RE: [Harp-L] micing amp

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 Tom Ball wrote:
<Chris Mastakas asked:
<What would be the better mic for micing  a four speaker amp  through 
<a PA?  A  Shure SM 57 or a SM 58 ?
<----
<I'd try the SM58 first. Being more omni-directional, it''ll pick up 
<all four speakers better.  Having said that, though, the SM58's 
<omni-directionality could also lead to more feedback...

Tom, I double-checked this against Shure's site, and here's how they describe the SM58:
A unidirectional (cardioid) pickup pattern isolates the main sound source while minimizing unwanted background noise. 

I believe you may have been thinking of the SphereOdyne, which is an omni mic and looks something like the SM58. In any case, the SM58, like the SM57, is a uni-directional mic, meaning basically that it's listening to what's directly in front of it; any sound from the back or sides is only going to be picked up if it's reflected off something that's directly in front of the mic.  If you stick an SM57 or 58 an inch in front of one of the speakers in a 4-way cabinet, it's not going to hear much of anything the other speakers put out.  Which is fine, because as a previous post noted, the sound from each of those speakers is going to be pretty much the same. (Unless you're using a Sonny Junior amp--Sonny uses mixed speaker types in his designs.  But Sonny also gives you a line out, which in my opinion is a better choice for bigging up the sound than micing the amp.)

Regarding my opinion on the 57 vs. 58 issue, if you're micing a speaker cab, the SM57 is a better solution, mainly because (as per another comment on this thread) the 58's pop filter will filter out frequencies that you don't want to lose.

Regards, Richard Hunter

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