Jim Morrison

Used for vocals (starting with Strange Days), as stated by engineer Bruce Botnick across Doors-related literature.

• December 2003 - "Classic Tracks: The Doors 'Strange Days'", Sound on Sound

  While Telefunken U47s were employed to record both Robby Krieger's guitar and Ray Manzarek's electric organ, the piano-bass was DI'd. Tried and trusted, this was Bruce Botnick's miking technique for assorted setups with a wide variety of artists. (...) Jim Morrison's vocals were captured with a U47, and although Botnick didn't use a pop shield during the Strange Days sessions — "I still don't like using them," he says, "I can hear them" — this would become a necessity a few years later when a drunken Morrison risked getting moisture on the capsule. At that point, Botnick would resort to making filters out of ladies' stockings glued over wire frames, "and when they were fresh Jim would get stoned off of the glue!

  "Still, he was great, and for the most part he was one of the easiest people I've ever had to record. He had a big, full sound — his idol was Frank Sinatra, and he always had those legendary crooners in his soul, even though he could go from crooning to screaming in a flash. He was like [Peruvian singer] Yma Sumac, with a four-octave range. I could set up his mic and just brush him lightly with compression in order to grab it when he screamed, but otherwise he was right there. He gave full value to every note. He was a controlled singer, like Sinatra and like Elvis. He loved Elvis, and he was a good student."

• 2006 - Perception liner notes for Strange Days (transcribed in The Doors FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Kings of Acid Rock by Rich Weidman (2011))

  In the liner notes for Strange Days in the Perception Box Set, Doors engineer Bruce Botnik related the story of how he chose a Telefunken U47 microphone for Morrison: "The significance of the U47 wasn't lost on him, since he was a big fan of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. The first time Jim stepped up in front of the microphone, he immediately recognized it from Sinatra's Swingin' Session album cover and was flattered to be sonically linked to one of his idols!

• October 9, 2007 - "Opening the Doors", Electronic Musician

  What did you use for Jim Morrison’s vocals?

  A Neumann U47 — which has pretty much always been my favorite vocal mic. And yes, for Strange Days, we didn’t use any pop filters. I hate them, because I can hear them. Jim was very controlled, so a light compression when he screamed into the mic was all it took to keep him sounding even. In those days, it was very common to have technical recording information on the back of the albums. They would list, “Trumpets: U47” and the like. So I would listen to the records, hear those sounds, and, then when I got back to the studio, I’d try out the mics. I’d say to myself, “Wow, it does have that sound character. That’s cool. I’m going to use it!”

In this photo, Morrison can be seen singing into an Electro Voice 676 microphone. One was auctioned via Julien’s on November 4, 2017.

A Jim Morrison stage-used Electro-Voice EV 676 gold tone microphone obtained directly from The Doors longtime road manager, Vince Treanor. Treanor has been described as The Doors’ “Sound Wizard” and the builder of their legendary sound system. This is one of two gold EV 676 microphones Morrison used for virtually every performance from 1968 until his death. Morrison can be seen performing with these iconic microphones in numerous photographs at live performances and on television segments.

Treanor purchased this microphone in May 1968 from Yale Radio in Hollywood as an alternate to Morrison's primary EV 676 in the event that a backup was needed. In the accompanying letter of authenticity, Treanor recalls that this microphone was used by Morrison at least once for a live performance and at least once in rehearsals. When this microphone was acquired the original plating was pitted from storage. At Treanor's suggestion, the microphone was re-plated at Westwood Plating in Los Angeles, the same company that Treanor used to re-plate other equipment before loaning it to Oliver Stone for the filming of The Doors (Tri-Star, 1991). The microphone is accompanied by a soft-sided case, a mic clip, a contemporary replacement cord, and letters of authenticity from Treanor and Jeffrey Gold of Recordmecca.

Length, 7 1/2 inches

In this photo, Morrison can be seen singing into a Shure SM56.

In this photo, Morrison can be seen singing into an AKG Acoustics D 1000 E microphone.

This site states that Morrison used a Moog Modular Synthesizer on the song "Strange Days."

Morrison can be seen in this photo playing a Ludwig Tambourine.