DIY Harp Mic: How to Build Your Own Compact Microphone
Cleaning Out the Basement: A Journey into Repurposing
Here’s the story how DIY Harp Mic idea originally started.
Recently, I embarked on a long-overdue cleaning spree in my basement. Over the years, I’d managed to collect a staggering number of obsolete electronic devices—telephones, CD players, and so on. Among these were tons of power supplies, far exceeding the number of devices themselves.
Why so many power supplies? Well, every time a device broke, I’d recycle it but always kept the power supply, convinced it might come in handy someday. That “someday” never came—until now.
The Hidden Potential of Power Supplies
While sorting through this collection, I discovered that parts of these power supplies could actually be reused. The coils of wire inside the transformers, for instance, turned out to be perfect for making magnetic pickups. But that’s a story for another day. Today, I want to share a different creation born from my basement cleanup: a DIY Harp Mic.
The Inspiration for a DIY Harp Mic
I often see harmonica players using those iconic “green bullets” or “blue bullets” microphones. They have a vintage charm, but let’s face it—they’re mostly just rebuilds of old designs. Inspired by this, I decided to create something similar, but entirely from the random bits and pieces gathering dust in my basement.
The Discovery: An Old Telephone’s Hidden Treasure
While dismantling an old wire telephone set that was destined for the recycling bin, I stumbled upon a surprising find. Inside the handset was a small, round earpiece. Though intended for listening, I wondered if it might work as a microphone. After all, the construction of a mic and an earphone is quite similar: a wire coil, a magnet, and a membrane. The difference lies mostly in their intended direction of use.
Curious, I tested the earpiece, and to my delight, it worked as a microphone! Granted, I wasn’t aiming for studio-quality sound, but it was functional enough for my purpose.
Materials Used In DIY Harp Mic
To build my DIY Harp Mic, I used:
- A plastic prescription pill bottle (for the mic body)
- The telephone’s earpiece element
- A 1/4″ jack
I had also considered adding a potentiometer for volume control. However, the pill bottle’s small size ruled that out. While compact and comfortable to hold alongside a harmonica, there simply wasn’t room for additional components.
Assembly Process of DIY Harp Mic
- Dismantling the Handset: Carefully disassemble the telephone handset to extract the earpiece element.
- Preparing the Body: Repurpose a plastic prescription pill bottle to house the mic components.
- Wiring the Jack: Attach the 1/4″ jack to the earpiece’s wires, ensuring secure connections.
- Assembly: Fit the earpiece snugly into the pill bottle and seal it, leaving just enough space for the jack connection.
The Result
The final product is a compact, pocket-sized DIY Harp Mic. It’s lightweight, easy to carry, and surprisingly comfortable to use while playing harmonica. Though it lacks a volume control button, the minimalist design makes it perfect for casual use.
Final Thoughts
Repurposing old electronics can be a rewarding endeavor. Not only does it save components from ending up in landfills, but it also sparks creativity and innovation. While this project was a simple exercise in reuse, it’s opened my eyes to the possibilities lurking in the seemingly obsolete gadgets cluttering my basement. Who knows what other treasures I’ll uncover next?
Haha – me too! Was given a harp to learn and needed some amping and reverb for encouragement. I took the tiny moving coil speaker out of an old walkabout phone, glued it to a home-cut copper clip plus a bit of anti-pop foam, and attached it to my Hohner by loosening the cover plate screw at the low end. So, no mic to try and hold.
My little transducer is 150 ohm, so has more output than a typocal 30 ohm earpiece. Sounds great. Wish I did!
Another DIY story :). Well done! I hope you enjoed the process as the result.
Thankyou, Admin! Next step is to find that Sonny Terry LP Blues from Everywhere that I know is amongst the lumber. I have kept a vinyl player… of course.
Great choice, Howard. I like that blues! The jaw harp sounds like an organic addition to the regular harp.