But was it really that bad though. Old mics can have a weird charm.

Yeah, that "DEF is DEF" thing is a trap. Saw a Cascadia with crystallized injectors last month. Guy was using some off-brand jugs from a farm supply store. Total mess.

Check the white balance setting on the camera itself, not just in editing. A lot of those automatic filters lock it into a weird preset. Tell him to shoot in RAW next time, it gives you way more room to fix the colors after the fact without losing the whole shot.