RCA KU-2A "Skunk" Mic

Serial number 1496, with original shock mount, fully functional and re-ribboned, rewired by the great Clarence Kane of ENAK Microphones. Both highly collectible and totally practical for use in current recording. Comes in custom Pelican case. 

Called the "Skunk Mic" due to the wide white stripe on its back side, the KU-2A was one of the primary microphones used on movie sound stages to record dialog from the 1930s through the 1950s. This wonderfully preserved and functional Skunk, serial number 1496, was evidently used on a scoring stage for music recording, judging from the "MUSIC" label stenciled on its back. 

For contemporary recording purposes, think of the KU-2A as a distance mic/room mic; many have been used in for drum recordings. 
Regarding the collectibility, check out the video in this listing, which is the trailer for Citizen Kane. The Skunk Mic is one of the main characters! 

The description below comes from the information sheet as transcribed in the great Coutant dot Org mic website. See the image of the info sheet in this listing, and note that the KU-2A is also known as the "MI-3042-B or -C depending upon the output connector configuration. The mic in this listing is a -B model.
 
"The MI-3043-B (and -C) Uni-Directional micro­phone consists of two ribbon type micro­phone units suspended in a common air gap. One of the units is open to sound waves both in front and back and operates on the pressure gradient principle. It is known as a velocity micro­phone. The other unit has a tube connecting with a damped acoustical labyrinth, sealed to the back side of the air gap, and responds to pressure variations in the sound wave. It is known as a pressure micro­phone. The outputs of the two micro­phones are connected in series and the vector addition of the voltages generated by the two micro­phones produces a directional characteristic as shown in Figure 3. The MI-3043-B and MI-3043-C are identical except for the difference in the connector plugs as stated in the title.
The ribbon and magnet assembly is enclosed in a perforated housing. The housing provides protection against dust and mechanical injury, and, to a certain extent, reduces wind noises. The acoustical labyrinth (or folded tube) associated with the pressure micro­phone section is contained in the cylindrical center part of the micro­phone. The impedance matching transformer and a compensating network is mounted in the hemispherical shell at the end of the micro­phone."