I was wondering if anyone has tried mounting a mic (say an SM57) via a gooseneck(you know, the bendy thing) on the tailpiece. I was wondering whether people have any input on this silly idea.
Thanks in advance,
Andrew
GT Kirk
08-21-2006, 03:04 PM
I just did a TV show and I didn't want to deal with dragging the amp in (for a pre-amp for my Gage realist pick up) so
I brought along a claw and clamped it on to the end pin and then used a halfway decent condensor mic to mic the top.
It sounded passable - I wasn't thrilled with the tone but it was better than the pickup by itself & prevents me from bashing the mic into the bass if the mic were on a stand by itself.
I wonder if anyone else has tried this?
Tom
bassist14
08-21-2006, 04:55 PM
hi tom and andrew
i think someone had a similar idea:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=254667
fish slapper
08-21-2006, 06:01 PM
Here's a photo of a mic mounting system that was built for me in the early 1960's by a local sound engineer for use in the showroom at the old Kansas City Playboy Club. It is simply a small plywood plate with a plastic mic holder attached. The backing is foam rubber, so it won't rattle. It is attached with surgical rubber tubing, but I'm sure that ordinary shock cord would work just as well. If you like, a goose neck can be attached to the plate instead of the mic holder directly. Also, you can mount the plate and mic on the back side of the tailpiece if you have enough room. A snap to attach and remove.
I was wondering if anyone has tried mounting a mic (say an SM57) via a gooseneck(you know, the bendy thing) on the tailpiece. I was wondering whether people have any input on this silly idea.
Thanks in advance,
AndrewI have tried attaching a gooseneck wrapped in foam rubber to the tailpiece with cable ties. It looked a little funky, but worked very well. I used it to hold a Shure Beta 56 pointed between the bridge legs. Actually it made for a very nice, neat and compact installation. The Beta 56 works very well for this application. It uses the same capsule as the Shure Beta 57, but is more compact and is easy to mount.
Wil Davis
08-22-2006, 05:25 AM
I used to mount the mic in a couple of rubber-bands stretched between the legs of the bridge, but found it a bit fiddly to set up, especially when in a hurry.
The next idea was to put the mic in a piece of foam wedged beind the tailpiece (See first picture). This worked very well, but had the disadvantage that the mic would now pick up any sound the player made especially if the mic was a hypercardioid, such as a Neumann KM185.
The system I use now is shown in the second picture. Very simply the mic is wedged in a piece of foam between the strings below the tailpiece. This puts the mic in the optimum position, but avoids having it point towards the player's head.
This has been dealt with in previous threads.
I hope this helps -
- Wil
Sam Sherry
08-22-2006, 06:46 AM
I sometimes use a 57 with four rubber bands. It's cheap and works for brainless folk like me.
a) Put two bands loose around the body of the mic.
b) Put the mic through the afterlength so the bands are underneath the strings.
c) Pull one band around the G string and over the top of the mic. Pull the other band around the E string and over the top of the mic. The top is now secured.
d) Wrap one band around a leg of the bridge so that there is a double-loop facing the mic. Put both loops around the capsule.
e) Repeat with the other leg.
You can adjust the angle of the mic and distance from the top by sliding the part of the mic that goes through the afterlength. Make sure to keep the capsule from touching the bridge.
This puts the mic in the optimum position, but avoids having it point towards the player's head.
Wil - When I first got my AMT S25B mic, I spent the first 3 weeks trying every conceivable mic position both on jobs and an entire afternoon in my favorite studio. With the AMT, the area around the bridge was not an optimum position. It was, in fact, one of least favorable positions for that particular mic. Have you try other positions (like up near the end of the fingerboard), or were you limiting it to those places where the mic could be fairly easily attached? I really have no desire to change mics since I am very satisfied with the AMT, but I am curious none the less.
Wil Davis
08-22-2006, 05:14 PM
Like most other things it's a compromise. One of the simplest solutions is to have the mic on a small stand so that it can be aimed at the sweet spot on the G side f-hole. The problem now is that invariably the bass will be moved out of that sweet spot; after all, it's not really practical to tell the bass player not to move the bass when they're playing.
To answer your question:
I've played around with using different mics on different parts of the bass, and I've found that the one I was most happy with was having the mic strung on rubber-bands between the legs of the bridge, or pointing into the bridge, either from in the strings below the bridge, or in the tail-piece.
The rubber-bands work well, but can be a pain to set up, especially quickly, especially in the dark. So, my set-up evolved through the "behind the tail-piece", to "in the strings" - and that's where it is at the moment.
The problem with having a hypercardioid pointing through the bridge to the end of the fingerboard is that it will invariably pick up all the grunts and whispers of the player (listen carefully to the recording of Esperanza and you will hear what I mean).
Another solution might be to use a cardioid (e.g. KM-184), but the problem then is that the other instruments (especially the drums) will get into the mic.
I have a DPA 4061 which is a really tiny mic (see picture; it's slightly larger than a match-head), and I mount this on a tiny piece of Velcro™ behind the fingerboard, about 4" from the end. This works really well in a studio, in a booth, but is totally impractical on a stage or in a live performance as the 4061 is an omni (need I say more?)
The solutions I've described work for me (so far). If I'm playing a gig which doesn't need much amplification, I will use the FC on the bass, going directly into the GK-150 or the AI. If I'm playing at a venue which has a decent sound system, then I'll use my small amp as a stage monitor, and mic the bass with the mic going directly into the board (if the board has decent pre-amps and compressors), or failing that, I use a Presonus pre with a compressor, and feed a line-level signal into the board.
If I'm recording, I will always use the microphone/pre/compressor to go to the recorder, and if it's in a studio, I won't bother to use the small amp for a monitor.
The recording of Esperanza Spalding I posted earlier (see threads passim) was done with a Neumann KM185 (behind the tail-piece) -> Presonus pre-amp -> compressor -> recorder.
I have some rough recordings done in a local church (not studio), which were done for a quick demo: my bass was recorded using the KM-185 in the strings below the bridge through a pre-amp/compressor as described above. They're at samples (http://www.k1wd.com/music/mp3/ESJ/samples-1/)
Well, this turned out longer than I expected (as the actress said to the bishop…)
- Wil
Boppingtheory
08-23-2006, 06:09 AM
For the moment this is my solution to swap rapidly between microphones, but I'm playing around with rubber bands too.:)
see also differents applications as illustrated on the site
tony moore
08-23-2006, 08:42 AM
I've been using K&K's Golden Trinity mic and it has a flexible mount. It's also hypercardoid and is decent at rejecting other sounds. I use it with a Fishman Full Circle thru either the little K&K 2 channel pre or my old Raven Labs PMB. Certainly not the most esoteric rig, but it sounds pretty good and is very dependable...
