sE Electronics GM10 Acoustic Mic review
By MNJ
| Posted in Music Technology
The sE Electronics GM10 acoustic guitar microphone, with its cumbersome-looking clamp and mini boom arm, could easily be dismissed as gimmicky and in a way, defeating the object. After all, what’s the point of potentially robbing your guitar of the very tone you are trying to capture by damping the top with two large pieces of rubber and a bit of metal superstructure?
The concept behind the GM10 was this; guitarists move around when recording, unless highly disciplined, so why not eliminate potential variations in tone and level by fixing the mic in one place in front of the guitar? Simple. Plus the fact that once you find the optimum position for your chosen recording instrument, the boom arm is fixed for the next session, ensuring continuity. Despite the obvious simplicity and usefulness of such an idea, the GM10 has been somewhat ignored by the recording community at large, possibly due to its initial fairly hefty price tag, and because most owners of an expensive guitar would probably be iffy about attaching it to their delicate instrument, especially one with a nitro-cellulose finish.
Armed with all the questions about the GM10, it seemed that a studio session was in order to answer them properly. On first handling, it was slightly awkward and there’s certainly potential for damage to the guitar if the thing is dropped on it. The mechanical aspect of the GM10 looks rather too heavy duty, but I guess we have to trust the designers that the metal work is the minimum required to fully support the microphone.
The GM10 attaches to the guitar with a G-clamp, with an L-shaped piece of hard rubber at either end. It’s claimed that the rubber won’t interact with the finish but personally I would not leave the clamp on the guitar for any length of time. It will fit guitars with a body depth between 80 mm and 130 mm which should encompass most normal acoustics and acoustic basses. Once in place, the boom arm mechanism allows the microphone to be positioned anywhere over the guitar’s top. The only restriction is if it’s in a position which inhibits playing style.
The microphone incorporates a small gold-sputtered Mylar capsule at 17.1 mm, along with a shock mount assembly built into the cardioid’s capsule head, ensuring no mechanical vibration is transferred to the microphone. There’s a bass roll-off option on the capsule to further eliminate unwanted rumble. On test, the microphone was positioned at various spots above the guitar top, from approximately 150 mm down to 25 mm and using the boom arm further back toward the bridge. By moving the clamp to the bottom edge of the guitar I was able to get the microphone over the last few frets of the fingerboard, producing a sound which on its own is a little lacking in depth, but added into a track would give the guitar sound a little more presence. I made several recordings in all the positions and – listening back – the sweet spot on the guitar I was using was found by setting the mic at about 75 mm away and just underneath the sound hole, angled up. The sweet spot is going to vary with different guitars, but once discovered, the same tone can be produced again and again – you just have to remember to mark the clamp position with a bit of masking tape.
The big surprise with the GM10 is the absolutely stunning quality of the actual microphone. The results were way beyond my expectations; the detail and transparency, crucial in an acoustic tone, were indeed impressive. There was also no hint of the microphone being subject to any mechanical interference from the harness and my acoustic guitar sound was captured with superb accuracy. I don’t know what magic ingredient sE Electronics have used in the GM10, apart from the aforementioned Mylar, but it certainly delivers the goods.
My initial misgivings overcome, and the test session concluded, I am happy to report the following; the rubber clamp won’t damage your guitar providing it’s not permanently attached, and in an A/B or on-off test if you will, recording a guitar with the GM10 fitted won’t alter your sound. Recording engineers who have mastered the art of capturing acoustic guitars on tape or disk will be difficult to convince that the GM10 offers any advantages but anybody who’s having problems with this and wants an affordable and clever solution should look at the sE Electronics GM10.
Tags: acoustic guitar mic, recording acoustic guitar, se electronics gm10
Does this have any use live? I have an acoustic I really want to use live for just one song and want to avoid using a piezo or any other pickup for that matter, but don\’t know if this would be suitable for a live environment… please help!
paul
Using it live successfully depends on your environment. If you are a solo artist or in an acoustic only ensemble it should work depending on the skills of your sound engineer. In a loud band, trying to to get enough volume to be heard would probably be impossible due to feedback problems. If you don’t like piezo pickups try a soundhole mounted job like a Fishman Rare Earth.
Marc Noel-Johnson
You could also try playing into a very directional mic like a Shure SM57 but you’ll have to get very close and not move. This will increase the bass end because of the ‘proximity effect’ so you’ll have to roll off the lows on the mixer. Use a foam windshield as well, banging the mic with your guitar is not a great sound!
Marc Noel-Johnson
Is the clamp going to work on my Ovation, with it’s rounded back?
Charlie Hurst
Sorry, you won’t be able to fit it to an Ovation.
Marc Noel-Johnson
I have a lot of instruments which are shy of 80 mm in depth…mandolas, etc. Is there any way apparent that the clamp might fit shallower depth acoustics?
Jack Tolley
Hi. the only way is to ‘fill-in’ the gap between the clamp and the smaller guitar with a suitable sized piece of material like stiff rubber or something similar or look for a different clamp, possibly like the ones they use in science labs and adapt it.
Marc Noel-Johnson
Has anyone tried out this microphone in a live setting? If so how did you find its behaviour with regard to feedback
Benny Tetteh-Lartey