[Harp-L] CR vs CM elements

["sam blancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike, 

I have both a Shure CM and CR element.  Each is housed in an Astatic JT30
shell.  They're both white label elements.  The CM I got from a Green Bullet
microphone I got from EBay that came on a stand with a trigger and all.  The
CR I got from a guy named Denise in Kansas City.  The only difference I
could see between these two elements is that when I took the CM element out
of the Green Bullet it had a resistor soldered across the two
lead/connecting points, and I removed this.  

Of the two elements the CM is definitely the hotter, dirtier element but not
by that much.  I also have an Astatic 151 element, also housed in a JT30
shell.  I can't really tell the difference between the CM and the 151
elements.  The CR element may be cooler because I used a Hohner Blues
Blaster/JT30 shell and kept the volume pot in the circuit.  The volume pot
may be the culprit that's "weakened" the CR microphone.  The other two
microphones also have volume pots but of a different kind.  

People can split hairs about the difference in these three elements.  Dave
Knot's and Stephan Schneider's clear concise explanations are great and very
informative.  And there may indeed be significant differences if ALL OTHER
THINGS REMAIN EQUAL.  But there are so many other factors to take into
account just when you consider the age of these elements.  How long was an
element in storage and under what conditions? Was an element allowed to sit
around in freezing or damp conditions?  Was it dropped repeatedly?  What
shape it the magnet in?  How's the ground?  Is there, as with my mics, a
volume pot in the circuit?  Are you going to re-wire it with an Am phenol or
Switch-craft type jack?  See what I mean?

All three of my built microphones are really nice and sound great but I've
let other guys use them who didn't really know how to hold them and they
sounded kind of thin.  If you don't form a tight cup and hold it with one
hand then you'll need to dial your amp in differently.  

So there's lot's of variables. When I first began learning how to get a good
amplified sound, a player I know very kindly lent me his Green Bullet with a
CR element.  This was the first microphone I ever used that really sounded
great and I was convinced that this was the thing I had to have.  But I've
since learned that there are many ways to get there.

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh