AKG D12

The AKG D12 was released in the early 1950’s along with its siblings the D20, which had a different motor and a bass roll-off filter, (the D20 was a standard kick drum mic for Ringo’s kit at Abbey Road) and the D25, which is the same mic, but also includes a built-in suspension mount for television work, which you might have seen floating around during the recent Beatles documentary Get Back.

This mic was something of a revolution when it was first released not only was it the world’s first cardioid-pattern moving coil dynamic microphone but the D12 has a hand-built bass resonance chamber emphasising the 60-120 hz range, a built-in shock absorber and pop screen.

It was originally designed for use in mobile equipment, recording and public address work for which applications it is particularly suited owing to its highly directional Cardioid pick-up pattern which reduces feedback, echoes and audience noises but it soon became a standard microphone in the recording studio.

In the studio it was used in all kinds of roles, vocals, guitars, piano but it soon became obvious where the mic excelled; on the bass drum and bass instruments.

The mic can handle very high SPL which lent itself to close-micing of percussion instruments and thanks to its bass resonance chamber it naturally enhanced recordings of bass instruments.

These days the D12 is considered the best mic for inside the bass drum by all the engineers and producers I know. I also love to use it on my sousaphone and on bass cabinets, it also performs very nicely on guitar cabinets too.

Unfortunately The D12 has a common problem that with time the diaphragm stretches causing a loss of low frequencies. There are no spare parts for these mics and it is usually a case of once it’s gone, it’s gone.

There is only one man I trust to resurrect these mics, Esa Tervala in Switzerland. I send mine to hime every five years for a service and a clean and I’m happy to say I still have plenty of low end.