Which Mic to use for this gig?

[Matt P]

I've posted this in the Double bass section but was suggested to post here too, I'm Hoping to tap into the combined wisdom of the forum here.

I'm loaning my PA out to a ceilidh band for a wedding gig tomorrow (Saturday 24th May) and one of the instruments is a double bass, I don't believe that they have a pickup or an onboard mic fitted so my plan is to put a mic in front of it and hope for the best.

I have a selection of mics available to me but i'm not sure which would be most suitable, the setup and soundcheck time is extremely short so i'm not going to have time to experiment. from the list of mics below which one would be the most suitable and what position/direction would be best?

Red5 Audio - RV6/RV8/RV10
Rode - M3
Audix D6/i5
SE - X1
AKG - P4/D5
Shure - SM58 Beta
Audio_technica - ATM10a

 

this is the total list of mics that I can lay my hands on before the gig so i've got to pick one, so which one would you use?

 

i'll have 1 hour to get into the hall, set up, and soundcheck before the wedding party arrives so I'm trying to be as prepared as possible. I've already got Di boxes and preamps on hand and all the mics are ready to go into the car.

 

Thanks

Matt

[Phil Starr]

Hi @Matt P, hope the gig went well. Sorry I was preparing for my own gig so I picked it up too late, I suspect others were in the same boat. Perhaps you could tell us what you did and how it worked?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I would think that putting a mic in front of a double bass wouldn't work well, if at all.

[Matt P]

I did get some replies over in the Double bass section and the advice was either a SM57 or equivalent wrapped in a towel and wedged under the tailpiece pointing at the bridge or a cardoid of some sort on a stand in front of the bass.

 

I ended up going for the Rode M3, on a stand about 6-8 inches in front and slightly above the bridge, it seemed to work well enough, i could hear the bass from the back of the (smallish) hall, it was a 4 piece band (Guitar, Violin, accordion and double bass, with a mic for calling and another for singer songwriter spots. It wasn't a high volume gig either which helps.

 

the guitar and violin had pickups and i used another Rode M3 in front of the Accordion which also seemed to work fairly well.

 

I wasn't there for the actual performance as it was a small private party but from the reports i got back it went well and everyone was happy.