Today in "Things I Don't Need and Probably Can't Afford", a very fancy DIY microphone from micparts.com!
This is the T47, a recreation of the Neumann KM84 adapted for a large diaphragm capsule. It wasn't cheap (at least by my standards), but it supposedly gives you an experience that would cost thousands of dollars in its original form. I am planning to do some recording this year, a mixture of home and studio, and this mic received rave reviews for acoustic guitars, electric guitar cabinets, vocals, and drum overheads. So even though I can't totally justify this kind of thing at the moment, I am dreaming about recording an album where nearly every track is captured on a mic I built with my own hands.
This was a really fun project, something that was challenging because it was new but simple enough to finish in one evening. Working with the capsule was a little nerve-wracking. But in the end it all worked out, and I sort of feel like I have the "bug", much like when I built my first pedal (BYOC tremolo, still on my board!). I hope that's a passing fancy, because these kits cost 4–5 times as much.