Hey all,

I ran across this mic when I was looking at Jeff Coffin's (the Flecktones) gear list. Have any of you ever seen or used one of these things on an accordion? I'm a little curious to see if the sound quality is comparable to that of a Shure or Audio Technica clip on.

John

The AMT uses the same transmitter and recieiverr as the Samson wireless 77. I've seen the AMT and own the Samson. Both sound pretty good to my ear, and both easy to use. I'm sure the quality (based on the specs of both) is higher on the AMT, but I think most people would be hard pressed to hear the difference. The factor that got my attention, is the AMT goes for $580, and the Samson goes for $390. I know you can get a better priice on the Samson, but not sure about the AMT.
Steve

I recently purchased a sennheiser E608 clip-on mic. The cost was less than $ 150.00, around $ 130.00, I think. Works like a charm. Mounted a wooden bracket, via small stainless screws, to the front of the accordion. The bracket was made from left-over pieces of the original accordion frame, same red color, router groves, etc. Can't really tell the bracket is there, looks like part of the accordion. Clip the mik to the bracket. Looks good and works great.
JB

That's a bit pricey for me!

It doesn't matter anyway, because I no longer use external mics. But when I did, I found that the standard dynamic mic's used for many years with Cajun accordions sounded just fine. The price was right, they're durable, and don't require a battery pack or phantom power.

I know that many like the smaller size of the condensor mics, but I am put off by the price. Some say they sound better, but for live work, I am skeptical that anyone can really tell the difference. I also know of several players who started out with dynamic mics, dabbled with condensor, but finally switched back to dynamic mics because there was something about the sound of the dynamic mic that they preferred. This is very subjective of course. I noticed that the condensors have a very good clear sound, but maybe too clear - kind of cold.

But, for me it is all moot, because I am sold on the internal dynamic mics.

-David

The $580 price I found on B&H, a place not exactly known for discounts. A little fuzzy, but I know I paid under $300 for the Samsom. The biggest advantage with a wireless condenser is less bulk than a dynamic, and switching between instruments is a breeze, done in nanoseconds. A couple of my boxes have the internal, and I'll use that when I want that sound. Even messed around with combining the internal and external. But you're definitely right, sometimes in a live situation, all bets are off. Sometimes, it's just what ever works, as long as there's no feedback.
Steve

I've used Samson mic's on musicians when I had a small TV station because I got tired of the guests wrecking my higher priced Sony's. The cheaper ones sounded just as good. The secret is to set the gain on the transmitter and receiver properly before going to the mixer board or amp. Also when the musicians were sitting while playing I would clip the mic on a fold of their pants at the knee which isolated the mic from the instrument (usually banjos and guitars) and eiminate unwanted noise. This meathod should work well with accorions too.