Pricing and availability
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Price
Average Price: $1,325
Standard/Professional
$499
$1500+
Price Tier
Budget
Standard
High-end
Price History
Based on price data from 3 merchants for "Coles Electroacoustics 4038". Prices shown reflect NEW condition. Tracking began Apr 7, 2026.
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Description
Introducing the Coles 4038, a timeless ribbon microphone delicately crafted to retain its original character from the 1950s. This classic piece of studio gear imparts a rich, deep tone that beautifully complements drums, guitar amps, horns, and any sound source that craves a tempered high frequency response. Its provenance from the golden age of the BBC and STC speaks to its enduring quality and performance.
Key Features:
- Ribbon microphone type
- Offers a dark, heavy sound
- Ideal for drums, guitar amps, horns
- Significantly reduces high frequencies
- Maintains original 1950s design and build
- Manufactured by Coles, a trusted name in sound technology
Product specs
| Available since | April 2011 |
| shockmount included | No |
FAQs
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What are the primary uses for the Coles 4038 Studio Ribbon Microphone?
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The Coles 4038 is renowned for its use in studio recording, particularly as a drum overhead or for capturing brass and string instruments due to its smooth, natural sound.
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How delicate is the Coles 4038 microphone?
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The Coles 4038 is sensitive to strong air movements, which can damage the ribbon element. It's recommended to avoid placing it near kick drums or loudspeaker bass ports.
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Does the Coles 4038 require phantom power?
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No, the Coles 4038 does not require phantom power, and applying it can damage the microphone.
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What is the polar pattern of the Coles 4038 microphone?
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The Coles 4038 features a figure-eight polar pattern, which captures sound equally from the front and back while rejecting sound from the sides.
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Is the Coles 4038 suitable for vocal recordings?
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Yes, the Coles 4038 is often used for vocal recordings, offering a warm and natural sound that is especially favored in broadcast and studio settings.
Videos
Vintage King
Coles 4038 | Microphone | Vintage King
Reviews
PROS
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Excels with various sound sources: drums, guitars, strings, vocals
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Adds warmth and depth, enhancing musical textures
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Classic, realistic sound quality; counter to modern processed sounds
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Flexible with EQ adjustments, maintains musical relevance at extreme settings
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Captures sources as closer than they are, adding intimacy
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Compatible with low-cost preamps without loss of quality
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Dense, well-crafted design ensures durability
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Natural and detailed frequency response
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Ideal for both intimate vocals and full band setups
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Smoothens top ends and fattens sounds effectively
CONS
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Heavy, requires sturdy stand and shockmount for optimal use
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Can be too intimate/specific for highly produced pop/rock tracks
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Needs protection from air blasts, necessitating a pop-filter
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Coles Electroacoustics 4038.
Features and functionality
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Coles 4038 is more sensitive compared to models like the Royer R-121; even a medium gust of wind can stretch the ribbon.
Source
Setup and maintenance
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Using an isolation transformer or phantom power blocker can prevent potential damage when board-wide phantom power is unavoidable.
Source
Use cases and applications
Build quality
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The foam in Coles 4038 cases can compress over time if stored on their sides, potentially affecting storage quality.
Source
User experience
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More modern 4038s, post-2005, tend to tolerate accidental phantom power better than older models from the 70s.
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Comparisons
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The Cascade VinJet was found to be indistinguishable from the Coles 4038 as a drum overhead in one user's experience.
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The SE Voodoo VR2 offers a balanced frequency range with more high end than typical ribbons, while remaining smooth and natural, at a more affordable price.
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The Stager SR-2N has more high-end presence than the Coles 4038, potentially making it a better choice for some applications.
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Beyer M160 has a hypercardioid pattern and similar frequency response to the Coles 4038, with a rise around 4k but lacks the extended low end of the 4038.
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NoHype Audio LRM-V is praised for its versatility and warmth, being used successfully on a wide array of sources from guitar cabs to vocals.
Source
Critic Reviews
5.0 out of 5
Based on 1 Review and 10 Ratings
Artist usage
Add artist
Seen here in 'It Might Get Loud' used as a vocal mic to get a bullet-mic-sort of sound. Usually he also uses these mics for guitar amps and as room mics, as mentioned by his engineer in a Sound On Sound article (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct07/articles/insidetrack_1007.htm): "Jack loves the sound of ribbon microphones, so we used a lot of them, on guitar amps, vocals, and as room mics: Coles 4038, Royer 121, AEA R84. I would have six to 10 room mics up, and would chose a stereo pair from them."
The Coles 4038 Broadcast Recording Ribbon Microphone is a part of Josh Homme's studio equipment setup.
