Re: Astatic JT-30 Inside and Out!

[Grbullets2@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 1/4/2003 2:51:36 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
rick@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:


> 
> Barbecue Bob talks from facts and well earned opinion grown from
> years of touring and harp playing.
> 
> I have some highlights from the article below on Bluesharp.org
> 
> www.bluesharp.org/ampseffectsandmore.html#HarpMicsArticle   :
> 
>  I made a quick visit to bar-b-que Bob's articles and frankly,I'm quite 
> surprised to hear what he has to say.A jt30 has more bottom end than any 
> Shure bullet?I don't know where he's getting his jt's but I've heard alot 
> of them and never heard one with a bottom that can come close to that of a 
> bullet.On paper it may look that way considering Astatic says the freq. 
> response is 30Hz to 10KHz. and the Shure's are 100Hz to 7kHz.It has been my 
> experience that the jt30's have way more high end but low end?And about the 
> grille's changing the tone?That was when Astatic started mass producing the 
> mics so the castings started to get less  attention to detail,you can see 
> that in all the burrs and imperfections in the grills of the ones made from 
> sometime in the late 70's or 80's on.The old ones were carefully casted and 
> deburred before being chromed.The only physical difference is the spacing 
> between the grilles.The older ones have larger spacing between the 
> grille's,and the inner rim was changed to accomidate a thicker element 
> holder on the newer ones.Same goes for the elements.Mass production killed 
> the sound of the mics with cheaper and lower quality crystals.I'll be 
> honest,I'm not a big fan of the jt30 sound.I like the shells,but not the 
> sound.Thats just my opinion.I know they have their place and are prefered 
> by many players.Heck I even own two of them,an early 40's jt31,and a newer 
> one.
>         I personally prefer the Shure CR mics.All of my other mics,about 
> 10,have the black label CR's in them.About half of them are in Jt30 
> shells.They sound very good in them.
>         If you judge mics by what you see on paper and charts,you'll never 
> really know how they sound in any given application.I've never heard a Jt30 
> with the bottom end that a Shure bullet has.For that matter,I ve never 
> heard a bullet with the high end that a Jt30 has although they claim to be 
> very close in freq. response at the high end.And the human ear can't hear 
> frequency's below 50Hz,especially when you start putting on some years,so I 
> think it's nuts to say a jt30 crystal is capable of producing frequency's 
> that low.
>          I haven't done much research on Astatics because they don't appeal 
> to me,but I know that the quality of the Jt30's went way down when they put 
> the push on them and started mass producing them.Anyone who's had some old 
> and some new can obviously see and hear the difference.
>          I know about Shure mics.I've done extensive research on them over 
> the past 10 years.I got alot of my info from guys that have since retired 
> from Shure.Its too bad they didn't keep better records on their older 
> mics.There are quite a few you can't get any info on,but I was able to get 
> alot of valuable info on the green bullet mics and the various magnetic 
> elements.I'm working on putting up a website to share the info I've 
> collected on them like how to date them,the different model #'s on the 
> elements,freq. responses,applications,etc.I will post it on harp-l when its 
> complete.
          We all have our own personal favorite's,and there are many unknown 
mics out there that are great for harp.But remember that it's not the mic or 
amp that gives you TONE.Its how you play and technique.The mic does help,but 
there are alot of guys that can make any mic sound great.So please don't 
bombard me for not liking the Astatic's,that's just my opinion.Maybe I'd be 
better off saying I don't like the newer ones,I have heard some of the 
old,50'' & 60's ones that sound pretty good.
         I just don't agree with what I read at the above mentioned website 
as far as mics go.There are just too many factors that can make a mic sound 
good or bad.Some of the things written there are just not accurate,and are 
just one man's opinion,not fact!................Dave the bullet man