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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: two2the8 on August 18, 2017, 03:09:08 AM
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Hey all,
I recently picked up a Manfrotto Dado & I've been using that and some clamps to make a cool portable stereo bar (inspired by some of the ideas from @if_then_else in this post: https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=182199.0). I like this setup, but there is one thing about it that is pretty annoying, and I know there must be an easy solution, but I don't know exactly what it is.
You can see in the attached pic that I have the dado, two rods, two clamps, two 1/4-3/8 adapters to get from the clamps to the mic clips, and one vertical spacer. All of this fits together really well. The trouble is that I don't have anything on the adapter that attaches to the mic clip that can easily stop the thread—like a jam nut or something—so I can't tweak the angle of the mics! I've googled around for 3/8 jam nuts and knurled nuts and threaded washers and threaded collars and all sorts of things, trying to find some 3/8-16 doodad that will let me easily tune the angle on these, but I've had rotten luck. There are latch lake knurled jam nuts that look great, but I can only find them in 5/8 sizes.
In the meantime, I've resorted to rubber washers, and if I stack them and plan things out just so, then I can arrange to tighten everything so that it's almost right. It's silly. What is the thing that will let me solve this ridiculous problem?
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Hey all,
I recently picked up a Manfrotto Dado & I've been using that and some clamps to make a cool portable stereo bar (inspired by some of the ideas from @if_then_else in this post: https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=182199.0). I like this setup, but there is one thing about it that is pretty annoying, and I know there must be an easy solution, but I don't know exactly what it is.
You can see in the attached pic that I have the dado, two rods, two clamps, two 1/4-3/8 adapters to get from the clamps to the mic clips, and one vertical spacer. All of this fits together really well. The trouble is that I don't have anything on the adapter that attaches to the mic clip that can easily stop the thread—like a jam nut or something—so I can't tweak the angle of the mics! I've googled around for 3/8 jam nuts and knurled nuts and threaded washers and threaded collars and all sorts of things, trying to find some 3/8-16 doodad that will let me easily tune the angle on these, but I've had rotten luck. There are latch lake knurled jam nuts that look great, but I can only find them in 5/8 sizes.
In the meantime, I've resorted to rubber washers, and if I stack them and plan things out just so, then I can arrange to tighten everything so that it's almost right. It's silly. What is the thing that will let me solve this ridiculous problem?
I've got to admit that I've also used some rubber washers to get them to the right angle. However, there are some micro ball-heads available on Aliexpress or ebay which might allow you to totate the.mics into the correct position. (Look for "SmallRig").
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/SmallRig-15mm-Single-Rod-Clamp-with-Hot-Shoe-Mount-Micro-Ball-Head-for-LCD-Monitors-805/2136034_32739897653.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3in1-Kit-15mm-Rod-Clamp-with-1-4-Mount-Tripod-Mini-Ballhead-1-4-Male-to/32808370329.html?spm=2114.search0305.4.94.pktDXY
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I used to use a couple of these. What you can't see from the pics is that the entire 1/4"-20 end with the tilt adjustment can also be twisted axially and is spring loaded and detented. In other words, you pull and twist that entire assembly where the camera would attach and it snaps back down into predefined angles. You could then mount your mic shocks onto the camera flange so that it's lined up straight ahead, and then pull-twist that tilt assembly until it snaps down at a 45 deg angle for your XY config. Then you just leave everything attached and pop your mics out after the gig, and there's nothing to adjust next time.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Bike-Bicycle-Handlebar-Bar-Mount-Tripod-For-Camera-DV-GoPro-4-Contour-/111828752479?hash=item1a0983585f (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Bike-Bicycle-Handlebar-Bar-Mount-Tripod-For-Camera-DV-GoPro-4-Contour-/111828752479?hash=item1a0983585f)
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I used to use a couple of these. What you can't see from the pics is that the entire 1/4"-20 end with the tilt adjustment can also be twisted axially and is spring loaded and detented. In other words, you pull and twist that entire assembly where the camera would attach and it snaps back down into predefined angles. You could then mount your mic shocks onto the camera flange so that it's lined up straight ahead, and then pull-twist that tilt assembly until it snaps down at a 45 deg angle for your XY config. Then you just leave everything attached and pop your mics out after the gig, and there's nothing to adjust next time.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Bike-Bicycle-Handlebar-Bar-Mount-Tripod-For-Camera-DV-GoPro-4-Contour-/111828752479?hash=item1a0983585f (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Bike-Bicycle-Handlebar-Bar-Mount-Tripod-For-Camera-DV-GoPro-4-Contour-/111828752479?hash=item1a0983585f)
Great price on the ebay listing ($3.95). I don't use ebay so I searched the item on Amazon and it is $18.66 + 9.99 shipping.
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Thanks for those tips!
@if_then_else, I have tried the ball-head solution, and it works really well. Part of my interest has been to keep things pretty compact & light, and when I add two ball-heads to all the other doodads & moving parts, it starts to feel like I've reached a tipping point in terms of size/weight/complexity. Might be that there's nothing for that, though... even if there was a jam nut that would fit the 3/8 hardware, I'm not sure I have enough thread on these adapters to use it effectively.
@voltronic I like the gopro mount idea, that's neat. I take this whole rig up and down a lot, so having a way to snap into predefined angles quickly would be handy. Can I change the pre-defined angles on that thing? I don't use XY a lot, and I like to experiment with ORTF & AB & other setups.
Later: Looking at my setup again now, I see that maybe I *can* use some 5/8 jam nuts, if I attach them to the 5/8-3/8 adapter threads that connect the clip/shockmount to the whole apparatus. I tried it just now with one 5/8 nut I had kicking around from another stand, and that actually works pretty well. Cool! Ridiculous problem solved, for now!
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Go Man GO!
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Just wanted to post some pictures of the Dado-based t-bar with the mini-ballheads attached to the rod clamps (in order to adjust the recording angles & tilt).
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Hey, thanks, @if_then_else... That first pic is especially useful. I've been getting pretty good mileage out of the 5/8 jam nuts for now; I'll post a pic when I have a chance.
I made a really fun recording this week with the dado setup, BTW: 2 stereo pairs (omni spaced pairs + DIN cards) clamped to the dado bars, with the ball screwed to a hotshoe adapter on my DSLR. I put the whole setup on top of my camera tripod and monitored from one spot—I felt like a one-man band!