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Double Bass AMT Mic

peterpalmieri

peterpalmieri

Supporting Member
Apr 19, 2005
7,887
5,603
Babylon, NY
#1
I picked up the AMT mic used from Phil here on the site.

It is the clamp on version and also the cable does not detach from the mic itself which I believe is different from the newer version. A great price though and well worth the investment to experiment with it.

I had a chance to really play with it at home last night and the sound is night and day to any pick up I have used. I found the best placement to be in the center of the bass about 2 - 3" off the top (I did not measure it) and just an inch or two shy of being under the fingerboard. I'll continue to experiment with the placement.

Feedback is a serious issue and is of course very much subject to volume and speaker placement, I can see this being an issue. I have a jam tonight and will probably leave it home until I get a better handle on eliminating feedback.

I am using it with a Focus 2RIII and EA NL210 with the tweeter turned almost off. I also pulled the battery out of the unit and am powering it with phantom power from the Focus.

I have read a number of different threads on both mic placement, speakre placement and Focus settings but any additional tips would be helpful.

BTW for those of you not familiar I have a Kolstein Hybrid Bussetto with Oliv D & G, Eudoxa A and a Heritage E (which doesn't match well). The current pick up I am using is a planet.
 
#2
If I understand where you place the head of the mic, that's where I have had success too. I describe it as the mid-point between the end of the FB and the bridge. Moving mine north toward the end of the FB sounds pleasing to me too.

I also found that while some people like the AMT positioned really close in to the surface of the bass, I get more blossom and a fuller sound in that location by backing it away like you did to a couple of inches off the top. It still amazes me what a small change in location, distance from the top, and angle to the top can produce.

If you are in a situation where you can send the mic signal only to the PA, I think that's probably optimal for a natural sound out in the house. I run a mic into my amp, and yes, feedback is a contraint. Welcome to the club.
 
#3
I could never get it to work through the amp. It sounds great out front though. I usually sent the mic straight to the FOH and used just the pickup in the amp.

Never could use it without a FOH guy.

The Dynamic mic works much better for that.
 
#4
Uncletoad said:
I could never get it to work through the amp. It sounds great out front though. I usually sent the mic straight to the FOH and used just the pickup in the amp.

Never could use it without a FOH guy.
Click to expand...
Right, thanks. That's an important distinction in many of these mic related posts/threads I think that often gets blurred or left out. People start comparing their experiences, but some are using their amp, some are using a PA. Like you said, running a mic thru your amp vs. sending it just to the PA are not the same.

For a local small-timer like me playing jazz in smaller groups, typically there is no PA. But usually they do have a nice big flat screen TV over the bar.
 
#6
Uncletoad said:
Never could use it without a FOH guy.
Click to expand...

Meaning you need a physical sound guy running the board or just a PA system of some kind?

I play a regular Thursday night in the summer and they always have the yankee games on a 72" HDTV right in front of us. Some times we'll let out a big yell in the middle of the tune for a HR or KO. Very distracting, I've missed more then a few bridges because of it.
 
#7
peterpalmieri said:
Meaning you need a physical sound guy running the board or just a PA system of some kind?

I play a regular Thursday night in the summer and they always have the yankee games on a 72" HDTV right in front of us. Some times we'll let out a big yell in the middle of the tune for a HR or KO. Very distracting, I've missed more then a few bridges because of it.
Click to expand...
FOH guy meaning a babysitter at the board. If I just run it through the PA without a babysitter it can get away from me in a hurry.

I know many TB fellows that use the AMT through an amp and it works well for them, I dunno what I'm doing that it didn't.

We have a similar situation on our Thursday gig only it's with the Tribe or the Reds.

Much more civilized.
 
#8
Uncletoad said:
We have a similar situation on our Thursday gig only it's with the Tribe or the Reds.

Much more civilized.
Click to expand...

I can think of 26 reasons of how it is not similar:eek:

To the point of the thread I figured you meant it needs a baby sitter.

I am really going to give it a good try to get it working live. In many ways I am very selfish, I want to hear the best possible tone for myself, meaning mic through my amp. For the most part the audience isn't thinking if I sound more like Paul Chambers/Ray Brown or Ron Carter/Stanley Clarke.

In any case using mic to FOH and pick up to amp is the most sensible. I've found with my pickup/bass strings, amp etc. I get the best sound by cutting all the highs and mids on my focus. The mic sounds much better without any eq. The HPF can help with feedback but it does take away from the sound.

We'll see how all of this turns out on the band stand, as we all know what we hear in the comfort of home doesn't always translate. My pick up sounds harsh, annoying and sometimes hollow when playing 4th and 5th position on the G string at home. On the band stand most of that fades into the mix.

