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Double Bass Cram-a-mic-through-the-afterlength guys: What are you using?

Chris Fitzgerald

Chris Fitzgerald

Student of Life
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Oct 19, 2000
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Louisville, KY
www.chrisfitzgeraldmusic.com
#1
I've gigged my LaScala ply already, and while the pickup sounds okay, I really miss the mic (the hybrid has the AMT built in). I may eventually spring for another AMT mic without the pre, but in the meantime, I'd like to try mixing in some other mic signals. I've got an old 58 lying around and a bunch of condenser mics to play with, and could probably borrow a dynamic or two from a friend in the recording business. What are you guys using, and what kind of results are you getting?
 
#2
I saw John Brown using a DPA 4021 recently at a gig in Raleigh. John is the director of the jazz program at Duke, and he also teaches at UNC.

John had the mic mounted to the afterlengths, between the A and D strings several inches below the bridge, pointing up to the centerline of the bridge at roughly a 45 degree angle. I think he was using the DPA VH4000 mic holder, which is a triangular looking black rubber shock mount device.

I googled it and found a street price of $1519 for the mic and $300 for the holder, but I swear John said it was $2,500.
 
#3
I also use the DPA 4021, with their mounting thingie.

pricey as all get out. can't remember exactly what I paid several years back, but if memory serves, it was 2-300 north of the 1500 quoted here.

price aside, it sounds the sh*t. best I ever heard

downsides: cable is pretty delicate looking, doesn't really look very road-worthy, more of a studio instrument. but so far for me, no probs, though I'm very careful with it. also, mounting thing works great, unobtrusive and easy on-off, but it offers limited positioning flexibility, so you'd better hope your bass puts out a a nice, mikeable sound at some angle in the general neighborhood of just below the bridge.

in sum, probably not for everybody, but a serious cool piece of gear
 
#4
I did a little unscientific shootout between most of my mics including an SM58, RE20, Earthworks TC20, Shure Beta 98, Oktava MK012 and the Beyer M88TG. Recorded my LaScala with all of them (as well as using most of them on different gigs). The Earthworks sounded the best, but is not suitable for live sound as an omni condenser. The M88 sounded very good and has a tight pattern (rejects bleed / feedback). IMO, it beat the rest (including the RE20 to my surprise). Only downside is a lot of proximity effect, but for live sound it's fine. I used to use the Shure Beta 98 HC. It's good too, but I like the Beyer a little better.

Recording is another story, but for blending with a pick up, the M88 is my fav. Runs about $250 and has to sit on a stand, though...

Edit: I'm an idiot. I missed the part about cramming it throught the afterlength. The Shure Beta 98HC can clip to the bridge, tail, etc. and sound decent. Runs around $200.
 
#5
I've had great results for recording with a Sennheiser dynamic mic designed for clipping to a drum shell - I think it's the e604. The clip mechanism can hook really securely across the afterlength of two strings and then you can point the mic at the F-hole. Because the whole assembly's plastic it's really light and it stays in place well. It retails in the UK for around £100.

The caveat is that it sounds brilliant recorded but I haven't had a chance to use it live properly. I had one brief attempt going into a very large house PA but as there was no backline for my double bass and I couldn't get near a monitor and the engineer wasn't concentrating hard on me and the rest of the band were in thrash mode I couldn't tell how well it worked! But I've no reason to suspect that since it sounds so good otherwise it couldn't be made to work live.

Hope this helps.
 
#7
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Thanks guys. The sennheiser looks like the kinda thing that my local studio might have lying around. I'm not looking for anything super expensive, and it will always be mixed with a pickup. Keep those suggestions coming!
Click to expand...
Your not? You didn't get immediate wood thinking about a $1500 DPA? I've never even heard of that.
 
#8
while googeling for the sennheiser e604 i found the sennheiser e602. its a large-diaphragm-mic (please excuse my bad english, i hope its the right word) that costs only about 145€.
since i played some gigs last week with a akg c414 mounted between the legs of the bridge that made a very nice sound i´m looking for a similar mic that doesn´t cost 1000€...
doug, do you know the e602?
 
