Double Bass Mic to mount n a H-CLAMP?

[The Spanier]

Hi all,

After searching in the forum, i did not find any concrete answer for this question.

I finally bought my H-Clamp. And now, the question is… Which mic to mount on for live situations??? I won´t play in noisy places or with loud drummers neither.

I always carry my Motu896MkIII mixer with me, so it won´t be a problem if phantom power was required.

I would also appreciate any mic also suitable for recording, but I guess it is asking too much.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Condenser mics will be more sensitive but also more prone to feedback in live situations. Dynamic mics are less sensitive, often more "durable", and more feedback resistant. When I used a mic blended with a pickup, I used both but settled on dynamics at the end of that period, but that was because I was running the mix through an amp. Guys who use condensers most often either run the mic signal through the FOH system only, or treat their bass amp more like a mini-PA system and put the speaker out of "earshot" of the mic. My only real success with a condenser was had with the bass speaker up on a pole mount so it was up and over my shoulder.

 

[The Spanier]

Thank you very much Chris;

I´ve listened your recordings with the “MXL 606”. Amazing sound. Congratulations. Anyway, I guess it would be stupid to try one of these for a small live gig… Right??

And focusing in dynamics, which one would you recommend??? I have a couple of AKG D-Series, but they sound just ugly.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I have my whole concept/approach to live mic usage in a couple of articles for Bass gear magazine. You can find pdf copies of the articles [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] at the bottom of the page. Parts 2 and 3 are probably most relevant to what you're going after here.

As far as specific mics, for condensers I only really had any luck with the AMT bass mic for live usage, and it works well within its limitations. For dynamics, I ended up using a Shure Beta57a or a Beta 56. When I found my new amp of choice (PJB super flightcase BG-300), it had a more ambient dispersion pattern and therefore was not a good choice for blending a mic signal in, so I just discontinued using a mic at all. If I were determined to use a mic, I'd use a powered PA speaker up on a pole over my shoulder and then experiment with mics from there; with this method, most of them should provide good results once the preamp situation was settled.

Overall, I'll give the same advice for mics and recording gear that I give for basses: once you get up to a certain level of gear (for basses, in the range of Shen/Christopher and for mics in the range of MXL/M-Audio), your time is much better spent working on your playing technique if you want to make significant gains in your amplified/recorded sound. Yes, the more expensive stuff is better sounding, but a master can sound masterful with merely decent equipment, whereas somebody who can't really play will sound like somebody who can't play even if they have the most expensive gear in the world.