On March 9, 2010 I ordered an Electro-Voice RE20 microphone from Sweetwater.com, my favorite pro music store. I’ve always known RE20′s to be silver and the product photo on both the Sweetwater site and Electro-Voice site both clearly show the silver RE20. Much to my surprise, the RE20 microphone I received from Sweetwater.com is green — very green! Above is a photo taken of the microphone with a few common objects for color reference next to it. Both the metal microphone body and grill are painted green. A bit confused, I searched the web and found only a few threads talking about the mysterious olive/army green RE20′s (i.e. – Epinions, Gearslutz, etc.)

My initial reaction was to return the microphone to Sweetwater but after reading that a few people liked the unusual green color and speculated that the mic might be from an Electro-Voice military contract overrun, etc., I too decided I somewhat like the green color, but I will certainly return the microphone if Electro-Voice states they did not manufacturer it, as this Epinions article states.

So, Electro-Voice and Sweetwater — what’s the official word on this and the other green Electro-Voice RE20 microphones people have received?

March 19, 2010: Update 1…
Trying to get to the bottom of it, the buyer from Sweetwater.com talked to Electro-Voice and the parent company Bosch regarding the green RE20′s. Sweetwater purchased the microphones directly from EV/Bosch so there is no question about the microphones being legit. Sweetwater was told the microphones in question ARE Bosch EV RE20 military overrun microphones that made it into normal stock. I received the following voicemails from Andy Bitler at Sweetwater.com, the first from 3/17/2010, the second from 3/19/2010 stating this.

March 24, 2010: Update 2…
In response to Update 1, today I received the following email and photo from Ryan May, Key Account Manager at Bosch Security Systems, Inc. I will take this as the final, authoritative response on the subject. When it comes to RE20′s, it seems green is the new silver…

Hi Brian,

My name is Ryan and I am with Electro-Voice. I’m writing to hopefully resolve your questions regarding your recent RE20 purchase.

If I understand correctly, your concerns are two-fold:

• Is this microphone authentic (not counterfeit)?
• Why does it have a green tint when the image on Electro-Voice.com and Sweetwater.com is more grey?

The microphone you purchased from Sweetwater is undoubtedly authentic. Sweetwater is the fourth largest music retail in the US, they are highly respected for their expansive selection, highly educated sales professionals, sophisticated warehouse and shipping capabilities and are authorized Electro-Voice dealers. There is no question you received a brand new microphone manufactured by Electro-Voice in Lincoln, NE.

The question of color is slightly more complex because of a bit of mis-information. I’ve attached a photo of a new RE20 we had available to take a photo of. As you can see, the tint of this microphone is more green and less beige. One can be misled by the name of the paint used on this mic (fawn beige). Approximately 10 years ago the paint color was modified slightly and has likely morphed over the years to the color we both see today. The image on our website was taken at least 10 years ago, explaining the beige tint and inconsistency in color to yours. Please remember, these mics are hand made in Lincoln, NE, from time to time, slight variations in finish are possible depending on when the paint was mixed, how it was applied, etc.

There is no military contract for green RE20′s and even if there were, it would be near impossible for this type of product to enter daily inventory. I have NEVER seen this type of thing happen since I’ve been with the company. From the bit of detective work I’ve done on this subject, it seems someone at Electro-Voice suggested the military option as one possible solution and this was the piece of info that made it to you. This statement was incorrect but possible as we do make products for military use.

The attached image has a grey card as well as a fluorescent yellow “Major Accent” highlighter as in your image for reference points. I had a fluorescent highlighter, looks like your is the regular yellow.

The image on our website is being replaced today and a new version will be sent to Sweetwater to replace their image.

Thanks for bringing this error to our attention. You can rest assured that your mic is authentic and the color it is supposed to be. Please feel free to call me directly at the number below should you have any further questions.

Thanks,

Ryan May
Key Account Manager (ST-CO/SAM1.6)
Bosch Security Systems, Inc
Communications Systems

12000 Portland Ave South
Burnsville, Minnesota 55337
USA
www.boschcommunications.com

As some know, I started taking Lindy Hop swing dance lessons in 2009. Since then I’ve bookmarked and shared a number of dance related videos with friends in and outside of class. Recently, it occurred to me to post a top 10 list. With so many amazing videos online it was difficult to narrow it down but here they are, my top ten favorite Lindy Hop videos.

You many have seen the Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart literal music video make the rounds several months ago but did you know there are more…many more…literal music videos out there? For your entertainment, I’ve compiled the top ten best. They are…

Music director for the Joffrey Ballet School, Colin Huggins (aka – “The Crazy Piano Guy”) is a Manhattan based musician known for dragging real pianos to subways, parks, street corners, and other locations and giving impromptu performances. Check out the great Lindy Hop moves in Colin’s new video “Until It’s You!”

I learned about Colin Huggins via Rik Panganiban’s blog. You can purchase the single “Until It’s You” on Amazon MP3, and follow Colin Huggins on Twitter and Facebook.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Coming in Disney IMAX 3D in 2010. Starring Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wild, Bruce Boxleitner. Directed by Joseph Kosinski. Can’t wait to see it!

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, from the June 12, 2009 World Science Festival event “Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus“. Also on stage are panelists Jamshed Bharucha, Provost and Senior Vice President of Tufts University; the James McGill Professor of Psychology and Neurosciences at McGill University, Daniel Levitin; Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield, Lawrence Parsons; and host of WNYC’s music/talk show Soundcheck, John Schaefer.

If you missed the Google I/O conference last week, here is the video of Google’s largest announcement, Google Wave, which in short aims to replace the 40 year old email standard and become a new open standard for electronic communication and real-time collaboration. It’s a whole new way of thinking about online communication and there are a number of components to the system so if you work in tech it’s worth watching the video from beginning to end. Google Wave is a major power play by Google, and the biggest question is how Microsoft will embrace or deflect HTML5 in it’s browsers, a requirement for Wave, and the new Wave protocol itself.

As a side note, I was hoping Google would talk about how the new Wave system potentially ends the largest current issue with email — SPAM. It’s implied by the architecture of the system but I’m not sure everyone will grasp this and in my mind is a huge selling point for any protocol, as least in-part, aiming to replace email.

“Does Life Suck?”, a dharma talk by Ajahn Brahm from The Buddhist Society Western Australia.