can I mod cheap T.bone SC-180 SDC? (total mod newb)

[Disease8]

Just wondering if there is any point in tryin to mod these matched pair mics I own? I was expecting a slightly "brighter" sound out of these mics, I appreciate that the over all "quality" or the mics is nice (although not very sensitive) and they give good results on vocals, but I really wanted them for acoustic instruments like guitar. I know that sometimes if one knows what the problem is some very cheap and easy mods on certain mics can make all the difference.

Maybe because the microphones do have a pretty nice sound is it more the HF filtering or HF response I want to effect? Does that mean the diaphragm is of a decent quality? I hope so!

If there is anything I could experiment with to find out more about the weaker components of the mic I would much appreciate some advice.

I have pretty much no experience when it comes to electronics but I'm sure I can work out how to solder something well so if its just capacitors that need replacing I hope I can improve the performance of my mic this way, or perhaps the body of the mic? I have noticed that the diaphragm is set back from the opening a few millimetres could this have a negative effect on the sound?

I hope someone has a suggestion, thanks... Dom

 

[Disease8]

Any ideas, info or advice?

 

[moresound]

Do you mean the Apex 180s ?

 

[SZC]

Just wondering if there is any point in tryin to mod these matched pair mics I own? I was expecting a slightly "brighter" sound out of these mics,

Usually people complain that these Chinese SDCs are over bright and harsh.
I have a SC150 that I modded, but the mods were to make it darker and smoother rather than brighter.

I have pretty much no experience when it comes to electronics but I'm sure I can work out how to solder something well so if its just capacitors that need replacing I hope I can improve the performance of my mic this way

Coupling capacitor swap is simple enough but that part of the circuit will get noisy if the work is not done cleanly.
There should be a few threads on this come up in searches here.

, or perhaps the body of the mic?

Usually not much room inside to add damping material, depends on the mic.

I have noticed that the diaphragm is set back from the opening a few millimetres could this have a negative effect on the sound?

Usually the cavity in front of the diaphragm boosts the highs but makes the high end 'messy'. You can tidy up the messy phase smearing by reassembling the capsule with the diaphragm nearer the front but the mic will sound darker.
Again, not quite what you want.

As always with these sort of mods, better/different/worse is a matter of taste.

Searching for MXL603 mods should bring up a wealth of info that will generally apply to the sc180 even if they are a little different.

I have capacitors if you decide to go that way and don't want to buy a 10 pack.
Simon

 

[Disease8]

Thanks fr the response!

Hey I'm really sorry guys I kinda forgot about this thread!
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Moresound:
No they are not Apex 180's was checking those out they are different. Thomann seem to have stopped selling the which is a bad sign unfortunately I had hoped they would be my main SDC in my portable studio but I'm not really happy with them and I paid a lot! (£180) To think the mics I could have bought instead!
SCZ:
Thanks buddy very informative sounds like those mods won't help the problem I have with this mic,would a different capacitor not effect how crisp the highs are then?

I am considering just putting a simple acoustic traetment on the front of the mic, a plastic disk with holes that are usually found in condensers. A presence booster would this work?

Thanks for the info...

 

[SZC]

would a different capacitor not effect how crisp the highs are then?

I am considering just putting a simple acoustic treatment on the front of the mic, a plastic disk with holes that are usually found in condensers. A presence booster would this work?

Depends, of course what we all think of as 'crisp' but the results of the cap swap usually are described as 'open' / 'clear'.

Presence booster disk may well increase the highs a fair bit.
The subjective quality of the boosted high may be worse.

Give it a try, easilly reversible stuff.

If it's any help, I put my modded mics up next to some Neumann KM184 on drum overheads and was surprised that the modded mics had a similar tonal ballance and that the 184's would sound quite 'dark' next to a stock chinese SDC.
(the 184 tracks were of course the keepers, just had that 'rightness')

I guess what I am trying to say is that quality high end with an EQ cut to the mids and lows generally wins out against badly implemented presence boosts.

 

[Disease8]

I can't get inside the mic at the moment I need a smaller screw driver..