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Last updated: July 8, 2023

The Go-Filter Microphone

Handcrafted by Tony "Sparx" Palermo

NOTE: As of January 2018 we are out of stock--until further notice.

The Go-Filter microphone is the professional way to render the sound of a voice heard over a telephone, walky-talky or radio. Go-Filter mics sound exactly like a telephone because they ARE telephones--with both the tinny tone and slight distortion. The Go-Filter mic--the name’s a play on gefilte fish--is made out of 1960s-70s telephone components, tweaked and wired-up to function like a conventional microphone.

As a world-renowned radio drama artist, I've used my Go-Filter mics on radio drama shows for years. They don't hum, don't feedback, don't have problems with popping P's, don't pick up "bleed" from off-mic voices, and look so "retro" different from conventional mics that cast members won't mistake them for a regular mic--or vice versa. While they look like an old-fashioned “candlestick phone” ear-piece, they function as the transmitter of sound--the ‘mic’ part of a telephone

While the Go-Filter mic's housing is hard-rubber, it allows actors to manually produce the hang-up clicks you hear through the telephone line by tapping on the front cover. That cover is also easily wiped clean, for good hygiene. To remove breath odor, spray the cover with a small amount of pop-filter disinfectant.

Besides mimicking telephone voices, musicians from rock bands like Tool and Queens of the Stone Age have used Go-Filter mics on stage and in studio--for everything from micing vocals to guitar amps and even drums. Rock producer, Joe Barresi bought a dozen Go-Filters to serve as "sonic secret weapons," providing highly unusual sounds.

    Photo of Go-Filter microphone   

The telephone element is enclosed in the hard-rubber body of a classic, "candlestick phone" ear-piece with a 6-foot male XLR cable attached. You just plug it into a typical mic cable and run it into your mixer. If you apply some reverb or delay, you can easily mimic a stadium, spaceship or airport p.a. sound. Please note that just like a telephone, you should speak very closely into the Go-Filter mic--it is a telephone, after all.

You can listen to an MP3 clip that demonstrates the Go-Filter mic in action 

     RuyaSonic Go-Filer Mic demo - MP3 (5.4 MB)