Maybe I will bring the mic tonight to play around with a bit...
 
#9
Doing a gig in a sports bar in a Holiday Inn tonight. Obviously not the big time (hehe). But they do have 17 HDTVs.

It's also in Chapel Hill. Good thing the Final Four isn't until Saturday.

Good luck w/ the AMT. Experimenting at home is cool, but like you said on a gig it's a different ballgame (poor pun intended). Sounds like you are aware of and thinking about all the right things.
 
#10
bolo said:
It's also in Chapel Hill. Good thing the Final Four isn't until Saturday.
Click to expand...

We played a gig in a sports bar here in NY during a Giants play off game (I'm a Jets fan FWIW). We actually got on stage at the 2 minute warning of half time started right at the whistle and got off during the 4th quarter. Didn't start the final set until after the end of the game. Thank god they won it made for a good night....

A smaller cabinet then my NL210 (possible a wizzy) is probably a good idea when using the mic that way I can tuck it in a spot angling 45 degrees from my bass and towards the drummer. I know for sure I will never be able to use the full power of the focus/NL210 with the mic.
 
#11
I always used the AMT blended with a Full Circle through the amp onstage and sent the mixed direct out to the house when there was a house to send it to. The keys for making this work for me were:

1) getting the amp off the floor and up as high as possible into the air; while I was still using the EA VL208 speakers, I pole mounted them on a PA speaker stand and had them between me and the drummer.

2) Muting the afterlength of the strings a bit when I wanted more volume from the mic and less "boom".

3) Rolling off the frequencies which tend to feedback first.

4) Setting the mic volume at one set workable level, then using the amount of pickup blended in to change volume levels from there.

Now that I'm using the Wizzy 10's and a dynamic mic, it's much the same thing. Getting the speakers pointed away from the body of the bass (and obviously, the mic itself) is the biggest part of the equation IMO.
 
#13
peterpalmieri said:
Chris,

Do you find that you can get a volume above that of which a single Wizzy can put out before feedback?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand the question. The "volume before feedback" equation depends on the source. The AMT gets less than the pickup, which gets less than just about any electric bass I plug into the rig. With the mic pickup blend, I can - if I do as described above and leave the mic set at a certain level - get pretty darn loud. Only rarely do I need more than a single Wizzy.

Also what is the impact on using two cabinets in terms of the volume you can reach before feedback?
Click to expand...

Two Wizzys (Wizzies? Whiz Ease?) produce a much more massive, bottom-oriented sound than only one, and I find i can get a lot more volume than way. To me, the trick is to leave the mic preamp set at about 9 o'clock and adjust around it. I've played ridiculously loud with this kind of setup (always with the pickup as well), and not had feedback problems.
 
#14
Hate to be pedantic, but two kinds of feedback, yes?

1) Bass body resonating unnaturally and excessively on certain freqs. Think "vrooooom".

2) The high pitched squeal from a mic that makes everybody in the place cringe. We've all heard this with vocal mics when the singer goes out to close to the front line of the mains. It can be a GEM (gig ending move).

It's the latter that is the most problematic for me running a mic thru my amp and trying to get it to go LOUD. But that's just me.
 
#16
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Two Wizzys (Wizzies? Whiz Ease?) produce a much more massive, bottom-oriented sound than only one, and I find i can get a lot more volume than way. To me, the trick is to leave the mic preamp set at about 9 o'clock and adjust around it. I've played ridiculously loud with this kind of setup (always with the pickup as well), and not had feedback problems.
Click to expand...

Now that would sound mighty good.
 
#18
bolo said:
Hate to be pedantic, but two kinds of feedback, yes?

1) Bass body resonating unnaturally and excessively on certain freqs. Think "vrooooom".

2) The high pitched squeal from a mic that makes everybody in the place cringe. We've all heard this with vocal mics when the singer goes out to close to the front line of the mains. It can be a GEM (gig ending move).

It's the latter that is the most problematic for me running a mic thru my amp and trying to get it to go LOUD. But that's just me.
Click to expand...


Would it be correct to say that the resonated frequencies are due mic placement on the bass and can be additionally tamed with the HPF. And the squeeling has more to do with where you position your bass to the speakers?
 
#19
peterpalmieri said:
I guess my question is more in regards to the mic alone, do you have more headroom before feedback with two cabs vs. one. I am getting from your response that it is unclear since you always blend in the pick up....
Click to expand...

As it happens, I'm playing a set in a blues club tonight and bringing both Whiz Ease. While I won't be using the AMT, I can try to report back on how much volume I get with the mic only through two cabs instead of one.
 

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