#9
Shure 57 (SM or Beta version) works well crammed through the afterlength. If I'm not mistaken, that is what Lynn Seaton uses (either that or a Shure 56 rigged up to the tailpiece).

BTW the Beyer M88 really is an excellent and far too often overlooked mic. For the price though, an SM-57 is hard to beat.
 
#11
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Whatever Lynn uses, it's a stubby little mic that his wife made a handmade "stuffer" for to mount on his bass. I can't remember the name, but I'll be able to ask him myself in about 6 weeks.

EDIT: on second thought, it may well be one of these.
Click to expand...
I have one of those. I use it for kick drum when I do sound. I never took it out on a gig but I did stuff it under the bridge in the studio and thought it sounded pretty good. Better than I thought actually. She's no amt but better than the sm57 or 58 i've stuck under there during the same trials.
 
#12
Chris Fitzgerald said:
EDIT: on second thought, it may well be one of these.
Click to expand...

Some folks dig the D112 for DB. I borrowed one from my drummer to try out and I did not like it. Boomy, not focused. It also had a harsh top end. At least that was my one-night experience with one. Phil is right that it is an excellent bass drum mic, but I personally would reach for a 57 or 58 on DB before the D112. YMMV.
 
#13
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Whatever Lynn uses, it's a stubby little mic that his wife made a handmade "stuffer" for to mount on his bass. I can't remember the name, but I'll be able to ask him myself in about 6 weeks.

EDIT: on second thought, it may well be one of these.
Click to expand...
Might be one of these: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Beta56/ ...or at least that's what Mike Sharfe told me... ;)

Beta57 is really the same thing though and easily crams through the string afterlength.
 
#14
Uncletoad said:
You didn't get immediate wood thinking about a $1500 DPA? I've never even heard of that.
Click to expand...
Well surely you’ve heard of Brüel & Kjær. (Hehe.)

No? Me either. I can't even pronounce Brüel & Kjær. Turns out DPA stands for Danish Pro Audio, which is a 14 year old spinoff of Brüel & Kjær’s pro audio division.

Some high end s^&* to be sure. In addition to myrick, Wil Davis and Vunz have posted a few things about the DPA mics for DB.
 
#15
bolo said:
No? Me either. I can't even pronounce Brüel & Kjær. Turns out DPA stands for Danish Pro Audio, which is a 14 year old spinoff of Brüel & Kjær’s pro audio division.
Click to expand...
It's always something. GAS is chronic and fatal. At least to the wallet.
 
#18
#19
I've been experimenting today with a mixture of the Full Circle and an old battered SM58 that's been through the wars as a vocal mic. The blended signal sounds great...in my music room. The thing that really made this mic sound good was something I came across by accident - the mic slipped while I was playing into a position in which it was more perpendicular to the top, and the sound immediately got about 10x better. Turns out by being in that position, the top was more "on axis" to the diaphragm of the mic. I'll try it on my (drummerless) gig Wednesday and see what happens. It should be interesting.
 
#20
Chris Fitzgerald said:
I've been experimenting today with a mixture of the Full Circle and an old battered SM58 that's been through the wars as a vocal mic. The blended signal sounds great...in my music room. The thing that really made this mic sound good was something I came across by accident - the mic slipped while I was playing into a position in which it was more perpendicular to the top, and the sound immediately got about 10x better. Turns out by being in that position, the top was more "on axis" to the diaphragm of the mic. I'll try it on my (drummerless) gig Wednesday and see what happens. It should be interesting.
Click to expand...

Just played a drummerless concert w/ a SM 57 on a small boom stand at a perpendicular angle to the top in a medium sized theater. The mic channel went to the house and the Realist thru a Polytone for a stage monitor. Arco and/or Piz, the combination w/ the great acoustics of the room was fabulous. :D
 

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