i want to invest in a mic because im not a fan of going direct because i love the tone i get out of my ampeg svt. I was thinking of the Shure Beta 52 or the AKG D112. Any help? I play in drop C and play hardcore music and have a punchy distorted tone, if that helps.
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What mic to mic bass cabs live?
- Thread starter JoshSmith
- Start date
I wouldn't use either. They're bass drum mics, and they're too mid scooped for my tastes. Here are my favorites in order:
EV RE20
Heil PR40
Sennheiser MD421 (a little bright but sounds great)
Beyer M88
And of you're on a budget, AKG P2.
EV RE20
Heil PR40
Sennheiser MD421 (a little bright but sounds great)
Beyer M88
And of you're on a budget, AKG P2.
The Akg P2 is fantastic value. Full range sound and fairly flat response. Needs a $2 3/8 to 5/8" thread converter as the 5/8 mount is plastic and can't handle the jandal.
I put down the cash for an SM7.
I'd also be happy with a Heil PR40, Beyer M201, or AKG P2, if I was on a serious budget.
general consensus will be to NEVER use a kick drum mic as they scoop out the mids (the "punch" in your tone comes from solid low mids), and instead use a good all-purpose mic with a wide (and mostly flat) frequency response so it sends to the board exactly the tone that you're putting out.
Also, buy a mic stand to go with it. A soundguy is a lot less likely to put up a fuss if all he has to do is hand you a cable.
I'd also be happy with a Heil PR40, Beyer M201, or AKG P2, if I was on a serious budget.
general consensus will be to NEVER use a kick drum mic as they scoop out the mids (the "punch" in your tone comes from solid low mids), and instead use a good all-purpose mic with a wide (and mostly flat) frequency response so it sends to the board exactly the tone that you're putting out.
Also, buy a mic stand to go with it. A soundguy is a lot less likely to put up a fuss if all he has to do is hand you a cable.
Audix D4. Goes low, sounds great, and is easy to place being quite small. Also, since the D6 drum mic is so popular, you get the "Oh, I recognize that name" response from the sound folk.
The AKG D112 isn't particularly scooped (perhaps why it is disliked by many for kick) and it's manual specifically calls it out as great for miking bass cabs and even has a section on using it on one. Nothing like the Audix D6 at all ...
Believe it or not if the soundguy is a dud an SM57 is probably the best choice - it will be "punchier" with flat EQ. The extended low end of the D112 can be dangerous in the wrong hands - serious potential for mud city and/or low frequency feedback. OTOH a 'fridge has a natural roll-off anyways and no ports that the sound guy can put a D112 too close to.
Personally I use one of these:
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but that would probably freak out the cork sniffers out there. If you remove/coverup the Nady name and tell them it's a Russian studio mic they'll think it sounds awesome LOL. I also use their DM-70 mics on guitar cabs - I have this set which has two DM-70's and one DM-80:
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Plenty good enough for live gigs and their small size takes up less stage space vs them stoopid huge SM57's
.
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Oh, and just as important as the mic is some way to mount it - these take up minimal stage space:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CabGrabber
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CabGrabber
Have you personally had a bad experience with a D112?Oh, well if they said it in the manual, it must be true
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I have usually gotten decent but not great results with a D112 when I tell the soundman that it needs some mids all the way up and down the spectrum. It does have pretty big humps at 100hz and 3.5k and a smaller hump at 12k. But if you're getting results you like, my opinion is moot. I'm just stating my opinion.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Thanks for the info. In any case I'll only use a D112 when someone brings it as their "pet" mic but it's not tough to get to sound OK. The cheapo Nady DM80 I mentioned is pretty flat, it takes EQ to get it to sound like a "kick mic" - they have a DM90 which has the baked-in EQ.
The AKG P2 sounds interesting for under a hundred but I've not ever used one. The others seem like they are on the large side and the RE20 in particular is renowned for it's inability to reject other sound sources - things us mere mortals that work smaller stages find important
. But I'm assuming the OP wants a live sound mic and not one specifically for recording?
LOL! Well I've never used it but its EQ curve is perfect for bass and friends of mine who have one swear by it as a nice low-cost mic for bass cabs. Never got one because I don't mic anymore, but if I were, I would definitely pick one up, as the PR40 sounds great but is a little big.
Size and price are definitely a factor at my level - there's just no way I'm taking a >$200 mic to a bar gig. I'm happy enough with my EV PL series drum mics and use those on guitar and bass too at my better gigs. The P2 will replace the EV PL33 I use on bass at those gigs - that one is very contoured and requires serious EQ to flatten - which is why I didn't mention it. I'd rather use my Nady DM80 than the PL33 even at the better gigs but it says "Nady" on it and fails the "cork sniffer" test LOL.
