We the creatives that use our gear, and we’re glad they us too! Read voice artist/musician Tonoccus McClain‘s story about accidentally blowing his V13’s power supply while in Scotland and the happy conclusion when he visited our workshop in California.

Remember that one time, five weeks ago, when I brought my audio setup with me to Scotland and, when a voiceover job materialized, I plugged the power unit into the European outlet without changing the power settings from the American level to European level, which pumps out twice as much voltage?

Well, the good news is that I got a voiceover job! The bad news is that it came through while I am in Scotland. The good news is that I have days to complete it. The bad news is that I forgot that the electrical current is stronger in Europe than in the States so I blew a fuse in my phantom power unit when I plugged it up. The good news is that my mic wasn’t connected when I did that or I’d be much more upset. The bad news is that I still have this job to record somehow and tomorrow is Sunday. The good news is……I don’t know. I’m going to bed now.

Well, I got though the month borrowing a local musician’s mic every time something new came down the pike, which ended up being a couple times a week.

When I got back to America, I contacted the microphone company, Vanguard Audio Labs, and told them about my situation, inquiring if my warranty could be utilized. While this mic has a very robust warranty, it doesn’t cover when the operator makes a boneheaded mistake, which is fair. So that meant that I would have to buy a new unit.

My microphone was the first generation of this model, and they upgraded to the second generation very shortly after I bought it so they had to go check the warehouse to find another unit for that generation. They found one and were totally OK with shipping it to me, but I had pressing projects to attend to, and I knew that they were headquartered about an 80 minute drive away so I decided to pay them visit and pick it up in person.

Before I left, they asked for me to bring along my busted power unit so they can just double check that it was kaput. I’m so glad I did.

After running a few tests, the technician handed me back my power unit with a replaced fuse that they swapped out. It turns out that I hadn’t destroyed my unit, but had simply blown a fuse.

They fixed it free of charge.

Not only is my Vanguard V13 the love of my life but it comes from a company run by good people who are very talented. I highly recommend everyone check out what the Vanguard Audio Labs have to offer. Some good stuff!

Thanks, Vanguard Audio Labs!