Essay Contest for a Shure 330 ribbon mic

[northsiderap]

Marik

Sounds like Marik is the go-to guy for ribbons... I've seen him on the Prodigy forums.

Marik, do you have a website? I'd love to know if all of your ribbon knowledge is collected in one spot!

I don't think I'd toss the ribbon... The less work the better, and re-ribboning is not easy for me. I think I need to try the breathing tube over the shoulder thing. It takes a little bit for me to calm down enough to deal with all of the unavoidable mistakes.

 

[Marik]

I didn't measure it (had no measurement gear back then), I would guess on the high end of that range. Tensioning the ribbon was for me by far the trickiest part. I destroyed a couple of ribbons seating them. Also, the Shures have no mechanism for adjusting tension.

Yes, without adjusting mechanism the tensioning can be tricky--every time you have to unclamp the ribbon, readjust and sit it properly in the gap, with even clearance. I do it with a microscope. A strong magnifying glass on a base can be helpful, as well.

Measuring the tuning frequency is quite straightforward and reminds measuring resonant freq. of speakers. You need a signal generator, mic preamp, 100 Ohm resistor, and DMM.

Is is possible to easily remagnetize them?

Yes, it is possible... but very far from easily (or safely).

It is done by very quick voltage discharge.
To do it, you need a very large bank of high voltage capacitors (we are talking about 30000Mf at 600V (!!!)) and a coil in which you place the magnet. To discharge this monster some folks use remotly operated rat snap traps (yep, you heard it). Mind you, the steel the traps made of will melt with discharge.

Not cheap, either.

 

[Marik]

Marik, do you have a website? I'd love to know if all of your ribbon knowledge is collected in one spot!

Ah, no...
Ones I started it, hoping to compile all my messages from Prodigy, Klaus, and some other forums, but never found time to do it
If you need some info or help, just ask.

 

[northsiderap]

Mic

Here's a quick clip from this week's session done between tracking.. A quick improv jam.

All tracks are done through the Shure 330. You can hear all 68dB of gain coming out of my Fairchild pre. I reverbed the heck out of the final to try to get rid of a stinky snare sound.

Drums played by Sam - 7' in front and 3-4' high
Acoustic gtrs & bass by me

The only bass available was a cheap-o so...

Improv Jam On A Shure 330 Ribbon Mic