Mic Covers. A product idea: Your thoughts?

[metanoiastudios]

Hey guys,

So the other day it occurred to me that maybe, just MAYBE, it might be a smart idea that I start covering up the mics that are left on stands in my studio...at least the very expensive, most sensitive ones. As I began looking for options, I decided on simply using Ziplock bags. That is, until I found THIS:

http://www.gearbrat.com/category-s/114.htm

I thought this was one of the coolest things EVER! I then discovered that the price tag for some of these is about $30 (I don't know how much they'd end up being after tax and shipping). In any event, I decided to wait and ask my mom, whom happens to be very crafty, to make me a few cool monster covers. She mentioned that, if I know of anyone else who may be interested in a few of these, she'd be more than happy to do them for a much cheaper price.

DISCLAIMER: BEFORE I CONTINUE, please don't think that I am out to steal somebody else's work. I am simply trying to help out my mom, who could use a hobby or two as of lately. She is NOT planning on turning this into a full time thing, but would love to have fun with it for a little bit, so, if anyone at Gearbrat sees this, this is not a cry for competition or anything like that...

I'm working on some designs for my mom that primarily focus on characters, and not monsters (That's what the people at Gearbrat.com do, and I don't want to step on anyone's toes). Her covers will be of 100% micro-denier polyester "MicronOne", and a protective part on the inside, similar to vinyl (forgot what it's called).

You could choose any of the following designs, and even mix and match elements from different ones to make your own!



If you have any cool ideas for different characters, please let me know and she can make these for you as well. I think that's the beauty in what she's offering...the fact that you can customize your cover to look however you want.

The covers will be made out of a special fabric that is very compressed, so that hairs do not go into the mic, and dust does not enter the fabric. They will also come with a drawstring so that you can tighten the cover to further secure the mic.

Again, the main (if only) selling point here is that you can customize your own designs, and she can even create them for you from scratch. I will get back with you guys, but we are looking at an approx. price of $10-15.

What do you guys think? is this something you may be interested in? if so, she will produce a short run, and I can start getting your orders down. I don't want to offend anybody that has done a similar idea to this in the past...just trying to help out my mom in doing something she'd totally enjoy.

I will be taking some pictures of a few prototypes over the weekend, so that you can see what the end result would end up looking like.

Thanks

[CarlWelden]

What a cool mom! I may have a challenge for her though:
Got any ideas for bagging an overhead-mounted Shure SM7B on a broadcast boom?

[jgimbel]

While this isn't particularly my cup of tea (I have enough trouble getting money for cords!), I do love seeing people coming up with new products. I had seen those Mic Monster things before, so when I saw yours I thought "uh oh". Just be careful.

Anyway, my day gig is as a graphic designer, and I LOVE working for start-ups, making an identity for them and the pieces to go with it - website, hang tags, a simple package, etc. I don't mean to be a sleezy self-promoter, but I just love working with people in that position. I know this isn't the same as some big business proposal, but even home-made things can take on a totally awesome/interesting side with professional/clever identity to them. Give me a shout on here or give me an email at jesse.gimbel@yahoo.com.

[JGriffin]

It's a cool idea. I remember walking through a live room a few years back where all the mics had gym socks over them...so this is better. Maybe have the option of putting the studio's name/logo on the cover?

[metanoiastudios]

Thanks for the offer, Jesse! I'll hit you up if she needs any design work done. I think this'll probably just be a word-of-mouth thing, but I totally appreciate the offer.

Hey Carl, could you take a quick picture of that setup? I'm sure she could figure something out.

I love the idea of putting the studio's name/logo on the cover. I think, to an extent, this can be done mostly with embroidery. If your studio has a super detailed logo it may have to be simplified on the cover, but otherwise, name's should be relatively easy!

[sonocide6]

I know it's pretty ghetto but beer koozies work great for this purpose.

[gearbrat]

Hello everyone,

My name is Josh Miethe, I?m the owner of gearbrat.com and one of the masterminds behind the Mic Monster.

First off? I?m a long time TapeOp reader and this is my first post. It?s great to finally join the online community.

Secondly, to Metanoiastudios I just want to say that we?re totally suing you and your mom. Expect the cease and desist letter to arrive promptly.

-JUST KIDDING! -They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery so I?ll try not to be too upset with you for swiping our idea. ☺

However, I do feel compelled to take a moment to clear up some things about our mic bags, which are professionally sewn and designed by local artists right here in Champaign, Illinois. -Exclusively available at Gear Brat, the tiniest, yet greatest music shop on the planet? of course my opinion may be biased.

The vinyl is pretty important for keeping dust, moisture and other particles away from your mics. Also, our mic bags are made slightly oversized so that they can hang loosely over your mic so that there is still some ventilation underneath. The size also allows for the mics to be easily stored inside when not set up on a stand. Ours also have the handy drawstring as well.

We spent countless hours researching and prototyping and researching and prototyping some more before we ever offered our first bag for sale. These are the finest mic bags you?re going to find and well worth their cost.

Not only do we make mic monsters, we also make plain mic bags (called ?Fun Bag Mic Bags?) and even mic bags made from vintage clothing.
http://www.gearbrat.com/category-s/114.htm

To Dwlb- We offer mic bags with custom logos:
http://www.gearbrat.com/category-s/124.htm

To Carl Welden- Yes, we?ve got a bag for that. Hit me up!

We boast a 30-day return policy and free shipping on all orders over 100 bucks.

Also, just a quick tip? with ours or Metanoiastudios?s mom?s mic bags? you?ll want to make sure to let your mic cool down after a vocal session so that it has some time to breath, just in case there?s any moisture built up. That especially goes for tube mics. Protect your mics!

