Re: [Harp-L] Re: Fireball mic

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

jaguire@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

<the fireball is just a low-z vocal mic sm-58 clone with some cool looks and 
<a little marketing bling.   

I have owned and used Shure Sm58s for almost 40 years,  and the Fireball sounds and behaves NOTHING like them.  The Shure has a big frequency bump at about 10 kHz that's designed to flatter voices -- the Fireball doesn't.  The Shure's frequency bump is what makes those high harp notes go zinging right through your skull.  The Shure is very feedback prone when cupped -- the Fireball is anything but.      

<my Fireball  has its place in my arsenal, but 
<there are a great number of very cool harp mics in my arsenal that rarely 
<see the spotlights of the stage . 

Well, sell those mics, man.  If you've got great mics in your collection that you never use, it's just a waste of a bunch of great mics that somebody else could be using every day.

<heck, the Fireball isn't even impedance 
<matched to a classic tube amp favored by a huge percentage of rank and file 
<blues and rock harmonica slingers.   it is therefore somewhat impractical 
<from the very get-go.  wha's up wi dat?   

I have heard other list members say that they don't like to have to buy a lo-z to hi-z transformer (which costs about $15-20) and plug it into the mic cable.  All I can say is that I don't see why anyone makes a big deal out of plugging a transformer into the end of a cable.  It's a hell of a lot easier than swapping a preamp tube, and most of the people on this list have swapped plenty of preamp tubes.

( and it has no volume control or an
on/off switch further distancing itself from the specs of a genyouwine 
get-the-job-done-right-the-first-time harp mic )

Classic Astatic and Green Bullet mics don't have a volume control either.  Anyway, the new Fireball V is named the V because it has a volume (V) control.  

It's getting to be pretty clear to me that a lot of the people who bought Fireballs when they were first introduced to the market have not sent their mics to Audix to get the original element swapped out for the new one.  I posted on that topic back in May, when I talked to Charlie Musselwhite about his Fireball, but I guess a lot of people just weren't listening.  So here it is again: in response to comments from Charlie and other players, Audix changed the element.  The new element has a lot more bass response, and it really changes the character of the mic.

If you're still using the old element, you really don't know what the Fireball sounds like.  That said, use whatever you like.  I like the Fireball.  I will see whether I can get permission to post the tracks I did for my latest session to my website so people can hear for themselves what it sounds like.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com