attaching a mic to a tuba or sousaphone

[jmerring]

That is a very impressive and complete set-up. It's good that you are happy with it. I am jealous of that absolutely beautiful helicon. Did you do restoration work on that? That satin silver is flawless! Congratulations.

[eupher61]

put that Ampeg cabinet under an Ampeg 8 x 10 and you'll be unbeatable! You'll also be herniated...

[rocksanddirt]

what do you think of something like an AMT LS (http://appliedmicrophone.com/products/show/2) that uses a pre amp and a lighter microphone?

[Bill Troiano]

Bloke! That's very cool! I know this has been discussed before, but with ever improving technology, isn't there a simple clip on mic that will do the job? They have them for other instruments. Although, I've never played with a mic attached to my horn, I've been in situations where I wished I was hooked up. It's something that I will have to look into soon and I'd hate to have the extra weight up there.

[The Big Ben]

That is a very impressive and complete set-up. It's good that you are happy with it. I am jealous of that absolutely beautiful helicon. Did you do restoration work on that? That satin silver is flawless! Congratulations.

That is the Famous Buescher CC Helicon Bloke-O-Phone. Custom crafted by His Blokeness Himself. The story behind it is floating around somewher on TubeNet.

[jimgray]

sweet!

Thanks for posting this.

My favorite electronics rig (evolved over many years, but quite stable for a while) is:
- Neumann km184, clipped to the bell with a very small snare mic clip
- Presonus tube preamp/parametric EQ
- Mackie or JBL powered speaker (like SRM450 or an EON)

Very true sounding, and flexible - super high quality.

That said, I haven't needed this rig much lately, since recently moving from my Rudy 3/4 CC to a rotary Neptune.
That bad boy puts out all the sound I need in most circumstances w/o needing any reinforcement whatsoever.
Sounds better by itself than I ever sounded with a smaller horn and nice electronics, IMO.
YMMV, of course...

Jim

[jimgray]

great topic - totally interesting to hear how others deal with electronics, and a cool looking rig...

I hear you on caution with taking a $750 microphone to a gb gig, believe me.
I did a lot of comparison with various options, and the prime differentiator was the high end/clarity.
Made a world of difference sonically for me. I was using the same mic for recording work and concerts/jazz festivals, etc where I wanted/needed to ensure pristine sound quality.
Since you own a pair of these things, you know what they can do.

Your mic clip looks pretty indestructable - did you make that?

If you are matching a gb band that size all going through a PA (drums through the PA - yikes!) then a rig like this is fantastic!
I am also a bass player, an used to have the same exact Ampeg amp - those things are sweet!

got any recordings off the board of this thing to share?
Again - thanks for sharing, and good luck with your new toys.
Jim

fwiw: I use a MW harness and stand up with the Neptune. Amazing how well those straps distribute weight!

[MileMarkerZero]

No excess noise/resonance/deadening/weirdness from the metal rig?

[Dean E]

Peavey--Made in the USA. Missippy, that is.

Thanks for sharing the setup.

[eupher61]

sadly, much of Peavey is no longer USA made...and they are rife with B marks, too.

Once Hartley retired, and daughter took over, Econ 101 class kicked in.

[Phil Dawson]

For a nice clip on mic try the AKG 451. They also have a wireless version. It is hyper-cardioid so it is a bit dry but has a great centered sound. I have used it on trumpets, trombones and tuba with good results. Phil

[jimgray]

Interesting twist!
Seems like you have arrived at dead center of the bell as being the sweet spot - that right?
Can you compare to other positions?
Is this consistent for you across instruments?

Quite curious in that my experience has been different on placement...

[imperialbari]

Seems like you have arrived at dead center of the bell as being the sweet spot - that right?

My sense of geometry tells that bloke placed the mic parallel to the center axis of the bell, but maybe 2 or 4 inches off the center. When I read recommendations on mic placement (boom, directional, stage/studio) the ideal placement for brasses was did to be off center but at some distance from the plane of the rim. The latter option isn't there in this case, as that would make the helicon terribly front heavy.

Personally I used clip on phantom powered (from the mixer) mics when playing bassbone in a 22 piece funk bigband. I got an attractive offer for buying 3 of these mics for which I bought a preamp for home usage. Not to be loud, but to experiment with making mutes from Denis Wick and Humes & Berg compatible with Yamaha's silent brass system. It worked surprisingly well and the sound in the earphones was truer than ever expected. However I got tired of plugging the chords for every change of instrument and mute. My good friend with the sound studio/PA business and I to some degree pool our gear, so the mics are with him now. Yet I plan to turn part of my new home into a small studio for doing just-for-fun trick recordings so the mics will return to me.

bloke claims to have invented his rig himself, but he looked just one time too much on the Yamaha logo. He probably used whatever materials available, but couldn't that rig have been made somewhat lighter and still have been sufficiently stiff?

Klaus

[Sally Larsen]

Oh man! I used to have that same Ampeg - Selling it was one of the stupider things I've done. (Well, one of many stupid things I've done...)

[Sally Larsen]

1975 Ampeg?
Perfect.
The top flips down, the tubes are protected.
Weighs about a million tons, but sounds like it, too.
Replaceable parts, and indestructible.
Lovely.

[DavidK]

Cool rig, Bloke-a-roo!
All that AND the coolest tuba on the planet!!!

I've seen pictures of rigs that used a mic/pickup in mounted into the mouthpiece. Probably a small hole drilled into the side of the bowl/cup. Maybe some of our other tubenetters would care to comment on this type of rig?

[kontrabass]

thanks for posting this, bloke. looks like a good setup.

how do you transport this to and from gigs? i assume you have a car to haul both horn and bass amp, but do you disassemble your horn, or throw the whole thing in the back seat? how much of your mic rig is collapsible?
I'd be interested in building something similar, but one of the requirements would be that the mounting mechanism be easy to take down and set up, and/or still allow me to pack the sousa in a case.

[Paul Tkachenko]

Has anyone tried one of these?

http://www.barcusberry.com/product.cfm?ProductID=6" target="_blank

I'm getting into effects and a mike is a bit of a pain.

For the record, I use an SD system setup and it works very, very well. I clip the belt pack to the instrument and it's very handy to have an on/off switch and volume pot on the instrument.

[Paul Tkachenko]

I'm using an SD system LCM 85 ...

[David Richoux]

I have tried many different methods, but for the last 5 years I have used three 1" wide nylon web straps, clips and buckles that I got from a REI camping supply store. Plastic wire ties provide mounting points for the mic. Strong enough to hold a Shure mic, and I can quickly change length to fit various bells. No vibration transmission to worry about. I will attach a picture as soon as I take one.