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"vintage looking" microphone


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My singer is thinking of getting a "vintage looking" microphone, something along the lines of a Shure 55SH Series II. Is there anything else he should be looking at in this style that might be better? Anyone have any experience with them?

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My singer is thinking of getting a "vintage looking" microphone, something along the lines of a Shure 55SH Series II. Is there anything else he should be looking at in this style that might be better? Anyone have any experience with them?

 

 

I have the Shure 55SH Series II among the mics that I own. They have the SM-57 cartridge in them but the sound and pattern is very different, due to the housing. The pattern is much broader than an SM-57.

 

I do not care for SM-57s for vocals, but I do like this mic for it's intended "retro" purpose. You can set it up to be buttery smooth. It is the "Elvis" mic....pure and simple. The gain before feedback is not nearly as good as today's NYM mics.

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My guitarist picked up a mic like that somewhere online. I'll ask him. How are things in Lacon? Did the guys that bought The Pines ever re-open The Sly Fox?

 

 

I heard that someone re-opened it, but didn't do anything to it, including clean. I don't know if it's still open or not, haven't heard anything for a few months, so I'd assume it's closed again. I don't think I've been there for 4 or 5 years, when we used to play there.

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Having a vintage mic is a great effect but I should make a point here. A lot of what makes a mic work and sound the way it does is the shape and construction of the body. These are things that have been refined over the years. There are some really great sounding vintage mics but a lot of them sounded bad because of how they looked.

 

I guess the point is having a retro look can be a tradeoff sonicly speaking. So if you must have a vintage look, choose wisely.

 

It's sort of like old muscle cars and choppers. They look cool but a lot of performance parameters are compromised to achieve that look. Modern cars and bikes generaly blow them away performance wise (with the possible exception of raw tourque). It is possible to mod an old hot rod to handle really good but it takes a lot of money and engineering to do it.

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I heard that someone re-opened it, but didn't do anything to it, including clean. I don't know if it's still open or not, haven't heard anything for a few months, so I'd assume it's closed again. I don't think I've been there for 4 or 5 years, when we used to play there.

 

 

We used to play there 10 to 15 years ago. Good Ole Bill Vickers. My sister has a place in Wildwood.

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Having a vintage mic is a great effect but I should make a point here. A lot of what makes a mic work and sound the way it does is the shape and construction of the body. These are things that have been refined over the years. There are some really great sounding vintage mics but a lot of them sounded bad because of how they looked.


I guess the point is having a retro look can be a tradeoff sonicly speaking. So if you must have a vintage look, choose wisely.


It's sort of like old muscle cars and choppers. They look cool but a lot of performance parameters are compromised to achieve that look. Modern cars and bikes generaly blow them away performance wise (with the possible exception of raw tourque). It is possible to mod an old hot rod to handle really good but it takes a lot of money and engineering to do it.

 

 

Oh, I know what you mean. That's why I came here to ask, figuring if someone said "nah, it's not great, you'll be fighting it" or anything like that, I'd tell him to stay away from them. I won't deal with it if it's gonna be a pain. I'm sure he'd try one out before buying anyway, and he might not even like the way it sounds. I just wanted to get some opinions on if this was decent or not. Thanks!

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I like the look of those vintage microphones. I found some old army green one that was hooked to to some type of army ham radio. Sounds real dirty, love the sound of it.

 

:thu: If you play Harp (harmonica that is), yea for some music the dirtier the better (I guess this can be taken too far but...). You may be on the leading edge of a new fad "The Army Surplus green harp mic".

 

Hmmm buy them up now before the price goes ballistic.

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