Tube Mic Reccomendations?

[GrimmBrotherScott]

The korby sounds like a good idea, however its out of my price range and Im not going to do business with VK any time soon.

You have a problem with Vintage King? What's up?

s

[uqbar]

Dave,
I'm sure there are some Lawson owners in NYC that wouldn't mind you taking a listen. But part of what is cool about Lawson is that they are really small. You call Gene, he makes you a mic, you get it, he calls you and asks how do you like it, etc. If you have questions he can answer them - it's his baby. The party line is that if they went retail it would double the price, and that's probably pretty close to correct. Its not cheap, but its a lot for the money...

mark

[clodock]

I'm on the lawson bandwagon. The L47MP is my main tube mic and I love the thing. The infintely variable polar pattern is way cool, makes the thing way more useful because the patterns have pretty different frequency response. 3-feet back from an acoustic on figure-8 is lovely for strummy bright acoustic parts. 2-inches from a speaker on cardoid is huge. A foot back on omni is fairly unhyped with a little tube magic thrown in. Plus, Gene (Lawson) keeps a copy of your mics frequency resopnose graphs and will make you a matched one on request. Highly recommended.

[markpar]

Yeah, Gene's a really cool guy. Anyone tried one of his L251s? I'm curious as to how they sound.

-mark

[soundguy]

anyone with a lawson in NYC want to give me a spin next week?

dave

[prince turbo lung]

i have tried the blue cactus and was not impressed for the price it demanded. i like blue mics, i own the kiwi, but the cactus was real dark and wooly. it had a nice tone but the clarity left something to be desired.

[markpar]

Nice sig, Prince. Ice Cube rules.

-mark

[Meriphew]

How about the Soundelux E47? You should be able to find a dealer that will sell you one for around $3k. I saw one on ebay a couple weeks ago for $2.5k.

[GuySound]

I got a recomendation, go take some pictures.

ha ha ha ha

tapeopn

[soundguy]

while not tube mics, allow me to hijack my own thread...

has anyone been able to compare the soundelux 195 to the ifet47? seems like they should be identical with the 47 in I mode, but apparently there is a difference.

dave

[Dave Harper]

Not sure if they're made anymore but the Rode Classic tube (1395.00 12/97 at Full Compass) is hard to beat.
Like it better than a U87 but haven't compared it to a U47.

For my guitar cabinet (Fender B.Jr.) the best mic I've put up is the 200 dollar Oktava ML 52 on sale at GC.
You can throw the SM57 out the window or pair it with a Neuman 103 for a full and detailed acoustic guitar.

If I want to impress somebody here at my place we put the Rode Classic tube a few feet out from the cab and the Oktava ribbon about 18 inches from the cone. The sound is damn good. Very natural and large. Too close, like the 57, and the ribbon might rattle.

Persue this idea of ribbon mics on guitar cabinets, Oktava, Royer, maybe an old RCA 77 if it still works (if it doesnt, sell it to Dan Lanois for lotta loot).

Or you can beef up the SM57 with one of the better, affordable condensers,I prefer both mics mono, and you'll have it.

Ribbons have low output so you'll want quality in the pre. Won't need phantom. Your electric guitar or ladies voicework really needs a ribbon.

Best investment under 500 dollars I've made in here. Oktava ML 52 ribbon. 199.99

By the way, a tube mic isn't what I'd call "dark" or dense or thick or fat or ballsey, they can be wonderfully bright and deep at once.
I presume you know that anyway.

If you go for the ribbon keep it in mind, up front, male voices are too smokey, like old radio, or an RE20 overcompressed. Unless you want that sound you'll need to boost the high end for detail. Of course you could get that 57 we threw through the window and pair it with the ribbon and blow us all away.

Best of luck.
Like Owsley said, you can never have too many mics.

[Al]

The Groove Tube GT66 is a decent affordable tube mic for around $399. Certainly has that new 12AX7 sound that so many pieces under $1000 have. For an ultimate recording mic with great top end clarity, consider picking up a used East German Neumann CMV563 with M7, M8S and M55K capsules. The M7 is a real charm. It was used alot on Grant Lee Buffalo's 'Mighty Joe Moon' on acoustic guitars and Grant's vocal as well as being combined with 4 other mikes on Paul's piano- particular highlight tracks "Mockingbirds" and "Side by Side". It was also the vocal mike used on Scott Weiland's "Barbarella".

The mention of valve mic's and Grant lee Buffalo's "Mighty Joe Moon"..a marriage made in heaven, what a great record.

I'm glad you mentioned the Groove Tubes Jeff, do you have one??..always wondered what they were like...i'm also curious about how good the fet ones are too, any idea's?? thanks...

Sorry, not trying to hi jack the thread or anything!

Al

[kylethompson]

Don't laugh, but the SE 5000 by SE electronics is a great tube mic, not just in the budget category.
The only 4 tube mics I've used are 149, the c12 (and c12a), the Solid Tube and the SE 5000. The 5000 sounds most like the original c12. It really holds its own and can be got for $250 to $300.

[Meriphew]

I would go with either a Soundelux U99 (new around $2200/ebay $1500), E47 (new around $3400/ebay $2.5k - $3k), or my personal fav - the ELUX 251 (new around $4400/ebay around $3.5k - $4k).

[joel hamilton]

I really like tube mics. Not always, but a lot of the time. I just finished a day of tracking with some ladies....

I LOVE the Groove tubes 1A (the real one, when groove tubes was still groove tubes and not alesis).

I got this mic for 500 dollars and IT SLAYS. It sounds like a BETTER 67. I swear it does. I love 67's, and now I like this better. It is more present, without any spitty high end. It uses a 12ax7, which is suspect, but a guy who worked for them back in the day told me to try a bunch of different ones in there, because the sound of the mic relies HEAVILY on the tube running pretty hot.

I got a sylvania and an RCA, which I havent even tried because the old GT that is in there kicks so much ass. This mic has that perfect tube "drive" or "grit" to it.
AWESOME. if I find another one I am getting it. It looks like a silver pipe bomb, with GT just cut right out of the pipe, and some holes drilled in the other side for cooling. Totally machine shop mad max looking.

This mic is just super awesome. I am freaking out about it. I loved it all day. I even loved the way the tambourine sounded through it.!