Coles Electroacoustics — the BBC ribbon, still hand-built

Coles is the UK company that took over building the legendary STC 4038 ribbon microphone when STC moved out of the audio business in the 1970s. The 4038 was originally designed by the BBC in the 1950s and has been the BBC’s broadcast ribbon ever since.

Founded1970s (took over STC)

HQLondon, UK

OwnershipPrivate

SpecialtyThe 4038 BBC ribbon

What they make

A handful of ribbon mics — and almost nothing else

Coles makes maybe a dozen mics a week. Each 4038 is hand-tuned, with the ribbon installed by people who’ve been doing it for decades. There’s no mass production. There’s also no other mic on the market with the same shape — the 4038 looks like a small radiator, with a rectangular grille on each side.

The famous mics

Microphones worth knowing

4038 — the BBC ribbon. Drums, brass, voice. Used by Geoff Emerick on countless Beatles records.
4040 — modern variant of the 4038 with internal preamp electronics.
4104B — noise-cancelling close-miked ribbon for sportscasters and announcers.
4050 / 4051 — stereo ribbon pairs.

Should you buy one?

The short answer

Get one ifYou record drum overheads in a great-sounding room, you mic brass, you do classical broadcasting, or you just want a mic with deep history. The 4038 is on the “owned by serious studios for fifty years” list.

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