In the 1920s and 30s, EMI crafted microphones for British Royalty—King George V, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth—but these gorgeous mics sat neglected in the EMI Archive Trust for decades. Then, in a strange twist of fate, production started on the award-winning film, “The King’s Speech.”

After painstaking restoration, the mics came back to life to record the film’s orchestral sections, as well as “re-amp” the dialogue for authenticity. Then the Abbey Road engineers started experimenting with re-amping guitars and synths to get unique crunchy filter-like qualities. Clearly, the mics were never designed to be used in this fashion—but breaking the rules is how you stand out.