and the pursuit of that dream has culminated in the manufacture of what we at TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik believe are the finest microphones currently available in the world today.

Along with meticulously manufacturing historic replicas of classic microphones by hand in the USA, TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik is now marketing the R-F-T series of microphones that take advantage of the globalization of technology, in order to offer recording microphones with professional sonic performance at reasonable prices.

Our latest additions to the TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik product line include a revolutionary new capsule design based on Alloy 2213™, an exceptional dynamic microphone [the M80], and a vacuum tube replacement for the original TELEFUNKEN VF14 which offers comparable performance in our U47 and new U48 microphones.

TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik continues to expand, and research and development of new products is an ongoing process. Although based firmly on classic designs, TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik is continuously looking forward. Important changes in our company and further expansion of our product line are slated for the immediate future.

For more information about TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik, call 860.882.5919 or e-mail info@t-funk.com.