[Harp-L] Re: Horses for courses and the Shaker Madcat microphone

[Peter & Connie Ruth <conruth@xxxxxxxxx>]

One might infer from Richard's comments that the Shaker Madcat  
microphone only sounds good when used with with a tube amplifier, but  
I can have had excellent results using my Shaker Madcat microphone  
with solid state and modeling amps as well.  I've also had bad results  
with some tube amps.  Bottom line: find the microphone and amplifier  
combination that works for you.  There is no "one size fits all."

Peter Madcat Ruth
madcat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.madcatmusic.net
www.youtube.com/user/petermadcatruth

> From: Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Horses for courses and the Shaker Madcat microphone
> 	
> Back in April I saw a couple of posts by Brendan Power and Madcat  
> Ruth in which they both extolled the virtues of the Shaker Madcat  
> harmonica mic.  When two guys I respect as gearheads and players as  
> much as Brendan and Peter talk about how much they love a piece of  
> gear, I get interested.  So I asked my brother for a Shaker Madcat  
> for my birthday back in April.  He got around to it a couple of  
> months later.
>
> I tried the mic with my RP350 a month or so after that, and I was  
> thoroughly unimpressed.  The mic distorted in a way that didn't play  
> nicely with the RP350, and to my ears it made a sound that was a lot  
> less interesting than the sound of my Fireball.  So I put the mic  
> back in the box and forgot about it.
>
> Tonight I was cleaning up my home studio and putting unused gear in  
> a box for advertising on eBay, and I came across the Madcat.  I  
> almost put it in the box with my Calrad DM-9, but then I remembered  
> that different mics work very differently with different amps.  So I  
> took out the Madcat and plugged it into my Ron Holmes-modified Crate  
> VC508 5 watt tube amp, and holy s---, did that amp come alive.
>
> I see now what Greg Heumann means when he talks about mic distortion  
> with tube amps.  The Madcat into the VC508 produces a huge,  
> screaming blues sound with lots of edge and body.  As per Peter  
> Ruth's recent comments about the Madcat on this list, it's also  
> practically impossible to force it into feedback, even when I crank  
> the gain on the VC508 up to 8, which is a lot louder than I can get  
> any other mic in my collection before feedback.
>
> I'm glad to have gotten this reminder that you shouldn't give up on  
> a mic until you've run it through every amp you own.  The Madcat  
> still sounds pretty lame through my RP350, but that's what the  
> Fireball is for.  From now on, the Madcat is going with me to every  
> blues gig I play with the VC508.
>
> Regards, Richard Hunter