Are you thinking about buying a nice bullet microphone to show off on your next gig? I know that every harmonica player, when starts to explore the world of harmonica, has a will to buy a microphone. As we approach the instrument we are immersed in information and words like impedance, bullet microphone element and 'Chicago sound' can become our daily obsession. Choosing a good microphone for your harp is a fun-filled journey and when I was looking for handmade gear, I often landed on something that caught my attention. This was the case of that particular bullet, a medium-high impedance microphone for harmonica. It is made in the United Kingdom and its name is Silver bullet dynamic special. What is so special about this device?
This microphone has a switch to select a clean or a dirty sound. Isn't this a great feature? I think yes. Well, I should admit that I'm a clean harmonica sound lover, and most of the time I just play my instruments trough a vocal mic. When you get this harmonica microphone, it's like if you have bought two separate microphones in one, so you can get a clean sound that you can still drive a bit using the amp gain control, or use the dirty element for a more punched traditional distorted sound.
Don't underestimate the harmonica clean sound, as stated in the manufacturer page, this sound can really pump up your music; I agree with this. A pure harmonica sound fits many musical genres and styles.
Let's take a look at the Silver bullet dynamic special, that also comes with a volume control:
Its 4K ohm clean sounding dynamic element has quite wide frequency response, and it is less prone to distortion. It produces rich lows when gently driven by the gain, while keeping the treble from sounding too much. If you turn up both, gain and the microphone volume, you can get a little distortion.
If you aim for a more bluesy distorted sound you can use the 50K ohm high impedance element. This one provides a sound with full harmonic content and a great tone, boosting both low and medium frequencies and comes with very few trebles. You can obtain distorted sound by this element with just a little drive from your amplifier gain control.
How is this microphone built? Heavy metal design, with a lovely dark hardwood fascia finishing. It presents a solid and robust industrial feel and according to manufacturer there is a touch of steam-punk in its design. One feature I like to see on this product is the rubber seal that is a part of the body, which avoids the instrument to slip out of your hand and secondly the airtight seal between harmonica and the microphone. When I play using a normal vocal dynamic microphone, I usually put a rubber seal on the head too. The sealing is also mportant when you want to cup the mic and get that really fat tone out of your harp.
This microphone is still light to keep in your hand under the harmonica and play with comfort. Thumbs up for the manufacturer who provides full and detailed specifications about this product. Its really reliable and deserves to be considered for purchase. If you want to get to know more about the Silver bullet dynamic special, take a look at the page linked on the banner:
