|
SE Electronics GM10 Clamp-on Acoustic Guitar microphone (Sound on Sound review linked) Price Paid / Price New: I paid £90; I've seen it up to £300(!) Year Manufactured: Not sure. It's a new ish product so . . . let's go with 2010, though I've had it since January. Specs: It's a guitar clamp with a built in small, capacitor microphone; the microphone quality is surprisingly good, and it removes a ton of hassle from recording acoustic guitar. This waffle from the Sound on Sound review explains the mic well enough: "The microphone itself features one of the smallest diameter true-capacitor capsules I've come across (most mics this size or smaller are back-electrets) and requires 48 Volt phantom power to operate. It offers a fixed cardioid pickup pattern, which is good for minimising spill from other sources but may sound less natural than an omni when used under ideal conditions. A resilient shockmount separates the mic capsule from the mounting, and a further shockmount at the end of the boom-arm doubly isolates the mic against vibrations." It's light, the clamps for your guitar's body are rubberised so won't damage it, and you can achieve virtually any position you'd want for acoustic guitar without the mic slipping out of place. You can not swap the mic out for another though I'm not sure you'd want to. Sound: 4 out of 5. For such a small, weedy looking mic, the sound is surprisingly good. The clamp system, while a bit cumbersome, works well enough to put the mic in any sweet spot you can think of for positioning, and it picks up tone quite well - it has a bass roll-off switch which I have enabled sometimes as it can sound a bit boomy on my dreadnought Takamine (that is just how the guitar sounds and I can eliminate that with positioning the mic, but having a rollof switch is really nice); but really I was shocked at how good it sounds. I'm not sure of the frequency range it records off the top of my head but it sounds loving great if you want a clean acoustic guitar sound from a decent guitar. It doesn't lack anything - the low end even with the bass rolloff switch is well represented, mids are good, it's bright enough. The mic doesn't seem to have much of its own character; I prefer this, as it's simply accurate in what it captures. This is geared towards a totally clean sound. It doesn't pick up any movement sounds from you or the guitar either - sudden movements won't cause a problem, I've jolted it around a lot playing standing up and it simply doesn't make a difference to the recorded sound - it does have two shockmounts, but also it's rigid enough to stay in place. A little point about the sound it captures; sometimes I like a little more natural character to the sound I record - it isn't so good for capturing the ambience of a room, say; natural reverb in the recording space becomes irrelevant as it will not be captured though it might be possible with an awkward enough mic position! This is personal preference, I don't *always* want a totally clean, pure sound, but I have a different setup for stuff like that anyway, so it's a minor niggle. The sound is really great, it is representative of how the guitar sounds with no extras. So you can technically get a better sound, but at this price and with this convenience? Nope. Just a note, it's not a gigging solution unless you can limit the sound the mic can pick up - it'll pick up sounds within a few feet of the guitar if they're loud enough. I wouldn't say that's a criticism of the product at all; it's for recording, not gigging, though if you're determined enough you could presumably get it to work out if you're not drowning the mic in sound. Equipment Quality: 3 out of 5. It has a sturdy, thin, steel build, of essentially some rods where you can adjust the angles; and while it can be a bit awkward looking, it keeps the mic in place. The clamps are wide and rubber, so it shouldn't damage your guitars, but I wouldn't be comfortable leaving it on a guitar overnight since you need it to be quite tightly clamped. You need to be quite aware of where you're fixing it to the guitar too; until I had played with it enough I occasionally put it in some positions that were a tiny bit awkward for my playing, but this is NOT a big deal at all; just something to be aware of with ANY kind of clamp system. You have a boom arm to think about, basically, so give your strumming / picking hand room to move  I do find it quite ugly though. It's not elegant, but it is functional as hell. It is light, and doesn't seem to make the guitar seem any heavier. Playing standing up with it is just fine, your guitar won't feel heavier than usual. Usefulness: 5 out of 5. I got this to solve mic positioning fuss in my limited space for recording; it certainly did that. The thing keeps its position until you wish to change it; changing the mic position is very easy (you turn a few pegs to control the boom arm basically) and quick as hell too. It gives a clean, unfussy sound and the most important thing for me is this is a sound you can achieve again and again - I've recorded something, a month later decided to overdub it or add a new part, and I can achieve the *exact* same sound from the same guitar (assuming it's setup the same) - as the positioning is that accurate, and that controllable, this is great for long recording projects. Outside of that scope, it falters; but that is the scope it is intended for, so I'm giving it full marks. Overall Value: 4 out of 5. I got it cheap, and I'm very very happy with it. It has made recording my acoustic guitars fast and reliable, without worrying too much about setup; sure, it's a little cumbersome in terms of design in that you need to think about how you're positioning it to give yourself room and get the mic where you want it, but once you have it set up for your positioning sweet spots, you're golden. If you have ANY headaches, even minor ones, in terms of getting the acoustic sound you want, I strongly recommend this. It helps to know how to record acoustic (namely where to put the mic! This is all about mic positioning) but even if you don't, start by pointing it at the 12th-14th fret a good couple of inches back and play about until you get what you want, and I expect you'll be very happy.
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2011 21:59
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 2, 2024 10:45 |
|