L.M.T. 3605a

L.M.T. stands for Le Matériel Téléphonique, which was located in Boulogne-Billancourt, 46 quai de Boulogne, France. 

L.M.T. at one time had an agreement to manufacture Western Electric designs in France, and may even have been a subsidiary of WE. We have seen copies of Ball and Biscuit style dynamic mics and 639A ribbon-dynamic combo microphones too. This cooperation dated back to at least 1909, as demonstrated by this ad from Telegraph Age periodical.

L.M.T. was founded in 1889 by G. Aboilard. The name Société le Matériel Téléphonique - G. Aboilard & Cie has been used since 1905. In 1913, the address was 46, Avenue Breteuil, Paris 7th. In that year, the production of telephones for the local market began and around 1924 the making of the first radios of the type Radiojour. In 1937 L.M.T. installed a huge radio transmitter to the Eiffel tower, which at the time was the largest in France.

Our exhibit has a distinctive bell shaped logo which was used by LMT in their advertising in 1950. Perhaps the bell is a nod to their earlier association with Bell Telephones and Western Electric.

L.M.T. often manufactured licensed copies of Western Electric products, but the 3605a appears to be entirely their own design. The body of the microphone is tall and wide but not deep, with woven metal grills held in place by folded side plates. and a cast metal base. Our example has an integral desk stand.

The motor design is unusual with a pair of W-shaped magnets clamped in place with a brass band, and the ribbon clamps are attached to a frame which can allow for re-ribboning away from the magnets, although it can readily be done in place. The transformer slides into the cast base of the microphone.

Marc Urselli writes about his LMT 3605 in Recording Magazine in October 2024:

"Speaking of cool colors and finishes, my L.M.T. 3605A features a glorious glimmery golden-green body (I've also seen these online in gold). What's interesting here is that it has a golden bell logo attached to the mic's grille...so L.M.T. was the French Western Electric, connected full circle to Bell Telephone Laboratories!

Sometimes I feel like the Indiana Jones of microphones, discovering hidden clues in dark places. I acquired this mic from a European collector, and my tech re-ribboned it and added a new transformer and XLR pigtails. He said this was one of the best-sounding mics he has refurbished for me so far.

I don't have much more information about the history of this little green goblin, but it is most likely a flatter copy of the Webster Chicago Velotron or the Bruno Velotron VR HP."