Guitar Spotting

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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby stephen » Sun Oct 19, 2014 5:52 pm

They were rather horrid, weren't they? That covering especially! I remember the name, as when I was working as a photographer for the Studio & Publications division of John Moores (Littlewoods)
in Liverpool during the late 1960's through to the mid '70's, the seamless background paper we used was also called Colorama! (might have been spelt the English way with a 'u' before anyone corrects me)
Stephen.
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby RayL » Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:34 am

While we're examining the Big Three picture in minute detail, spare a thought for those poor Reslo ribbon mics. Intended for more genteel recording purposes, they were pressed into action as vocal mics in the early 'beat' days because they were cheap and available but the low sensitivity and the fragile nature of the ribbon (never intended to be screamed at by rock'n'roll singers) meant that they were always a disappointment.

It was said that emergency ribbon replacements could be made with the silver foil out of a cigarette packet once it had flattened out with a thumb-nail and then folded into ridges but I never met anyone who had done it successfully.

Another mic often used for vocals was the AKG D19 (you can see them used in that early Beatles film), but of course THE vocal mic that really did the job was the Shure Unidyne III, if you could afford one (32 guineas in the mid-'60s - what would that be today - about £350?).
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby Billyboygretsch » Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:59 am

Back in the early 60s my first mic was a Shure 55s. Our lead singer had a Reslo Ribbon mic. At the time I was ribbed by other band members about the old fashioned look of mine. As we could only afford 2 mics it proved invaluable for us 3 backing vocalists to get around. I couldn't wait to get a Unidyne 111 and then used these for many years. Strangely I have ended up with a 55s after visiting Sun studios a few years back. I don't gig now so looks not so important although it would now look fashionable
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby ecca » Mon Oct 20, 2014 10:25 am

My mike of choice has always been the Shure 545 Unidyne III .
I have a couple of 58s but you have to eat them !
The Unidyne is so much more controllable.
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby Billyboygretsch » Tue Nov 25, 2014 6:31 pm

Bob Harris in Nashville BBC 4 showed of some very nice guitars. I really liked Dave Stewart's vintage Gretsch acoustic
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby neil2726 » Wed Nov 26, 2014 5:02 pm

The Reslo mics were very useful for backing singers as you could stand either side of them. We were always told never blow into them - as in "blow blow 1 -2 testing!" Another common mic shortly after were the Beyer (looked like a Shure SM58) which I remember had a sort of transformer in the enlarged jack plug! I then went onto a sure Unidyne and finally the SM58 which I still use!
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby dave robinson » Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:14 pm

Billyboygretsch wrote:Back in the early 60s my first mic was a Shure 55s. Our lead singer had a Reslo Ribbon mic. At the time I was ribbed by other band members about the old fashioned look of mine. As we could only afford 2 mics it proved invaluable for us 3 backing vocalists to get around. I couldn't wait to get a Unidyne 111 and then used these for many years. Strangely I have ended up with a 55s after visiting Sun studios a few years back. I don't gig now so looks not so important although it would now look fashionable


The Shure 55s these days is equipped with the SM58 Beta capsule and is better than the earlier one for that reason. These are designed to be used close up (touching) to help eliminate background noise on stage with a load of amps and drums etc. The 545 was a great mic but too lively when several were being used and feedback was a big problem, but the SM58 has helped that problem a little. I just bought an Electrovice N/D967 to help eliminate feedback some more, as we are using seven vocal mikes on stage with a 5k rig and this mike does allow more gain before feedback, but the key to being heard is to set up the mikes to their optimum before feedback and keep the instruments balanced below that - unlike some clown engineers who insist on knocking the walls down with the bass drum and bass guitar, leaving little headroom fo vocals.
I firmly believe that an audience comes to hear the vocals, not the bloody bass drum. :lol:
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby neil2726 » Thu Nov 27, 2014 10:21 pm

Anyone who has seen Joe brown and his band will hear the perfect sound mix! :D
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby Billyboygretsch » Thu Nov 27, 2014 10:49 pm

I agree seeing Joe at Stevenage a couple of weeks back I thought the sound balance was perfect and commented about it on the way out to the engineer
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Re: Guitar Spotting

Postby dusty fretz » Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:37 am

I heartily endorse Dave's choice of the E-V N/D967 mic. I've been using this model for years and it certainly offers superior feedback rejection and better sensitivity than most, along with a wide-ranging tonality and great dynamics at any volume. These attributes, plus pretty much bullet-proof construction and an admirable resistance to unwanted pops etc., offer a winning combination. It's also the only mic I know that doesn't overdrive and distort when being subjected to the stentorian bellow that passes for my vocals (I don't sing and play - I shout and hit), which is particularly impressive because the flat front allows me to get more close up and personal than with conventional ball-end mics. This model tops an E-V range now made in the Far East rather than the USA as before, but I have examples from both production sources and can't spot any difference in build quality, spec or on-stage abilities; only the price has altered, being appreciably more affordable. Mic design has come a long way in the last couple of decades and Shure's old faithful SM58 certainly shows its age these days, with E-V's alternative serving up a higher quality, problem-free performance that really does make the task of singing so much easier. 'Nuff said and here endeth the ad!
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