Sennheiser 421 placement?

[BackCrack]

I've got a recording session with friends this weekend. Taking a few cabs with GBs, Emi Tonespotters, and Tone Tubby Red Alnicos. I'm bringing some 57s and 609s, but my buddy will have some 421s there. Where do you like to place a 421 on the speaker?

 

[japetus]

About this far away from the speaker

 

[Greazygeo]

Nowhere near any speaker.

 

[RaceU4her]

wish i could tell you, my 421 sounds terrible with any placement on any speaker, i have no clue how guys get them to sound good. cant say im much a fan of what i hear from the 609's either

 

[fusedbrain]

The 421 is a bright mic with a frequency response that extends to 17k when loaded with a preamp input impedance of 1500-2kohms.
If your mic pre's all fall within this range, your only option to tame the shrill is off axis and angled mic placement.
If you have any mic pre's with switchable and / or low input impedance, lower the input impedance to roll off some of the excessive top end.
I'm not a huge fan of the 421, but I can get it to sound ok through a couple of my pre's that have 300ohm input impedance.
Into an API @ 1500 ohms = yuk.
YMMV

 

[Floyd Eye]

Nowhere near any speaker.

This. 421 goes on the kicks baybay.

 

[VonBonfire]

This. 421 goes on the kicks baybay.

I've heard they are good on toms as well but I've never had one to try. They are kinda pricey.

 

[fusedbrain]

Should also mention that most times, the 421 track is added in underneath another mic track ( SM57 , Royer R21 ) to broaden the frequency response of the main mic and add in a little top end snap or clarity.
Doesn't hurt to capture a 421 track to blend in later, but don't expect to get the main tone from it.

 

[fusedbrain]

I've heard they are good on toms as well but I've never had one to try. They are kinda pricey.

Killer on drums for sure, but too expensive and fragile to put on a snare unless you really trust the drummer to not beat the crap out of it.

 

[RaceU4her]

i bought this mic clip to go with the 57, think the "correct" way to do it is mic two different speakers, but either way it still sucks

 

[fusedbrain]

i bought this mic clip to go with the 57, think the "correct" way to do it is mic two different speakers, but either way it still sucks

Yeah, the idea is to put the 57 dead center on the cone, and you get the 421 off axis a little bit, but that clamp is bullshit for time-aligning the capsules of the mics.
You are much better off with 2 independant stands that you can move to get the phase aligment correct.

 

[midnightlaundry]

Experiment. Bring lots of beer..

 

[midnightlaundry]

Years ago I recorded this 2 piece band; a drummer and guitar/singer..

The drummer had this regular ole' back pack.. It was the MAJICK Backpack..
No matter how many beers we drank, he would just keep reaching behind him grabbing beers out of it for everyone.. LOL

 

[Floyd Eye]

I've heard they are good on toms as well but I've never had one to try. They are kinda pricey.

A lot of guys use them on bass rigs.

 

[Greazygeo]

wish i could tell you, my 421 sounds terrible with any placement on any speaker, i have no clue how guys get them to sound good. cant say im much a fan of what i hear from the 609's either

Sennheisers are terrible on guitars…bought a 421 brand new and tried for a year probably, never got anything I liked, thoughtbit had to be broken. Sent it back to Sennheiser and they replaced the capsule. Still sounded like ass…got rid of it. 609 had the similar quality, its gone too. They do work good on drums though.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Sennheisers are terrible on guitars…bought a 421 brand new and tried for a year probably, never got anything I liked, thoughtbit had to be broken. Sent it back to Sennheiser and they replaced the capsule. Still sounded like ass…got rid of it. 609 had the similar quality, its gone too. They do work good on drums though.

Singer/guitarist in my last band used an 845, which I don't like for most people, but it worked really well for him. Better than my 58s.

 

[Greazygeo]

Singer/guitarist in my last band used an 845, which I don't like for most people, but it worked really well for him. Better than my 58s.

We used to use their 835 vocal mics years ago, still have a few around. Worked great for us, not a big fan of 58’s for vocals but you can’t kill em. We have 945’s now for practice that have been working well.

 

[cobrahead1030]

I like them just off the edge of the dust cap. I’m a big fan of a 421 + sm57 combo personally.