Toshiba Type-G (OB-1062)

The Toshiba Type G is a unidirectional ribbon microphone manufactured in Japan starting in the early 1950’s. Toshiba licensed RCA’s designs in the 50’s, and some of their mics resemble their American counterparts very closely, for example the Type A is nearly identical to the 44a.

The Type G is Toshiba’s take on the 77D, but without multiple patterns and with a smaller form factor. We’ve seen several different versions of this mic, but the one pictured here has a 5-position high pass filter located on the bottom of the mic, and is designated as an OB-1062-L, with the “L” indicating a specific version or feature set. We have seen a number of different versions, including a couple early 50’s versions that are slightly shorter and don’t have the high pass switch, and a pair of NHK versions that were heavier, and had extended low end compared to all other Type G’s we’ve heard.

This mic sounds absolutely wonderful in nearly every application, with a nice controlled bottom end, a characterful midrange, and surprisingly good high frequency response. There is a small opening in the back of the motor that leads to the acoustic chamber responsible for the microphone’s directionality. If you remove and replace the original glue and screen covering the opening, the frequency response improves significantly (the same thing applies to the Oktava ML17 which shares a very similar design).