Astatic 850 SA ball-head XLR mike?

dennis · Astatic 850 SA ball-head XLR mike?

Anyone have any experiences with an Astatic model 850SA mike. Is it worth messing with. It has an XLR connector attached to the mike and has an SM 58 like ball head. Thank you. p.s. Someone gave it to me as a gift today hence my ignorance. dennis http://www.myspace.com/blowintheblues

fishfeathersmacteeth

...not one I've heard of Dennis....

...no doubt you'll try blowing it and seeing...

..nice work on Myspace..

...I think you're the third RN on this forum along with myself and T-Bone Bruce.. Cool

dennis · Thanks for the reply

When I find time I'll get the right cable and plug it in. If it does (fate is too mercurial to bank on though) work out I'll see if Greg Heumann can spice it up for me. I'm been wanting to try his work for a while. I'm a Hospice R.N. by day and when possible hit the stage at night! My best. Dennis

bloozefish

3 RNs, oops, I better duck.........I teach the dreaded Anat/Phys pre-req that put you guys through such hell back in the day! Laughing

James

fishfeathersmacteeth

Jeffrey Spoor

Ah, the joys of being an instructor. It's a good feeling knowing you've made a difference, eh Bloozefish?! I should know, I'm an instructor, too! video/web kind of stuff. Nobody gets hurt if I screw up!

Woolfey

I have a pair of these I bought offa the E-Prey... My son used them through Audio production school .. and they came back to me... they are long out of production .. Mine came in the original boxes with their original odd XLR4 broadcast connector cables.. I like them fine ... The gal I talked to at Astatic after I scored them told me they were great instrument mikes and good voice mikes .. My sons and I play Bluegrass and my number 2 son blows harp but he uses a JT30 I got in a trade...

If anyone would want the spec sheets on these mics I"d be glad to scan them and post them in the appropriate area... I found this forum doing a search for more info on these mikes...

Cool

Chevus

I am not trying to hijack your thread, but I'd love to learn more about Astatic mics.

I'm new to the harmonica (less than a month), but I have played guitar for more than 15 years. That said, I appreciate utilizing quality/affordable gear to recreate the "perfect" sound (subjective) that is rattling around in my head. Plus, I know it will help my development to play both acoustically and amped!

My goal is to find a mic that I can use for practicing with my low watt amp (Pignose 7-100) and that will sound great through bigger amps as I progress as a player. I have been researching various products and trying to listen to clips online, but I could use some solid advice to help me narrow my search.

There seem to be a lot of great mics in the $60 to $150 range, and certain brands are referenced quite frequently on the various forums. I'd prefer to spend $100 or less on a quality/durable mic that is comfortable to play...I like some raunch but don't like it too muddy, if that makes sense.

I have been impressed with the Astatic mics and recently saw a clip for the Astatic T3 that nailed the tone in my head (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRzJXiyL_jM). What other brands/models should I consider?

Thanks in advance for your help!

BTW, it seems like there are some intelligent folks around here...As a victim of the economic downturn, I lost my most recent job this past October. Luckily, I had decided to return to school prior to that, and I'm two classes away from my second master's (in marketing this time)...I hope it helps!

Anyway, I look forward to learning more about harp gear on this forum!

jbone

hm, something to remember about mics: they are either low or high impedance. it has to do with the strength of the signal the mic puts out. depending on the amp a choice is made which type is used. the pignose amps are for a low impedance mic. even then it can be tricky to get volume without feedback. i say this with a bit of experience, having owned a 7-100, a g40v, and a g60v. some pigs are tube amps which are more friendly to a high impedance mic, but i never found one that i liked tone wise and that i could tame the feedback- squeal!- issues on.

at any rate i never could find the "right" mic for the 7-100 but i don't doubt there's one out there.

now for that tone you hear in your head- i would guess it may be from a tube amp and a "hot" bullet mic. although sometimes with a good solid state p.a. and a sm57 or 58, a player can rock the house too.

tube amps come in hundreds of brands and varieties and vintages. as do mics that are impedance matched to them. part of the quest of many of us has been to find "that" amp and mic to give us the sound we hear in our heads.

there are more knowledgeable minds here and i should love to hear from them also. i just wanted to give you a short overview of high and low issues.

Chevus

jbone,

I appreciate the reply and all the information!

I totally agree with you, and there is definitely a tube amp in my future that will be strictly dedicated to harp...Probably 15-25 watts tops, not sure what model/brand yet.

FWIW, I have Mesa Boogie F-30 in my guitar rig, but I don't see a lot of people mentioning Mesa amps for playing harmonica...This thing is a beast...Sounds much bigger than 30 watts.

Catch ya later!

jbone

chev,
i think the mesas are a bit shrill, at least for my taste.

check out harpgeardotcom, brian purdy makes great harp amps.

randy at bluesbox amps builds some nice looking rigs too, i have not heard one yet but he gets good reviews.

steve clark of sligo amps dotcom built me a replica '59 bassman and swapped speakers around, and i put a couple of 12au7's in to cut the gain, this amp is a dream come true for me! granted it is heavy and pretty high watt, but it's all usable wattege. it will definitely be heard on a 2-guitar electric stage.

i also use a silvertone 1482, about 12 watts, single 12" speaker, for smaller gigs like the duo with my wife and other small venue opportunities.

keeping the gain and treble down and utilizing speakers with good breakup qualities are some pluses for a harp amp.

mic choice is also a big factor in how one sounds and how the amp will perform. a frequent visitor here is greg heumann, who builds and mods mics every day. he has some awesome stuff at blowsmeawaydotcom, and is very approachable!

my mic choices are a crystal powered bullet, a controlled magnetic bullet, and a shure 545s. i got a military issue electrovoice mic i plan to have greg do some mods to for me soon also. the shure 545 is a low impedance mic but can be adapted for high impedance. the others are high imp already and plug straight into a tube amp.

i have used a solid state low imp amp here and there for harp, but to me the tone range is limited and feedback is a factor. they make all kinds of gadgets to deal with the issue, but i like stepping on stage, plugging my rig and mic in, and getting busy. different mics give different tone qualities and so does tweaking the knobs- fewer the better imho!

cheers from arkansas!

Chevus

Another gentleman turned me on to the EV mics...I really like the YouTube demo of the RE 10, which sounded killer and looked easy to cup!

I'm in the process of swapping tubes on my Boogie to lower the gain and make it less flabby or farty (as it has been described), plus there is an annoying hum that really bugs me. IMHO, the F-30 is a great amp overall with a lot more potential...I think new tubes will make a huge difference!

Astatic 850 SA ball-head XLR mike?

Thanks for the reply