On/Off microphone pads?

[Phil Lesh101]

I'm not sure if this has been covered or not but does anyone know anything about the mic pads The Grateful Dead used, besides that they were burglar alarm pads? I have seen Furthur,DSO and The Grateful Dead use them.

[Dozin]

http://www.dozin.com/mic/main.html

Someone on gearheads was making these. I don't remember who

[Phil Lesh101]

How are they wired and were do you get them is what I would like to know.

[waldo041]

they are custom made. i know healy made the GD's, Furthurs, and DSO. I would assume that he also made Phish's as well, but maybe not. the article Dozin relayed has the details to a perfectly identical version that all of them use. The Burglar pad is the most expensive part of the entire build and can be hard to locate.

~waldo

[TI4-1009]

It used to be fun to watch them in those days. Usually as soon as the verse eneded all the vocalists would "take a step back" to get off the pads and close down the mics. It was almost choreography (or as close as the Dead ever got to it ).

I figured they were like the pressure sensitive pads stores used to use to activate the automatic door openers.

[waldo041]

It used to be fun to watch them in those days. Usually as soon as the verse eneded all the vocalists would "take a step back" to get off the pads and close down the mics. It was almost choreography (or as close as the Dead ever got to it ).

I figured they were like the pressure sensitive pads stores used to use to activate the automatic door openers.

that is exactly what the burglar pad is, a pressure sensitive switch.

the units have a 2.5/3 second delay, so bobby could jump off of them for a split second and still have the mic on.

~waldo

[FretfulDave]

I have been fascinated by the use of the mats for a long time. I knew about them and I think I first read about them in Phil's "Searching for the Sound". My own music situation would never require this type of gear, though I expect there are folks on the board that have bands that play in big halls at loud volumes where bleed and such can be an issue.

I could not find any specifics on Dozin's site so I decided to look around and came up with the following:

This link some dude posted in 1999 and he seems to think he thought of the pressure pad first but we all know different...

The on/off box schematics:

http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/a ... tomike.htm


A burglar alarm pressure mat:

http://www.surveillance-video.com/usp-9 ... elid=NEXTA


I wouldn't know how to to read the schematics or determine the resistor and capacitor values... when I took EE in college in my sophomore and part of junior year, OpAmps, ICs and the like had not been invented yet , only transistors and diodes.

However, it doesn't seem much of a stretch that some of the tech oriented folks might take an interest with this information.

If I missed something on Dozin's site, please let me know. This post is only meant to offer information.


Regards,

Dave

[waldo041]

here is a layout of RG's Mic Mute for those interested, although RG's perfboard version works as well.

http://www.wald-electronics.com/images/ ... mute2a.pdf

you will also need;

1 - Pressure Mat/Burglar Pad Like the one Mentioned above -
http://www.surveillance-video.com/usp-9 ... elid=NEXTA
1 - XLR Female Jack - From Mic
1 - XLR Male Jack - To PA
1 - Enclosure
1 - Power Jack
1 - 9vdc Power Supply
1 - Mono 1/4" or 1/8" Plug for the Pressure Mat
1 - Mono 1/4" or 1/8" 12a switching Jack - This can be just a standard mono jack. However, with the 12a switching jack wired with the tip to the switch, when a plug is removed the mic will stay on. If you accidentally kick out the plug or if a problem arises with the pad, remove the plug and the mic stays on. Without the 12a jack, remove the plug and the mic will stay off.

ENJOY!

~waldo

[mgbills]

You rock Mr. Wald.

Thanks
M

[MAGGOTBRAIN]

Mike Mute

[Phil Lesh101]

I would like to use them but I have no idea how to do any of that wiring

[aidencroft]

How much does it cost to have it custom made?

-Aiden Better Relaxation