Malibu, CA, February, 2007 – Austrian-born composer/producer Peter Wolf recently had his 1950s-era Telefunken 250 restored to perfect working order by Telefunken USA. Wolf acquired the microphone nearly 30 years ago and for many years it was shown in a museum exhibit at AKG headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The two-pattern large diaphragm 250s were originally manufactured by AKG, and housed the CK-12 capsule found in the legendary AKG C-12 microphones.
“I never had the mount for the microphone or the right cable and power supply,” explained Wolf. “I contacted Toni Fishman at Telefunken USA and asked him if it was possible for him to make these missing parts for me, because it has just been sitting in my vault. He said that he could make it work perfectly because his new Telefunken mics are identical to the old 250 and 251s, which are among the best ever made by anyone.”
Prolific composer, producer, songwriter and arranger Peter Wolf is responsible for an incredible 75 million in record sales and recently received the highest honors given in his native Austria, the equivalent of being knighted in England. Classically trained, at the age of 16 he won the soloist prize at the Austrian Jazz Festival. In his early 20’s, he moved to America and soon joined Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
“Toni Fishman and his team actually made the missing parts and packaged it absolutely wonderfully,” continued Wolf. “It’s an amazing mic. I’m so glad that Telefunken USA is around, because they have their heart in the right place and they are remanufacturing these priceless microphones that were pretty much the highlight of microphone making.
“I actually met one of the original engineers who worked on making these mics. He was the head man, the one who actually glued these capsules back then. My contact at AKG was Norbert Sobal, who was the heart and soul of AKG. He was the father of the 414, he developed a lot of mics and he is an enormously talented engineer and a great guy. Norbert knew the old maestro who glued the C12 capsules together. Since they were hand glued, each and every capsule was a tiny bit different. For me, it is a wonderful human quality that one capsule is just outrageously good and then another is mediocre and cannot even be sold. Telefunken | USA now revitalizes this great tradition of microphone manufacturing.”
As writer and/or producer Peter Wolf has eight #1 songs to his credit and has produced, arranged and /or written with Jefferson Starship, the Commodores, Wang Chung, Go West, Heart, Patti Labelle, Santana, and Natalie Cole among numerous others. Wolf is also renowned for his scores for film and television and now is the leader of his 13-piece band PowerHaus, which features some of the most successful musicians working today.
Telefunken USA manufactures an extensive line of classic microphones meticulously engineered to provide the same extraordinary sonic performance and circuitry of highly prized vintage tube microphones. The company offers all service and parts for the newly manufactured microphones as well as vintage AKG, Neumann, and Telefunken microphones.