undertheradar
50 posts
Oct 04, 2013
6:27 AM
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http://www.amazon.com/Shure-520DX-Dynamic-Harmonica-Microphone/dp/B0002CZYHK/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1380892236&sr=1-1&keywords=harmonica+mics
Is this comparable to the old bullets? Im looking for a good hot mic for my amp. I normally play acoustic and can get really clean sounds out my amp but would be nice to dirty it up every now and then.
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HawkeyeKane
2091 posts
Oct 04, 2013
6:53 AM
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About the only thing about the modern 520DX that's comparable to the old Green Bullets is the look of them. Otherwise, it's pretty much a completely different animal. If you get your hands on one, it'd be a good idea to get a vintage element like a CM or CR put in it by someone like Greg Heumann or Dave Wren. Much better tone and output that way.
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Hawkeye Kane
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Frank
2893 posts
Oct 04, 2013
6:57 AM
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If you can get dirty sounds with a shure 57 - then the bullet will also give you dirty sounds - the tone will be different, thats all...
If you can't get dirty sounds with a 57 - then you will experience the same issue with every other mic.
Dirty sounds come from a player's "technique"...particularly how notes are utilized, combined, attacked, etc - these things give the dirt - the mic enhances the dirt that the player created :)
Last Edited by Frank on Oct 04, 2013 7:01 AM
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Greg Heumann
2394 posts
Oct 04, 2013
8:16 AM
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I get this question so often (usually from people who already own one) I have the answer composed already - I just copy and paste it. Here it is:
I don't recommend spending a lot of $$ on a 520DX. Compared to all the other green bullet mics (520D and 520) it has a harshness to its tone and doesn't break up as nicely. Yes, you could put a different element in there and improve its tone. But it will still be the biggest, heaviest mic on the planet. Great for use as a weapon, less ideal as a mic! It is hard to cup and fatigues your hands. The built in cable is a pain in the butt and is guaranteed to fail inside the mic sooner or later. The solution to THAT is to jettison the cable and install a screw-on connector.
I charge $35 to put a screw-on connector in. (And for an extra $15 I will put a female screw-on connector on the cable that comes out of it.) But this is not as straight forward on the 520DX as you might think. The retaining ring that screws the cable onto the mic's connector will interfere with the volume knob. I can shave down the knob a little with a razor blade and it will be free to turn, but it won't be pretty. Also because that ring is about 3/4" in diameter it is much harder to get your thumb and forefinger around the connector to grasp the knob to turn it. The solution to THAT is an extension knob I make for $19 that solves that problem.
SO - my advice is to consider the above before you put a bunch of money into a 520DX. There are other vintage candidates that can be had for reasonable prices that are smaller and lighter.
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/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
BlueState - my band
Bluestate on iTunes
Last Edited by Greg Heumann on Oct 04, 2013 8:17 AM
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undertheradar
51 posts
Oct 04, 2013
9:53 AM
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my amp has several 1/4" pors. The #1 port is real dirty. I used that with a vintage green bullet when I tried it out. When I put in a vocal mike (my electrovoice) it instantly feeds back. When u plug that particular green bullet in, it has that sound. Maybe I just need a better mic LOL
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HawkeyeKane
2094 posts
Oct 04, 2013
10:41 AM
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What kind of amp are we referencing here?
A vocal mic fed back where a vintage GB did not? That must be one hot vocal mic!
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Hawkeye Kane
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FatJesus
24 posts
Oct 05, 2013
7:43 AM
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Hey, check out Hawkeye's new pic!
Also, my first mic many moons ago was indeed that 520DX--back pre-interwebs. That's all they had at the Sam Ash by me. I think it was $119 or thereabouts.
And here's what I learned: If you can hack the weight and size, it's a great trainer for your cupping... because it's the largest mic in the history of makind.
But that's it. It's thin, it feeds back fast, and it has no balls.
Years later, I picked up a vintage Astatic biscuit with a vintage Shure element--and wow was it night and day (especially with a tube amp and some Lone Wolf pedals like delay and octave). And after the bullet, it was soooo much easier to cup. But it was a LOT of $$$.
A while after that, I went with Greg's Ultimate 545--and that's a very different sound from the biscuit, but it's really, really true. It can get dirty with a tube amp, depending on how you cup it; or it can play very clean; and it can play with a keyboard amp/PA system (and effects patches/pedals like Richard Hunter's great stuff on the RP units) very, very nicely.
So, the moral of this boring story? Don't buy the 520DX, whatever you do.
And along the line of Hawkeye's question: What kind of amp? What do you want to play--clean, dirty, both? Blues, rock, jazz, everything?
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undertheradar
52 posts
Oct 07, 2013
5:26 AM
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its a Tweed 8ball. A local guy here worked it for Harp. Its my first amp, and I like it alot.
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