Used for the bass and organ on The Beatles, as mentioned by sound engineer Ken Scott in this June 2012 Sound on Sound interview.
"In addition to Paul's bass being DI'd, the cabinet probably would have been miked with a 4038, [Neumann] U67 or [AKG] C12. I would have used two 4038s on the organ, 67s on John and George's guitars, and it could have been anything on George's vocal.”
"For This Old Dog, I got interested in nicer gear. Now I have legitimately nice shit, for better or for worse. I have a bunch of really nice preamps and little sidecars. I have a set of Coles [4038 mics]"
Used for the organ on The Beatles, as mentioned by sound engineer Ken Scott in this June 2012 Sound on Sound interview.
"In addition to Paul's bass being DI'd, the cabinet probably would have been miked with a 4038, [Neumann] U67 or [AKG] C12. I would have used two 4038s on the organ, 67s on John and George's guitars, and it could have been anything on George's vocal.”
This article on the making of Marr's 2018 Call the Comet album by MixOnline.com touches on some of the gear used during the recording process. "The Beyer is mainly placed outside drummer Jack Mitchell’s kick drum. An SM57 is placed at the top of the snare, with Coles 4038 and Neumann KM 184 as overheads, equidistant from the snare. These might have some compression through a UREI 1178, all going through the Neve 1081 preamp, with a few of the microphones going into a UA 2-610." (While the engineer is providing this feedback, the gear is housed in Marr's own Crazy Face studios, which contains gear he's collected over his decades in the music industry.)
Used for the organ on The Beatles, as mentioned by sound engineer Ken Scott in this June 2012 Sound on Sound interview.
"In addition to Paul's bass being DI'd, the cabinet probably would have been miked with a 4038, [Neumann] U67 or [AKG] C12. I would have used two 4038s on the organ, 67s on John and George's guitars, and it could have been anything on George's vocal.”
Rik Simpson: “ “I’ll record acoustic guitars with two small–diaphragm condensers — Telefunken M60s or Neumann KM84s — pointing at the 12th fret at a 45–degree angle, and possibly an ambient mic; something crusty like a Coles 4038 is good. ”
In this logic session breakdown, the Coles 4038 can be seen used as an overhead on his drum kit.
Used for the upright bass on David Crosby's Lighthouse, as stated by mix engineer Fab Dupont in this December 2016 Sound on Sound interview. League can be seen recording with the mic here.
Electric and upright basses were tracked quickly, one-take style, by Michael. It went so fast that I am not 100 percent sure what gear we used. I’m pretty sure the electric bass went through the Apollo Twin rig into an Ampeg amp that was lying there. For the upright, I can tell from pictures that I used my usual two-microphone system, with a large-diaphragm cardioid condenser in front of the beast and a small-diaphragm omni shoved in the bridge. In this case I used one of their ELA M251s and an AKG C451, but I vaguely remember they only had a cardioid head. I also remember that, for fun, I added a Coles ribbon next to the 251. I ended up using a blend of all three during the mix.
Album Usage
The Coles Electroacoustics 4038 has been featured on the following albums:
Getting Killed
Geese (2025)
Funeral for Justice (Injustice Version)
Mdou Moctar (2025)
How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb
U2 (2024)
Funeral for Justice
Mdou Moctar (2024)
Oh France
Mdou Moctar (2024)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (feat. John Legend & Tori Kelly)
John Legend & Tori Kelly & Jacob Collier (2024)
Every Breath You Take
Stewart Copeland & Stewart Copeland (2023)
Hackney Diamonds
The Rolling Stones (2023)
Ants From Up There
Black Country, new road (2022)
Snow Globes
Black Country, new road (2022)
Concorde
Black Country, new road (2021)
For the first time
Black Country, new road (2021)
Bread Song
Black Country, new road (2021)
Chaos Space Marine
Black Country, new road (2021)
Track X (The Guest)
Black Country, new road (2021)
Track X
Black Country, new road (2021)
Xoxo
Jayhawks (2020)
Science Fair
Black Country, new road (2020)
Sunglasses
Black Country, new road (2019)
The Beatles
The Beatles (2018)
Call The Comet
Johnny Marr (2018)
This Old Dog
Mac DeMarco & Mac DeMarco (2017)
Drones
Muse (2015)
Home Again
Michael Kiwanuka (2012)
The Renaissance
Q-Tip (2008)
Icky Thump
The White Stripes & Jack White & Jack White (2007)
Songs For The Deaf
Queens of the Stone Age (2002)
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Coles Electroacoustics 4038, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
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