I've been working on a harp holder that will allow me to get a somewhat electric sound while playing guitar at the same time. It's loosely based on the toilet paper roll holder that Walter Tore came up with a while back here on this forum.
I've got a prototype working pretty well, and I'm liking the basic design pretty well, but the mic element I used in it is just a little cheapie that I picked up on Ebay a couple of years ago. I don't really even know what it is--but the sound isn't right and it's noisy.
Does anybody know what kind of an element would work well inside an enclosure? It would have to be about 1 1/4" in diameter or less. I've got it wired now for a regular guitar jack--so that would bet preferred too--but not a deal breaker.
I hope this is enough information to work with--I'm not very familiar with the electric gear stuff. . .
---------- ==================================== Always be yourself--unless you suck. . . -Joss Whedon
Good idea--Isaac--In just shoved a 57 up the holders uh, hole, and it sounds 200% better. Of course, the 57 is way too heavy--but I have one in my workshop that is workable parts--and I might be able to get some of the hardware stripped off--(Don't tell Greg--he gave me some of the hardware) ;-) . . . ---------- ==================================== Always be yourself--unless you suck. . . -Joss Whedon
Just remember that the SM57 replacement capsule isn't the entire SM57 - you need its transformer too - which is in the barrel. And then you have a low impedance mic. ---------- /Greg
Well, I got the SM57 installed in my new holder today--I tried a test on it going into my mixer and just to headphones--no amp yet.
I got so carried away with it I just noodled on it all afternoon--it's sounding pretty good to me, but I still need to soften it a bit by sealing it up some. I'm not much of an electric player, but I'm really liking this rig so far for rack playing.
My question now is, if you're still available, Greg--is what value of pot would I need on this baby? I know you told me once before--but I sure can't find it now. . . ---------- ==================================== Always be yourself--unless you suck. . . -Joss Whedon
Don't know if you saw this on a recent thread but it might give you some more ideas. Unfortunately he doesn't specify what mic element he is using but thewhole package sure sounds good.
@toddg --- When you see Paul, tell him I said hi!! ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
@toddg--I agree--I am a big fan of Paul Oscher--I love the sound he gets and I would really like to know what he uses--I think I'm getting close, but my rig won't hold a chro, and his does. Maybe he has a different rig for chros?
Anyway, if you could get any information at all about what his holder is like, and what kind of mic is in it, and what kind of amp and mixer he uses--or just whatever--I'd really appreciate it! --------------------- Always be yourself--unless you suck. . . -Joss Whedon
I have enquired to Paul about his rig but haven't heard anything. I wonder if what he is using is one of those chromatic harp holder tubes that had a mic on the end? Walter
here is a link http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/200U-1504.htm
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
oldwailer: I tried the barcus berry pick up- failure. Then Last night I put a shure 57 into an empty paper towel roll(lined it with an old winter hat I had laying around) and hooked this to my harp rack. I laid the mic inside the roll parrallel to the harp with the capsule around the middle holes. This took a lot of the weight off my flimsy $8 harp rack (thanks Greg your words came to me)and the cord didn't get in the way of guitar playing. Previously I had put the 57 into the beer can cooler and it was perpendicular to the harp rack. That was way to heavy on my neck and the cord was hitting the guitar strings and piano keys. I plugged both ends of the paper towel roll up with paper towels and ran this to a preamp and then my recording interface. Again it was a pretty clean sound and somewhat compressed but more amp like sounding than with the tie clip mic because I was able to compress it more without it overloading. The 57 did not pick up the vocals near as much as the tie clip mic. I might buy a harp attack for live gigs to run through the PA.
On mixdown I used the guitar amp simulator on my recording software to get it broken up. Greg I will be probably be buying one of your shortened 57's at some point. Maybe you could put the guts of the 57 in a light casing to lighten it up further? I am thinking of using some pipe insulation or a light metal/plastic case to replace the cardboard roll and permantly attaching the mic to it instead of duct tape. Maybe we should design one. there must be a huge market out there for this product- I reckon about 100 or so :-) I fly radio control sailplanes. It is much like this area. People build these incredibly sophisticated sailplane kits but the market is very small. PASSION is the reason! I also think the hohner harp rack or new build one may be in order for strenght. Walter
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
the mic elements tend to get overloaded with the sound pressure if it is too compressed (like playing a harp into a completely sealed container), but if you spent more than a dollar on an electret element you can get a very high fidelity mic for the price. these are what dat tape guys used to use when they were making tiny mics to sneak into shows and did not have the money to buy the more expensive version, so acoustically they are not the best, but they are pretty darn good all things considered. They are small and light and can be put almost anywhere, and the circuit includes a capacitor for tone adjustment, and with a log pot, a volume control. The frequency response is essentially flat across the range of human hearing if you believe the data sheet. http://industrial.panasonic.com/www-data/pdf/ABA5000/ABA5000CE22.pdf
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
