The ‘Elvis’ style Heil Heritage microphone pictured above I’ve owned since 2007. This professional grade mic is a tribute to the classical designs of the 1950’s, so I’ve been told and the wife and I bought it at HRO in Portland Oregon for around $160.00 US.
We’d used it for a while too and received some awesome reports but the only problem was we needed a boom to go with it. Therefore, it went in the drawer and has been gathering dust ever since.
Fast forward to November 2012 and the chrome finish mic has made a stunning reappearance, together with another sexy little Heil Sound product also!
Out of necessity, I needed a new foot switch for my amp and had been looking on eBay for some time. There I saw the ergonomically correct Heil FS-2 and, after doing a little reading, decided, “That’s the foot pedal for me!”
None were to be found on eBay though, other than used versions that were near the price of new ones.
Looking elsewhere, I found the DXstore.com had a real good deal on the switch, as well as the HB-1 Boom which I decided would be ideal for the Heritage mic.
All up, I paid $114 US, which is a great deal in my opinion. The switch was $57 US with most sites charging around the $70 mark.
They even threw in a free mouse pad with an ICOM IC-7000 on it for good measure.
The HB-1 boom is an articulated arm built of very substantial steel channel structure and balanced by four external springs.
It was a bit tough to get the mic chord through the body but once this was done it works just as we wanted it to, providing a reliable and sturdy support for the mic. It’s now the sparkling centrepiece of my shack in fact!
The Heritage is a delightfully retro work of engineering art that’s a super sounding Cardioid Dynamic Base Station mic with remarkably natural, clear tone quality.
It looks way cool with its classic chrome finish and produces an outstanding upper mid range too! What more can I say?
My first thoughts on the FS-2 footswitch were that it’s BIG. It has full rubber on both sides of the switch, which some folks complain stinks a bit, and the top has the famous Heil logo on it.
I had to doctor this part up though as it didn’t look cool. I used the wife’s nail polish (OPI) and painted the lettering light blue. Now it looks hot!
Loving the mic, Tom. Looks good mate.
Best 73s,
Mark