My home made internal bass mic mount.

[Morrisman]

Here is my home made internal bass drum mic system.

The mic is an EV PL33 - I chose it because it's round and not too heavy, and I like the sound.

The mic is held by a 2" radiator hose clamp. This gives an inch or so of front to back adjustment. The clamp can scratch the mic, so I wrapped black electrical tape around the clamp on four sides.

The clamp is supported by six elastic hair ties. Four to the front lugs, and two to the back. The top ones are shorter and doubled up for extra strength. This mounts the mic above the centre of the drum, and slightly to one side.

The elastic bands are secured to the lugs using 1" square pieces cut from a nylon strap. The two holes were melted with a soldering iron. The edge tends to fray, so I sealed the edges by stroking with the hot iron.

The mic cable is secured to the top of the shell by one of the tom mount bolts. Then it exits through the vent hole, and the xlr plug sits by one of the lugs near the hihat. The metal plug is wrapped in electrical tape so it doesn't scratch the drum. Note, the plug has to be soldered on after the cable is run through the vent.

The final picture shows the folded towel I use for dampening. It's folded up against the batter head, but doesn't touch to reso head. This is held in place by gaff tape which is held by two lug screws, so it's always in the right place. The gaff sticks to the towel, but the end is folded over so it doesn't stick to the shell.

All of this is removable without leaving any extra holes or marks. Its really convenient to have a mic already in place all the time. I don't have to remember to pack anything, and no-one knocks the mic stand, etc.

 

[Ghostnote]

Great job man! I might rig something like this up when I get around to buying some mics. I can't believe what they charge for the Kelly Shu, which amounts to a few elastic and a piece of injection moulded plastic. It's fun to take on little engineering projects like this. We'll done, thanks for posting this.

 

[BruceW]

That is very cool! Great job...

 

[cutaway79]

Very ingenious! I have a Kelly Shu in my main kit. But I may do this for my secondary kit.

 

[Stroman]

That's a fantastic idea! Nicely done.

 

[Les Ismore]

Great job. I'd drill a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the bass drum and throw in a chase mount XLR.

 

[lefty2]

i think that's a good mount. I wouldn't run the cord on top of the shell though. I'm afraid it would mark up the finish vibrating when you play.

 

[konaboy]

Great job. I'd drill a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the bass drum and throw in a chase mount XLR.

Agree with Lex I'd move that cord so it's not draping over you bass, it will not only look better but better chance it won't ruin the finish! Great job by the way, way to think outside the box

 

[Morrisman]

Regarding the xlr cable:

For a couple of years I kept a short cable inside the drum and ran it out of the kickport. I had to run the cable carefully so it didn't touch the sides. Now I've moved it to the top vent for convenience. The cable is soft, and I've wrapped the xlr in tape and wedged it in under the lug, so its not going to scratch the drum. I will monitor this though.

For comparison, my Yamaha 18" drum has a Pearl style double tom holder, but only one tom, so I've mounted that xlr in the spare hole. Works really well.

(Did both of these drums about three years ago, just didn't take any photos until now.)