When I talked to Charlie Musselwhite after his performance at the Cafe du Nord in San Francisco on May 13, he told me that he'd had his Audix Fireball mic modified by Audix to produce more bass. I sent my own Fireball off to Audix almost immediately after with a request for the same mod. I got the modified mic back yesterday, and tested it with my Ron Holmes-ified Crate VC508 today. I'll cut to the chase: the $35 I spent to mod this mic was well worth it, and anyone who owns an Audix Fireball that's more than six months old, or that seems to lack bass response, should contact the factory regarding an upgrade. Details follow:
The mod basically consists of an element upgrade that puts more bass into the mic. The mid- and high-range punch and clarity of the Fireball seem to be unaffected, as does the inherent resistance to feedback. The ergonomics of the Fireball are unaffected, of course -- it's still lightweight and easy to hold, and with its dark red color looks very professional.
I compared the mic side-by-side with an Astatic JT-30VC, a Shure 545, and a Bottle o'Blues -- all mics that are widely used by harp players. The best-sounding mics with this amp were the Audix and the Astatic; the worst was the Shure, which produced a sound full of jarring frequency peaks, very aggressive and harsh. The Bottle o'Blues produced an acceptable sound, with more tendency to feedback than the Audix or Astatic, and a bit less punch in the midrange frequencies.
On single notes the Astatic produced a potent, punchy, very attractive sound; the Audix's sound in this regard was similar, perhaps very slightly less punchy at a given volume level. Because of the Audix's feedback resistance, the solution is easy: turn the amp up. On chords there was no contest; the Astatic turned low-register chords into a blurry mush of sound, while the Audix produced clear, loud, powerful chords with plenty of detail in the internal voices. Blues players who avoid chords because of the blur that traditional blues mics produce might be very surprised to hear a chord through this mic.
The Astatic remains a worthy choice for me, and in some cases might be first choice. But if I'm only taking one mic to the gig, it's the Audix. It's the only mic in my collection now that apparently does everything where harp is concerned: clean, mean, and in-between. The Fireball has always had plenty of high-mid range cut, and it was previously one of my favorite mics for jazz chromatic and other acoustically-oriented styles. With this mod, it's just a plain old great harp mic.
I repeat that owners of early Fireballs should contact Audix for an upgrade. It's well worth the $35. People looking for a handheld harp mic should add the Fireball to their check lists.
Regards, Richard Hunter hunterharp.com
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