Attaching a mic

Ed Fuqua · #1 10-04-2005, 12:12 PM

Everbody know, I like to use a mic whenever I need reinforcement. On my old tailpiece, I had the guys at Gage inlay a little piece of ebony to which I could affix a Latin Percussion CLAW mic stand and have my mic floating out over the f-hole. Well, that sounds like crap for live sound, the sound of the mic up between the feet of the bridge gets me what I'm looking for. But with the LP stand, I had to do a Bad Thing to get the mic there; I had to clip the stand to the side by using the outside lip of the top and the f-hole. All I need to do is catch the thing wrong and BANG, there goes a lot of my hard earned money. Since I've gotten the new tailpiece (and spent a bit of MHEM), the best interim solution I've come up with is to roll a strip of foam and put it in the bridge and stick the mic in that. But it kind of "muffles" the sweet spot.
I've only spent a couple of hours looking around a music store BUT, does anybody have any suggestions? It's GOT TO BE a stand that attaches to the bass some way, there's no way a stationary mic stand is gonna get the mic where I want it.

The mic I use is an older model of this one, an MD409 (or 402?), the rubber bands around the bridge wings doesn't work so good.

Doug Ring · #2 10-04-2005, 12:44 PM

What about two pieces of wood clamping the afterlength of the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece? You could attach a conventional mic clamp to the lower one so that you get the mic between the bridge feet, then clamp the top one over the strings and screw the two halves together. Notches for the strings would keep the whole thing in place. Something like this:

_=__________________=_

---0-----0-----0-----0---
_________clamp_________

(Bet the formatting doesn't work!)

It would damp your afterlength too, which would be good for live work. Unless that mike's the size of a D12, of course, in which case you'll need a more industrial solution. The pic gives no idea of scale, unfortunately.

Ed Fuqua · #3 10-04-2005, 01:00 PM

That cloud looks like a bunny.

Sorry, Doug, I don't get your pitcher at all. Trying to conceive what you're saying tho'; I'll give it a look. It may be that there is too much "play" in the strings to support the stand and mic.
But we'll give'r a try..

T-Bal · #4 10-04-2005, 01:30 PM

How bout a short section of gooseneck between the tailpiece and mic, with just a regular mic clip at the end? Drew Gress used to use a setup something like that.

Ed Fuqua · #5 10-04-2005, 01:55 PM

Yeah, but he used duct tape to get it to stick to the tailpiece. I think my new tailpiece is purty and I don't want to do that.

The "clip to" end is what's defeating me here. There's a bunch of drum mic stuff out there that just won't work on a tailpiece. I mean ultimately I guess I would want some kind of a padded U shaped thingie (kinda like a larger version of the thingie that would hold a Fishman to the bridge) that would have a place to screw on a small goose neck. hmmmm....

T-Bal · #6 10-04-2005, 02:04 PM

So how about a clamp that attaches with two long thin bolts through the E and G holes of the tailpiece? And some rubber washers to protect yer purty tp...

Ed Fuqua · #7 10-04-2005, 02:10 PM

hmmm. It'd have to be the A and D cause I got the Realist on the G.
But that might work.

Doug Ring · #8 10-04-2005, 03:05 PM

Okay, Ed - think of a set of stocks that they used to put offenders in to throw rotten fruit at (or was that the Glasgow Empire Theatre second house Saturday night...)

, but instead of three holes for a head and two hands there are four holes that fit around the strings below the bridge. Clamp it tight around those strings and you've got a stable platform that you can attach a mic clamp to and get your mic pointed in between the bridge feet.

I could sketch it in a second but I've no means of posting it here...

Bob Gollihur · #9 10-04-2005, 08:21 PM

Many moons ago I built an ugly contraption that was actually quite effective at holding a slim condenser mic. Given your specific need I think the concept alone may send you on your way, either to run with the ball or into hysterical laughter.

I can only assume the mic you have is relatively light and so wouldn't stress the bass using this concept.

It started with a small, probably approx. two and a half inch C-clamp, that eventually ends up secured to the bass through the G-side f-hole. I used thick pieces of rubber on the clamping surfaces so that was what contacted did not mark up the bass. The short end of the clamp went inside the bass, with the major part protruding from the front.

I drilled a couple holes into the long section of the "C" onto which I bolted a lightweight, thin, but stiff metal piece about 1/2 inch wide and a few inches long. The other end was bolted to a circular ring into which I drilled holes. I used heavy rubber bands to crisscross the interior to make a light poor-man's version of a mic isolation ring. I bent it slightly to provide the angle I preferred.

It worked well. And once I spray painted it dark brown it cut down on the ugly.

anonymous0726 · #10 10-04-2005, 08:26 PM

AMT makes a permanent tailpiece mount for their mic. Jes go buy of those and have it done with.

Marcus Johnson · #11 10-05-2005, 05:52 AM

Ah well, that's kinda weird.... when I mentioned that in one of my marathon phone chats with Marty Paglione (AMT's tech guy), he said "where'd you hear that?" in a cloak and dagger sort of way. He was a little evasive about it. I was interested in the setups they had done for Pattitucci, and Adrian Cho's longneck setup, but he just sort of acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. This was a long time ago. At any rate, I don't want to derail Ed's thread.

