I'm fed up with transducers and pickups and want to experiment with live miking. I don't want something that I have to worry about or buy insurance for. What is a good live mic for my acoustics?

Shure Beta 57. Indestructible, crystal clear, versatile. I mike when I can, but more venues are just too freakin' loud to be heard without a pickup. I got tired of playing pantomime guitar just to be a purist. In the right gig, though, nothing beats a microphone.

I've had great luck with the Shure KSM137. It is a small diaphragm studio condensor with a bass rolloff and attenuator switch. I've suffered zero feedback in rooms up to 350 people (chruch) with guitar, mandolin, bass and some small percussion. I haven't had any more difficulty in setting up this condensor than I have with similar dynamics, and I think the tone is much better.

A lot of people don't like condensors for live work, but as I said, I've had good luck with mine.

I bought mine used (very near mint) on eBay for $200.

--David

quote:

Originally posted by Rotten:
I'm fed up with transducers and pickups and want to experiment with live miking. I don't want something that I have to worry about or buy insurance for. What is a good live mic for my acoustics?

I've used several different mics for solo fingerstyle. For the past many years I've been using an internal SBT pickup and an external mic, blended. The mic I currently use is an Oktava MC-012, which I prefer over the other similarly priced mics I've tried.

I do close to hundred solo acoustic gigs a year, and I would say I probably do 85% with just a mic. I sometimes (just last night in fact) have to augment it with a little K&K because I play a lot of chatty private party type things.

I’ve gone though a lot of live mics to find the one that seems to work the best for me. Off the top of my head I’ve used dynamics like the Shures of course, the EV 967, and the Audix i5. As for condensers I’ve used the Shure SM81, AT4033, AT4040, AKG C1000, AT 4041, and the AT Pro37.

Right now I think I have my holy grail, which is the AKG 451. I rarely have feedback issues, and it’s just a very warm and natural sounding mic. I love it. I also was impressed with the AT4041. But if you don;t have a lot of dough, the little AT Pro 37 is really a great sounding live guitar mic. I wouldn’t record with it, but it seems to have a lot of gain before feedback, and a very clear sound.

If I had to choose a dynamic, I’d stick with the Audix i5. But I really don’t care for gigging with a dynamic. I seemingly have to stay two inches away from it get good tone. It hurts my back to sit in chair for three hours staying right on a mic the whole time like that.

Eric,

I'm starting to gig out and I'm wondering if my plans for a nice sounding guitar have gone amiss. I'm using K&K and PUTW in various gutars and both seem to sound great at home, but fail to sound realistic to me thru my Ultrasound amp. I always hear that amplifed junk sound, not real enough for my ears.

I thought that a mic would be the way to go but that would require a mess of gear to bring since that amp will not take in a mic input. I do have a small mackie mixer but it's all in a rack that weights a ton when you include the other stuff.

I guess my question is, what amp are you using?

Most of the time I use just my Fishman Loudbox 100. I would say for maybe one out of fifteen gigs I’ll need to augment that with a powered PA speaker on a stand.

In the past I’ve had two Ultrasounds, a AER Compact 60, SWR.... but the Loudbox seems to be the only well that is voiced well for the K&K. I remember liking the Ultrasound for just micing the guitar. It was pretty transparent as a tiny PA, but I didn’t feel like it was so great with the pickup. It also doesn't project very well. The AER is pretty amazing with some pickups, but not the K&K, in my guitar anyway. Also for just micing a guitar I didn’t care for the AER.

So with the Loudbox’s 100’s 1.2K mid pot, and 24V phantom on the mic channel, I feel like I have the flexibility, power, and portability I need for almost of all of my jobs.

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny B.:
Eric,

I'm starting to gig out and I'm wondering if my plans for a nice sounding guitar have gone amiss. I'm using K&K and PUTW in various gutars and both seem to sound great at home, but fail to sound realistic to me thru my Ultrasound amp. I always hear that amplifed junk sound, not real enough for my ears.

I thought that a mic would be the way to go but that would require a mess of gear to bring since that amp will not take in a mic input. I do have a small mackie mixer but it's all in a rack that weights a ton when you include the other stuff.

I guess my question is, what amp are you using?

Kenny,

The pickup(s) you use are just the first step in the signal chain. The preamp, eq circuitry, power amp and speakers follow. If you are dissatisfied with the Ultrasound, in that you don't think your guitar sounds "realistic", I believe there are two reasons. First, by using only a pickup, the best you can hope for is a pleasing approximation of your guitar's sound unplugged, even with the finest of signal chains. Second, the Ultrasound amps, although good, are not great, sonically or functionally.

The only way I've ever found to get close to realistic (i.e., accurate, detailed and authentic) is to use a good microphone through a decent or better signal chain. Using a pickup and a mic can create a pleasing larger than life sound which retains realism. Not everyone can use a mic, as many play in bands and/or at loud volumes.

The digital modelers (e.g., Aura, Mama Bear) do a decent job as emulating a mic sound, and are usually blended with a UST pickup (sometimes a magnetic pickup). The digital artifacts they create are a bit annoying though.