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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > When a Crystal Goes Bad
When a Crystal Goes Bad
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jnorem
471 posts
Jul 29, 2014
6:44 PM
What happens when a crystal goes bad, does it stop working all at once or does it slowly die, and does it cause any noises through the amp as it's dying?
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Call me J
BluesJacketman
189 posts
Jul 29, 2014
6:50 PM
Sometimes it can just stop working and sometimes it will slowly lose output until there is no output.
jnorem
472 posts
Jul 29, 2014
6:54 PM
So it only gets weaker by degrees, but it doesn't make noise in the amp?
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Call me J
BluesJacketman
190 posts
Jul 29, 2014
7:05 PM
I don't think so. That might be something else, maybe the cable. I don't know though ask Greg Heumman.

Last Edited by BluesJacketman on Jul 29, 2014 7:06 PM
jnorem
473 posts
Jul 29, 2014
7:35 PM
My tech guy has decided it's the volume pot, then he started fretting about it might be the crystal. I never really thought that was it, though.

Thanks, BJ.

Ha! What if it is the cable?


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Call me J

Last Edited by jnorem on Jul 29, 2014 7:36 PM
1847
2010 posts
Jul 29, 2014
7:51 PM
very likely the volume pot is 500 k
would not be a bad idea replace it with a 5 meg pot
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
bublnsqueak
34 posts
Jul 29, 2014
10:00 PM
Quite new at this. At the stage of buying cheap vintage mics to explore different sounds on my modded little tube amp.

I've just acquired a bm-3 crystal mic from fleabay.
Changed the connection and had a quick go the other day. When I play a normal / soft note it is fine, but if I lean into it harder I get a click before the note.

Anyone know what it might be / how to fix it??
Doesn't fit the description of 'dying' above.

Paul
dougharps
699 posts
Jul 29, 2014
10:29 PM
I have a crystal element in a Turner 22X that seems weak and will make an odd noise if I play hard. I am going to install my one remaining slightly used ceramic 127 element in it when I get around to it.
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Doug S.
BluesJacketman
191 posts
Jul 29, 2014
10:32 PM
Doug did you ever get arund to installing that CM I sent you?
GamblersHand
520 posts
Jul 30, 2014
2:55 AM
Many years agao I used to use a Hohner Blues Blaster with a crystal element. When it got damaged (frequently as I recollect) there was noise produced through the amp.
jbone
1711 posts
Jul 30, 2014
3:40 AM
I usually use Monster cables when I can. Tough and guaranteed. Eliminate the cable first.
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barbequebob
2664 posts
Jul 30, 2014
10:25 AM
From years of using them, sometimes they will gradually wear out over a long period of time, sometimes they die from dropping them, sometimes it's because of the combination of extremes in temperature as well as one's own body heat (like if you tend to sweat quite profusely).

When Astatic went away from using the screw on connector in 1984 to first the mini XLR connector and then later in the 80's with the regular XLR connector, they also changed the way the inside of the grill materials that were being used to basically a paper product of some sort which, unlike the old screw on connector ones, let in much more of the temperature extremes and body heat and crystals tended to die out faster and when I was using the ones with the XLR conector, I still had a few older ones, so I changed the grill from the older ones from what was on the newer ones and that problem disappeared.

If you dropped it and then shake the mic and you hear something rattling, the crystal has largely returned to its original rochelle salt and it just died off.

Ceramics do tend to be able to take more of a beating and are less susceptible to body heat and temperature extremes.

Some problems can be from the wiring and even the connectors themselves as well as cables.

When there's a problem with temperature extremes, one thing I do NOT recommend doing is leaving it in a car for hours in a cold vehicle because crystals can get brittle and if it is in extremely high temperatures, they can basically melt.

When playing in an extremely hot room temperature wise, the output of the crystal can drop, sometimes quite substantailly and even more so if you have a tendency to sweat like a pig big time, but when that same mic is handed over to another player who isn't sweating like that, the output often times will return to normal. To compensate, what I usually do is set the volume control on the mic (if the mic has one) at 3/4's of the way up and when the output drops, I turn the pot all the way up and then down when needed.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
dougharps
700 posts
Jul 30, 2014
2:34 PM
@BluesJacketman
No, I have been busy with repair stuff on my daughter's house and playing some gigs as a sub with two different bands, so the CM is just sitting in the drawer next to the biscuit mic with the Mexican 520D element. I probably won't get to swapping elements until after SPAH.

If the CM sounds better as I expect, I will probably sell the 520D element, which is pretty hot and sounded fine.

How did the NOS ceramic work out for you?

Probably should continue this by email...
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Doug S.
jnorem
474 posts
Jul 30, 2014
5:02 PM
It's a fairly new cable, only a few months old, but you never know do you.
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Call me J


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