I've not used the AMT in awhile. I wonder if any of their mounts would even support the mic that Ed wants to use.

larry · #12 10-05-2005, 09:14 AM

Ed, I struggled with mounting mics for the last couple of years. The best solution for me was switching to this mic (sort of an economical alternative to the AMT):

http://www.shure.com/photos/bigones/beta98h_large.jpg

They run about $200, and I clip it right on the tip of the bridge between the D & G. The mic is super light and has almost no effect on the sound. It goosenecks around anywhere between the bridge legs and the F hole.

This has worked way better than anything else I've tried. It even records pretty well. I did a TV thing where I gave the soundman the signal from the mic. After the show they were raving about how great it sounded.

Craig Garfinkel · #13 10-05-2005, 09:37 AM

Or maybe this?

ATM35 clip on condenser microphone

Ed Fuqua · #14 10-05-2005, 10:07 AM

If I didnt already own a $250 microphone that I'm really happy with, I might be tempted. I've got a couple of gigs coming up that I'm using the mic on, the foam solution might not be as bad as I think...

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #15 10-05-2005, 10:31 AM

For whatever it's worth, the mysterious Mr. STANDBETTER made his own mounting device for the AMT mic, and it mounts on the tailpiece as in the pictures below. He very graciously sent me one to show his appreciation for the myriad questions I attempted to answer in emails about the way that Nnick and Gary Falk ended up mounting my AMT on the bass. He has since revised the design so that it's made of aluminum (that's "Aluminium" for ROGER THE BRUCE and TEA AND CRUMPTON ), and the one he sent me looks incredibly solid and ingenious - so ingenious, in fact, that I'm waiting to have it installed until I get a chance to get up Nnick's way again. Anyway, here's the old design:

Ed Fuqua · #16 10-05-2005, 10:34 AM

Jeff? Jeff? Don't that look purty?

flatback · #17 10-05-2005, 12:18 PM

Speaking of ingenious mic mounts...I met this cat who created a mic mount made of very thin spring steel which is bent in an arc and fits into the top two F holes. in the center of it (mid way between the table and the strings) is a hole with a clever little shock mount. When he told me about it a year ago I said, "i dont put anything in my F holes thank you very much"....
When I saw the prototype last month I though it had a lot going for it. It has a tremendous amount of isolation allowing the mic to be backed off from the table a bit, and unmounts in just a second. The spring steel is so thin and flexible that it just sits there with the slightest preasure. He is trying to get it manufactured... He had a Audix mic in there but no reason an AMT couldn't fit.
I'll post a photo when I can...
Wouldn't fit with that mic of yours Ed thou...
Darek Oles (excellent LA Bassist) used to have a mic mount that looked just like the AMT regular mount (only larger) and could hold any mic. You might call him and find out what it is...(he's in the pasadena phone book)
with big mics it added a bit of weight to the outside balance point, but it would work well with your mic.

anonymous0726 · #18 10-05-2005, 12:26 PM

I've played a few with heavier mic mounted on the tailpiece with different stand/gooseneck ideas, and although they work pretty well, the bass balances really wierd with the extra weight. Something to consider. The AMT doens't affect balance at all and goes on and off so easily -- and sounds great to boot. It might be worth a moment's thought on saving time/money/aggravation in the long run. If you want to borrow mine some time, just jingle me.

**Adrian Cho** · #19 10-05-2005, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

Ah well, that's kinda weird.... when I mentioned that in one of my marathon phone chats with Marty Paglione (AMT's tech guy), he said "where'd you hear that?" in a cloak and dagger sort of way. He was a little evasive about it. I was interested in the setups they had done for Pattitucci, and Adrian Cho's longneck setup, but he just sort of acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. This was a long time ago. At any rate, I don't want to derail Ed's thread.

I believe Marty's reason for that is that he strongly wants people to experiment with the mic to work out the sweet spot for them. The idea of the tailpiece mount (I have three pics here) is that the length of the gooseneck is custom-made so you definitely want to know where you will be positioning the capsule. On the other hand, it puzzles me that Marty (who is really just the tech guy and clearly doesn't care too much about the business and marketing crap) cares so much about that but AMT continues to use the same stupid advertising photo that shows the capsule in front of the f-hole. Marty told me some marketing guy setup that photo shoot.

I noticed BobbyG is now selling the AMT mics and on his page it says:

A word about custom AMT mic mounting arrangements: You may have seen unique microphone mounting arrangements on some basses, most recently endpin mounts. These are the result of custom work, and are not available at point of purchase through any dealer. Applied Microphone Technology, Inc. asks that you purchase and perform with the unit prior to considering any custom work. After purchase and use you may contact AMT directly to inquire about custom alternate mounting solutions available directly from the manufacturer.

Marcus Johnson · #20 10-05-2005, 03:28 PM

That's what I did, I'd owned the AMT for quite some time before I started getting tired of the fixed cable. This was after sending it back to AMT for a replacement cable. One of the problems that I've run into is that I have to be hyper-careful about packing the mic back into the case, which is prone to pinching the cable in the edges, or more likely, in the handle cutout, where you can't see it. Marty acknowledged that the cases are too small, but that he'd ordered a bunch of them and wasn't planning on replacing them until he used them up. Since the cable is hard wired to the mic, failures are a real PITA.

It's not much of an issue now, as I either play unamped or in bigger venues with the pickup. I may have someone modify it to make the cable removeable at some point, but it's not really front burner right now.