Sp B1

You name it...

I have two B3's.

I'm currently wrestling with the idea of upgrading the tantalum caps in it...My ears have become sensitive to a brittle nature in the sound and somebody said that swapping those out with some poly caps would help, BUT, all that rubbish aside...

I originally got them for drum overheads, but I've used them for close and distant vocals, acoustic guitar, guitar cabs...try it on whatever. I chose the B3's because of the multi-pattern feature...I use the pair in an M+S configuration sometimes.

Overall I like my B3's better than my C1, which is even more brittle.

Here is a sample of acoustic guitar and voice tracked using the B3's:

www.torridheatstudios.com/ftp/Share/Audio/Edward, Lee/2008_08_08/Edward, Lee 2008 08 08 #1 v2.mp3

The mics were about 6 feet back from the artist. One mic was facing the artist set to cardioid...that's mostly what you hear and would be similar to the B1. The second B3 is 90 degrees coincident to the first and set to omni...that mic signal is split and the two signals are panned hard left and hard right, one being set out-of-phase (this is the M+S configuration), but again, most of what you hear is the B3 set to cardioid. There is also some of the guitar direct for body, but not much. This was tracked straight to Cubase through a Presonus Digimax FS at 24/88.2. Added 'verb and a little mastering dynamics.
 
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My B1 gets used on acoustics, guitar cabs, toms, and even surprises on vocals now and then. Great mic, good to have around.
 
The B1 / B3 mics are very bright mics. I've found my B1 can sound great on certain vocals and awful on others. I like it on acoustic guitar. I also got pretty good results using it on a double bass along with a pick up.
 
Maybe I have a real old one....but my B3 is anything except 'real bright'.....Its a great mic for the money and is a very very good mic for drum overs and as a second LDC on acoustic guitar. I always thought it to be a bit on the dark side of things and not at all 'brittle'.

My C1, however, WAS 'brittle'. Hence its gone. I'm not a fan of that hyped edge in some mics.

My B3 was bought new in 2001.
 
cavedog101 said:
Maybe I have a real old one....but my B3 is anything except 'real bright'.....Its a great mic for the money and is a very very good mic for drum overs and as a second LDC on acoustic guitar. I always thought it to be a bit on the dark side of things and not at all 'brittle'.

My C1, however, WAS 'brittle'. Hence its gone. I'm not a fan of that hyped edge in some mics.

My B3 was bought new in 2001.
Click to expand...

I bought my B1 around 2004. I've heard a couple of people say the B3 wasn't that bright but everyone I know finds the B1 very bright!? This is a little confusing as they are meant to use exactly the same capsule(s) etc but the B3 offers different patterns!?

Why should they differ in tone when the B3 is set to cardoid?
 
Mine is not my only experience with these and it is true that both of these mics sound a bit different even though by all accounts they are the same barrng the patterns.

Its a mystery.
 
sweetbeats said:
I have two B3's.

I'm currently wrestling with the idea of upgrading the tantalum caps in it...My ears have become sensitive to a brittle nature in the sound and somebody said that swapping those out with some poly caps would help, BUT, all that rubbish aside...
Click to expand...

It's fascinating how they changed the design inside those things. I just looked at the photos from when I disassembled my B3s. There's not a single tantalum cap in it. There are about four or five ceramic caps, but they're all in the single or double-digit picofarad range, and AFAIK you can't get any non-ceramic caps that small except perhaps trimmer caps.

The only question that remains to ask is whether the film version is newer or older than the tantalum version. Do your B3s have two switches (one polar pattern, one pad/LF roll-off) like mine or are they the previous generation with just a single switch?
 
Not to add more confusion, but I have 2 B1's and 2 B3's and the B3's are definitely brighter than the B1's with more sheen and color. The B1's have more bottom and are more transparent.

Mine are the older silver-ish models, not the new gold-ish ones. They sound especially good run through my EH12AY7 tube pre's.

ANY mic can sound great on one source and awful on another. That's why it's good to have choices.

Lucio
 
LDT2 said:
Mine are the older silver-ish models, not the new gold-ish ones. They sound especially good run through my EH12AY7 tube pre's.
Click to expand...

Gold-ish ones? You mean they revved the design AGAIN!?! Are you sure that isn't just a new set of product photos taken under different lighting? The only change I'd heard about before today was when they added the roll-off/pad switch, though I might be thinking of the B1.
 
Maybe it's the lighting in the pictures, but the new mics seem to have a gold, bronze reflection to them vs the original mics.

The originals also had the 797audio logo on the front. The new ones don't.

Correct, they added dual pads and roll offs to the B1.

Lucio
 
There would be differences in the response and character between the B1 and the B3 due to differences in electronics and the mere fact of having two capsules up there is going to effect things. Same capsule, but obviously only 1 on the B1 and two on the B3...same body, and maybe even the same PCB's but the B3 is going to have more going on inside due to the multipattern feature and multiple capsules.

I got mine in 2004...they are the newer style with two switches.

I'm looking at replacing the tantalums at dgatwood's suggestion, at least in one of them and then A/B it with the non-modded one and see...supposedly may help with the brittleness though, as I mentioned, it is much less pronounced in my B-series as compared to the C1.
 
Having a little trouble micing the Boogie. Sm57 is simply not the mic for the job. I'm thinking a e609, and then trying the B1 behind the amp. I noticed a real clarity gets added when I step behind the amp. Not so sure I would mic a high gain amp up close and personal with the B1, or any LD mic.
 
I've used my (early series) B1s on o/heads, toms, amps (Marshall, Rivera) and acoustics and always found them to be a very "honest" mic......if you have a less than stellar sound source or acoustic environment, the B1s aren't going to fix it for you.

:cool:
 
uh um...My Boogies are beyond "stellar".:p

I'm liking the e609 on it. I never did believe the sm57 was a "cure all" mic. It simply doesn't work on every guitar amp. It's great on my JCM800, but not so much on my Dual Rec. Also, I was wrong...it was my JCM800 that I want an additional mic behind. I'm thinking the combination of the sm57 at the speaker, and something behind it will help define the notes that get too smoothed out by the "dirt" that the Marshall's have to their gain.
 
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