Distinguished Clients
Clarence built ENAK into one of the best ribbon mic repair services in the country having done work for PIXAR, Electrical Audio, Sun Recording Studio, Paul Reed Smith Guitars (PRS) as well individuals such as Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Steve Miller, Kenny Rogers, Leon Redbone, Ricky Skaggs and many, many more. These people did not trust anyone other than Clarence to touch their beloved and treasured ribbon mics. Clarence worked on microphones long past his 97th birthday.
Clarence passed on March 28th, 2024 leaving us some rather large shoes to fill. He will be missed, but I am sure he would be proud of our desire to continue and promote his legacy of excellence and outstanding customer service.
Steve La Cerra - Mix Magaizne
Steve La Cerra, the brilliant writer at Mix Magazine wrote a heart warming blog following Clarence’s death:
In the article, Steve says he once cold called the famous engineer/producer Bruce Swedien, out of the blue, and asked where he could get technical data on an RCA 44. Bruce said “Call Clarence Kane of ENAK.” Pure and simple, the experts know who the experts are.
A Les Paul story about Clarence. Many younger people don’t realize that Les Paul is more then just a name for a Gibson guitar model. Les Paul was a legion not only in terms of his musicianship as a guitarist, but also as the founder of multitrack recording. One day, when I (Curt Vincent) was in Clarence’s shop getting a lesson, Clarence’s phone rang. Clarence answered it and said these words: “Yeah, yeah. I know Les, I will get them to you next week. Yes, thanks. Goodbye.” He then went back to work on the mic he was repairing. About a minute later, he casually announced, “That was Les Paul,” and went back to work as if Les Paul called every day. I was blown away. Years later, I had the opportunity to spend time with Les Paul at the Iridium Club in New York City. I told Les that I was sitting next to Clarence when he had called. Les stopped what he was doing and looked me in the eye. Les told me he had invited Clarence to come up to Mahwah, NJ, to visit his studio many times, but Clarence refused as he hated to leave home. It didn’t surprise me.
Clarence had a watercolor of himself and a mystery man that he kept in the shop. I once asked him who it was and he nonchalantly said “Ricky Skaggs.” Ricky had offered to fly Clarence and his wife Beryl to Nashville to see him perform at the Grand Old Opry and he also refused. He liked staying home after years of travel with RCA.
Kenny Rogers
The only time he accepted an offer was when Kenny Rogers was playing at an Atlantic City venue. Clarence said Kenny brought them up to Kenny’s green room on a private elevator and then sat them front row center while he performed. He only attended because he and Beryl could drive home after the show. Clarence liked being home and he loved working on ribbon mics.