Double Bass A few mic questions

[Bass Catcher]

Hello -

I borrowed my friends SM57 and hooked it up on my bass using Sam's poor-man rubberband setup. My friend mentioned that this SM57 might have something wrong with it and it might not be as hot as other ones. Since he hasn't compared it to another 57, he doesn't know if this is the case.

I ran this through my two channel Clarus III and my Wizzy M-Line. The only way I could get a reasonable amount of sound to come out of this rig was with the channel and master volumes maxed out. I was standing a few feet from my amp and facing it. With the rubberband set-up the microphone was about an inch or an inch and a half from the bass.

I haven't played with microphones much, but it seems to me that if I had the volume maxed out, I should be getting MUCH more volume. It seems to me that my friends assumption that the mic isn't very hot is probably true. What do you guys think?

Matt

 

[larry]

Sounds like the mic has seen better days. Check Shure's website - they have a flat-fee schedule to fix whatever is wrong with their mics.

 

[bolo]

Wow. I could be all wet, but I'm surprised it didn't squeal with ear piercing feedback long before you had both dials turned up all the way. I'd say you and your friend's assumptions are true. And larry's advice is solid, as always. I did not know about Shure's flat-fee repair thing.

 

[Earl Douglas]

Try a 57 in good working condition and also turn amp around, bouncing the sound off the wall.

 

[Bass Catcher]

I put on another SM57 this morning. It worked just fine. There is something wrong with the other one.

 

[AZNBassist]

Did you use an XLR cable or something that changes it into a 1/4 jack. I've noticed that if you use a 1/4 jack that mics tend to lose almost all the volume and you need to crank up the volume all the way up just to get barely enough volume.