[Harp-L] RE: the Mad Dog

["Mad Dog Friedman" <maddog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Chris,

I have a Shaker Mad Dog and love it.  It has great feedback resistance and
can be held directly up against the harp or held with a large gap from the
harp down off my pinky. That's is actually my preferred position as it gives
me the most flexibility of sound.   It is capable of producing more textures
than any other mic I have tried and is extremely versatile in application.
I like it particularly because, like the Mad Cat, it does in excellent job
producing a rich, full rhythm harp sound when I open my cup, while also
allowing me to cup down tight for some gritty, almost bullet fat leads.  The
cord "tail" is too long and a bit awkward, and I would prefer just a 1/4
jack going straight into the mic, but that is the only down side and is easy
worked around by looping up & Velcro-ing the cord & "tail" to the connector.
I find it sounds great on all my tube amps (my screaming Vibrolux, my fat
Blues Jr. or my nasty black face Princeton) even though before I bought the
Mad Dog I used a different mic with each amp.  I have no idea about solid
state amps as I am tube head.  Also it's not a bullet so if that is what you
like I know Harper swears by the Shaker bullet model. I have been playing
Shaker Cyrstals & Dynamics for years. I love the size and feedback
resistance of the whole Shaker line, but the Mad Dog totally fits my style
is all I use anymore.  Also I gotta love the name!

Mad Dog
www.maddogharp.com
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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:27:54 +1100
From: "Chris Canning" <chriscanning@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Horses for courses and the Shaker Madcat
	microphone
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <000901ca56ad$184eaa60$48ebff20$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

I have noted that Shaker have made a new version of the Madcat called the
MadDog with it is claimed greater bass response.

http://www.shakermicrophone.net/productspricesbuy.html

 I for one have been saying that the Shaker Madcat, whilst a great mic,
needs just this. I am thrilled they have been listening to us. I will be
getting one of these as soon as I can afford it. Has anyone tried it yet? 

Cheers Chris Canning. (no affiliation with Shaker)

>
> 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


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