Shure 525 "slendyne" OMNI DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE ULTRA RARE NEAR PERFECT 1955 ORIGINAL ELVIS MIC 1955 - Anodized olive

Rarest of the original dynamic mics and one of the first as well! Certainly the first slim handheld variety. This one is an ultra rare first year production, with the Chicago address still on the metal stamp, and is complete, and all original. This is fantastically rare! The original capsules on these are rarely ever still functional, and this is a FIRST YEAR 1955 EXAMPLE, in its original case. You can tell them apart easily, as the metal name plate was changed in 1956. Also, in the few years these were made, later versions had the impedance switchable from the outside, which wasn't a great idea in retrospect. This model has the switch underneath the coverlet and less likely to be damaged or switch impedance accidentally. These were used heavily as vocal mics in the 50s, but found their true calling as primo drum mics, used on snare and overheads. This one has NO issues, other than the slight paint wear, which would be common in a mic of this vintage. This was actually used in an older recording studio around here, which is why the XLR is made use of, and original as well! The reason these mikes don't often make it, is because they are extremely delicate with wires the fraction the width of a hair! And because they often have a very hard life as a handheld microphone... The delicate wires are often not only open at their terminals, but at this age, are mostky not even visible or present at the terminals. This one has original solder terminals still in tact and no visible corrosion inside. This one is so rare, the recent movie with Tom Hanks couldn't even locate an original, but had to dress up a later model, using a modern cartridge as well. You can see the figure 8 drawn on the cartridge at the factory, denoting this as a new omni mic. This would not have been necessarily later on, also showing this to be a very rare earliest example. So how did this one survive in such amazing condition? It wasn't used! It had a factory goof that caused one of the wires from the transformer output to break. And no one ever even tried to fix it! It sat in its custom case since 1955... until I found it! I decided whatever it was should be fixed and boy was I relieved it was something so trivial. The wire was soldered back on and a small dab of speaker glue added to the rubber insulation of the output wire to retain it in its original location on the output transformer, made to prevent the wire stress and fractures this one had, but hadn't stayed put or simply wasn't glued originally. This is a very rare opportunity to get a piece of real history, rare in any condition, but absolutely conplete and the best you will see! The mic now works as new, and is the ultimate mark of originality to the Elvis fans out there. And wired for XLR, also a fantastic studio piece that sounds like no other. It's used by many superior studios as the "best" mic for snare drums and overheads. It handles high sound pressures like no other, and the extremely delicate mic element has never been molested and I likely was the first person to ever see it! I believe this is the only one of its kind that is in fully original fully working condition.... Internally it looks as close to new as you will ever find. Best offer gets it and thanks for looking. I will upload a video tomorrow most likely.