FLEA
FLEA was founded in 2002 to provide recording engineers with reproductions of vintage microphones as well as spare parts for repairs. The company also sells partial kits for some of the microphones.
The business run by Jaroslav Kotrla, Miloš Rojko and Ivan Hako in Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia.
The microphones are said to be exact clones of the originals that can be fine-tuned or customized to suit the buyer. Stereo matching is offered at no additional cost.
Sound On Sound, 2011-09
Today, several companies build near replicas of the U47, though there are inevitably some concessions to modern life, such as IEC power sockets, lead-free solder and re-engineered components where the originals are no longer available. Flea are, however, very keen to point out that their parts (other than the German connectors used in some models) are made in their native Slovakia and based on the original specifications, while their capsules are skinned by mic repair specialist Siegfried Thiersch in Germany. They use no Chinese parts at all.
