[Harp-L] Clean Tone Help?

[Mike <mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've been playing with two groups that only play acoustically. I've tried a couple of different rigs mostly to make life easy on them, as neither has a dedicated sound man and any mixing/adjusting I can do myself is helpful.

Basically, I've used a SM58 to the board or with my regular pedal board. The more I do this, the more I've found that I just want to do the following:

Use a mic and MAYBE a preamp/eq that sends an XLR to the board. The mic should NOT have a large proximity effect so I can choose to cup it or have it on a stand. It should sound warm, but clear. 

I am finding the SM58, while awesome with my full board, has too much proximity effect. If I have a loose cup, I loose some of the tone, and if I put it on the stand, it has a range of sounds depending on where I am.

I've looked at a Sennheiser 441 (expensive, but awesome), Beyer M88, Beyer M160, Audix Fireball, and Audix OM-7. I have and have tried the AKG D5, Beta 57A, Re10, and a SM57.

The D5 works pretty well, but has an awkward shape. I find I use it mostly for vocals.

Any thoughts on the matter? The tone I am chasing is basically the warm and articulate cleans of guys like Howard Levy, Mickey Raphael, and Lee Oskar...John Popper's clean tone of Save His Soul is perfect (IMO).

Last night, I tried dialing in the 58 with a Behringer AD21 and found a good tone, but the proximity effect is still an issue. 

Thanks!

****With one group, I will use it hand held 99% of the time. With the other, I'd use it on a stand 99% of the time - the guitar/vox from that band uses a Beta 58 and is way off the mic when singing. That vibe is killer and I want a mic that will let me cup with group A and also play several inches off the stand with group B....Fireball sounds like a winner?