Microphone Suggestion?

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neverfoundthetime
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Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:45 am

I'm using a Sennheiser 421 Dan and I know its a Bob Dylan favourite for on stage.

Nicely sung on Where have all the Flowers Gone... you certainly should be singing more with a voice like that.


songman52
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Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:13 am

Hi Dan. Here's my two cents. I have a(n) SM58 I bought in 1990 and have many hundreds of hours of use on it. Still going strong, and never abused (maybe dropped on carpet once). I also have a more recent Shure Beta58 that I love and a Shure Beta 87A (condenser for stage). All are great mics. We have a couple of SM58 "copies" from Orange County Speakers in CA that are supposed to sound the same as the 58, but I find them "hotter", with more treble and definitely more hand-held noise. But at $35 they are fine on a stand as back-ups. You can get a transformer/adapter at most any music store to plug an XLR into a 1/4 jack.

We have a mix of EV, and other brands as well. If you're playing through an acoustic amp with mic input then I'm not sure you'd be able to tell a whole lot of difference in tone quality. Get a good cardioid or super cardioid pattern with good feedback rejection and have fun!

I, too, have a Crate with three input channels including a low impedance (XLR) input. I used it with a Shure mic and my A/E guitar last year and it was all I needed for a room about 30 by 70 feet.

Jerry


Hydroman52
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Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:02 pm

songman52 wrote:
. . . . . .We have a couple of SM58 "copies" from Orange County Speakers in CA that are supposed to sound the same as the 58, but I find them "hotter", with more treble and definitely more hand-held noise. But at $35 they are fine on a stand as back-ups . . . . . .

. . . . . . . Get a good cardioid or super cardioid pattern with good feedback rejection . . . . .

Jerry
I bought some cheap back-up mics, too. They went on sale and I felt we needed extras in case something broke or a guest star unexpectedly showed up. To be honest, I haven’t even taken them out of the boxes, yet. But, I would spend the $$$$ and get a good one first and then buy cheaper for the back-up.

On feedback, Jerry brings up a good point. Someone who knew much more than myself gave me a tip that if your speakers are on the floor behind you, always have the mic mounted a little lower than the singer's mouth (or the instrument that is being mic'ed) and pointing at an angle upward from the floor rather than at the same level as the singer's mouth and parallel to the floor or slightly downward. This assures you that it will always be angled slightly away from the speaker cabinet and not straight toward it, thus reducing possibility of feedback.

A few more things that I have found useful . . . . . .

Shockmount mic clips. They are not as effective as fully suspended shockmounts with the elastic bands, but they are much more durable and make a noticeable difference in noise coming through the mic stand over the ones that normally come with the mics. There are a couple of different sizes . . . . I have the On-Stage MY325 (25mm diameter) and it works good with the Shure SM58 size mics. The MY320 (20mm diameter) is for smaller pencil condenser mics and the MY330 (30mm diameter) is for larger wireless mics.

MY320 Shockmount

MY325 Shockmount

MY330 Shockmount

I don’t think the photos in the links for these clips match the actual product. For a better idea of what they might look like, go here and scroll to the last page:

http://www.onstagestands.com/catalog/as ... ds%202.pdf

EDIT: For some reason, the original link that I posted above didn't work, so I have corrected it with one that should work, now. And, after further scrutiny, it looks like the photos in this link are incorrect and switched around for the MY325 and the MY330. Sheeeez!

Foam windscreens. If you plan on performing outside at any time, you may as well get a foam windscreen right away. They're cheap and handy to have on hand if you’re ever in a breeze or if you have a fan set up to cool you off.

On/off switches. As wiley says, very handy, and I agree if your mixer mute switches aren’t within arms reach. If you are running solo and just plugging into your guitar amp, this is where it really comes in handy. However, I’ve heard arguments that switches get bad contacts after a while and can cut out or get “crackly”. I had a Shure 545 that had a magnetic reed switch that never caused a problem in the many years that I had it (loaned it out and it never was returned . . . bummer). One of my Shure SM58 (or is it an SM57?) mics has a switch and I haven’t had a problem with it, yet. I would say that I had more problems with chords going bad than anything else.

Hope this helps,

Hydroman52


dennisg wrote:
. . . . . in a winery's tasting room where people are milling around, chatting, and spitting . . . . . . .
Wow! You’re wine tasting events sound so civilized. The ones that I have been to are more like . . . . . in a friend’s kitchen where people are staggering around, cussing, and chug-a-lugging . . . . . . . Either way, it’s a tough crowd.


thereshopeyet
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Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:59 pm

Thanks


wiley
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Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:45 am



rbrisson
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Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:25 pm

Wiley, on a side note perhaps you can help me troubleshoot a problem I've been having with noise. I have a Bose L1 amp and a Taylor Dan Crary with a Fishman pickup. It wasn't always the case, but for a while now there's a noticeable (and annoying) buzzing coming from the amp. The buzzing goes away whenever I touch the jack going into the guitar, like my body grounding out the buzz. Do you know what's causing this? I've asked a couple of guys at Guitar Center and they really couldn't give me an answer. I've thought of just holding the cable with my hand, but that does present challenges with my playing guitar.

As for mikes, it really is a question of how much you're willing to spend, but the SM57/58s are good for their low cost. For the past few years I've use a Shure Beta 87a (condenser) and love it. Before that I used an AKG CS1000S (dynamic). Both it and the Sennheiser 421 are mostly used for amps and drums, but they work for vocals as well.


thereshopeyet
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Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:09 pm

Thanks


dennisg
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Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:51 pm

rbrisson wrote:
Wiley, on a side note perhaps you can help me troubleshoot a problem I've been having with noise. I have a Bose L1 amp and a Taylor Dan Crary with a Fishman pickup. It wasn't always the case, but for a while now there's a noticeable (and annoying) buzzing coming from the amp. The buzzing goes away whenever I touch the jack going into the guitar, like my body grounding out the buzz. Do you know what's causing this? I've asked a couple of guys at Guitar Center and they really couldn't give me an answer. I've thought of just holding the cable with my hand, but that does present challenges with my playing guitar.

As for mikes, it really is a question of how much you're willing to spend, but the SM57/58s are good for their low cost. For the past few years I've use a Shure Beta 87a (condenser) and love it. Before that I used an AKG CS1000S (dynamic). Both it and the Sennheiser 421 are mostly used for amps and drums, but they work for vocals as well.
This is a really common problem, and can usually be fixed by having your luthier install an inexpensive string ground inside the guitar. By the way, a Taylor Dan Crary is an awesome guitar. Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do and if you get the problem fixed.


wiley
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Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:25 pm



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