| Archive for harpmicforum.myfastforum.org A discussion on amplified harmonica. Post you questions/comments about mics, harps, amps, tubes, music. Drop by my site, http://www.harpmicgaskets.com. |
| isaac |
$4 acoustic spring reverb toy that sounds great with harp!Hi all... Just thought I pass on some info about a little fun toy I picked up at the local Cost Plust/World Market for like $4. It's called the "Magic Mic", and it's a plastic kids toy that, low and behold, actually contains an acoustic spring reverb inside it.Heres the link to YouTube for the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UwATtIslC0 Yeah, I know it looks ridiculous, but it's great for practicing unamplified but with some pretty good reverb. FIY, I'm planning on rehousing it in a metal shell, and possibly adding a mic element in there somehow to make a sweet "reverb" mic. Cheers, Isaac |
| harpastatic |
hey man,i checked out your video.lots of fun.
www.myspace.com/shakeylee |
| isaac |
Thanks! I've actually got a good plan now for the rehouse. I've taken the thing apart to see how it works, and I've fitted a mic element in the original plastic casing to do sound tests. It sounds really good amplified! I'm now just looking for a metal housing (like a spice canister or something) that is long enough for the length of the spring. FYI, the heart of this thing is a fairly standard bit of spring which is attached to a plastic cup. In fact, I am fairly sure you could make one from scratch with a bit of sprng scavenged off something else and little dixie or solo disposable plastic cup! Maybe I'll have to give that a go one day as well... |
| The old Gasket Man |
How long is the spring and how thick is the spring wire? I've got a ton of springs here, I'm guessing about a 20 ga wire, and they're 3 or 4 inches long. |
| isaac |
The spring is about 4 inches long. I'm not totally sure of the gauge, but it is pretty fine. For example, the spring will bend and move very easily if you want. If you need a comparison, I'd say the spring wire is about about as thick as the spring wire used in retractable ballpoint pens. The actual coil of the spring is a little less than a centimeter (3/4 centimeter?), and it is wound tightly (ie, there is very little space between coils in the spring). I know I've seen similar springs atwork in old tape recorders... I'm not sure if there is some "ideal" type of spring for this kind of thing. I think a lot of thicknessess and lengths should work, but will just alter the "flavor" of the reverb... Personally, I'd like to experiment with a short bit of spring, so I can get it into a smaller mic casing... I'll get some video of the guts and stick it up on YouTube when I get a chance. |
| thebluesbox |
That actually sounded great !!!
Suprized me actually, if you could justify playing through that big reverb tank it would be a great addition to cool cheaper gear. |