Just for the folks reading this post? if you enter in the promo code ?tapeop? at checkout we?ll give you a 15% discount on any of our high quality mic bags purchased within the next 3 months.

[kuene]

i would like a set of these that look like my gramp's old golf club covers, knit things with tassels, old school.

[mrc]

I use Crown Royal bags. They come with a prize inside

[Electro-Voice 664]

I use Crown Royal bags. They come with a prize inside

+1 and to quote my favorite band....... Nickelback, "I've been wrong, I've been down
To the bottom of every bottle."

But seriously folks, can I get a yarl for some NB!

[jgimbel]

I use Crown Royal bags. They come with a prize inside

+1 and to quote my favorite band....... Nickelback, "I've been wrong, I've been down
To the bottom of every bottle."

But seriously folks, can I get a yarl for some NB!

For Nickelback? No. Never.

[casey campbell]

Hello everyone,

My name is Josh Miethe, I?m the owner of gearbrat.com and one of the masterminds behind the Mic Monster.

First off? I?m a long time TapeOp reader and this is my first post. It?s great to finally join the online community.

Secondly, to Metanoiastudios I just want to say that we?re totally suing you and your mom. Expect the cease and desist letter to arrive promptly.

-JUST KIDDING! -They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery so I?ll try not to be too upset with you for swiping our idea. ☺

However, I do feel compelled to take a moment to clear up some things about our mic bags, which are professionally sewn and designed by local artists right here in Champaign, Illinois. -Exclusively available at Gear Brat, the tiniest, yet greatest music shop on the planet? of course my opinion may be biased.

The vinyl is pretty important for keeping dust, moisture and other particles away from your mics. Also, our mic bags are made slightly oversized so that they can hang loosely over your mic so that there is still some ventilation underneath. The size also allows for the mics to be easily stored inside when not set up on a stand. Ours also have the handy drawstring as well.

We spent countless hours researching and prototyping and researching and prototyping some more before we ever offered our first bag for sale. These are the finest mic bags you?re going to find and well worth their cost.

Not only do we make mic monsters, we also make plain mic bags (called ?Fun Bag Mic Bags?) and even mic bags made from vintage clothing.
http://www.gearbrat.com/category-s/114.htm

To Dwlb- We offer mic bags with custom logos:
http://www.gearbrat.com/category-s/124.htm

To Carl Welden- Yes, we?ve got a bag for that. Hit me up!

We boast a 30-day return policy and free shipping on all orders over 100 bucks.

Also, just a quick tip? with ours or Metanoiastudios?s mom?s mic bags? you?ll want to make sure to let your mic cool down after a vocal session so that it has some time to breath, just in case there?s any moisture built up. That especially goes for tube mics. Protect your mics!

Just for the folks reading this post? if you enter in the promo code ?tapeop? at checkout we?ll give you a 15% discount on any of our high quality mic bags purchased within the next 3 months.

ok, i usually keep my mouth shut on this kind of thing...but here we go.

first of all, i must say that gear brat is a cool site with some cool products - so nothing personal here. but, "metanoia" has been a contributor for 2 years on the forum. he says that he wants to help his mom out. she makes him some mic covers and then mentions that she'd be willing to make more for a hobby.

at $10-$15 she's not making hardly anything off of them, if at all. this all came out of a need for a mic cover, not to compete with gear brat. 2nd - people have been covering their microphones for years with pouches, drawstring bags, etc...you didn't invent an idea that was swiped by metanoia. you just made what was covering the mic into something fun - nice to look at.

so, mr. miethe, i wish you well regarding your online business, and your mic covers, but your first and only post to tapeop is because you feel threatened by a lady in indiana making mic covers as a hobby for her son. she's not competing against you. it may feel like it, but i am sure that there are more engineers out there that are buying and will buy your stuff that doesn't include this small trivial online forum community that you've never contributed to.

good luck to you both.

[plurgid]

killer idea.
I have an even better idea than characters though.

Take photographs of vintage (i.e. "unattainable by the common man") microphones and print them on the exterior. In this way when people stop by my home studio I can disguise my shitty MXLs as vintage german masterpieces and people will be like "DAYAM!"

[gearbrat]

Casey- Sorry if I offended you. It certainly wasn?t my intention to do so.

As for painting me as the giant Wal-Mart figure oppressing folks? I beg to differ.

We?re a tiny shop. In the last 24 hours since this post a ton of our traffic has come from right here so this forum isn?t really all that trivial to me. There are a lot of people who never post who frequent here. I was one of them? a lurker!

So, being an avid TapeOp reader, I felt comfortable posting and had hoped I?d be welcome.

I wasn?t claiming to have invented the mic bag. -That?s ridiculous. I simply wanted to make sure that our product was accurately represented. It?s not like I?m the only manufacturer who has ever taken the opportunity to chime in when their wares were brought up in a forum.

I mean no harm, I assure you.

Plurgid- I dig the idea of having vintage mic pics on the bag. We could totally do that up proper!

[metanoiastudios]

Well, I was about to reply to many of you guys' requests, but it seems that somebody else is eager to beat me to the punch on my own thread .

That being said, I will be posting a new thread in probably about a week with pictures of a few prototypes. I will be offering 10 to 15 of my own designs and custom embroiding with the name of your studio. You can also send me your character ideas and we will produce them for you, done "proper" on a nice fabric with inside padding and a drawstring, for somewhere between $10-$15 and free shipping if you purchase 2 or more.

To make it clear, I will not be doing any monsters. I hope Gearbrat or any similar companies refrain from jumping on my new thread to upsell their product in comparison to mine. I'm sure Gearbrat's are way nicer, but if you just need a cool looking mic cover that won't break the bank and does what it's supposed to do, well, there you go. My mom is not starting a similar business, so, no need to feel intimidated here.

Much love