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Thread: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

  1. #1
    Registered User dwc's Avatar
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    Default Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    I recently bought a DPA 4099 clip-on mic for amplifying my mandolin. I haven't found a good way to mount it. The clip is not tight enough to just clip onto my pick guard and the adjustable mounting bracket is not terribly secure. The weight of the mic cable adapter tends to pull the mounting bracket loose. Anyone have a good way to mount the mic to the mandolin? Thanks.
    Northfield Artist Series F5 (2 bar, Adirondack)

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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    I'm not gigging much now, but I used the DPA 4099 on my mandolin for several years with no problems. A few tips that might help:

    If you mount it the way I do (see image below), that area where the clamp touches the rim is a very solidly built part of the instrument. It's not delicate. It sounds like you may not have the clamp fixed at a tight enough setting. You should have to pinch the two little wings underneath the clamp fairly hard in your fingers, to get it on and off the mandolin.

    It isn't shown in that image, but I usually have a small loop of Velcro through the bottom of the tailpiece. I run the cable through that and cinch the Velcro tight, so it acts as a strain relief. If I accidentally step on the cable (try to avoid that!), the pull is on the tailpiece and not directly on the mic clamp.

    Of course the ultimate solution for dealing with the cable is to coil it and run it with an adapter plug into a body pack wireless transmitter. That's how I ended up using it most of the time.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Registered User sblock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    The standard DPA4099 mounting bracket, which attaches like a carpenter jack to the side of the instrument (usually at a place midway between the F5 bottom point and tailpiece) should be perfectly adequate. However, you need to strain-relieve the mic-cable adapter cord, which you don't seem to be doing! You can, for example, run the thin adapter cable through the strap/end pin attachment point, so that any stress applied to this cable at the far end is borne by the end pin/tailpiece, and not by the DPA mounting bracket. You can do this many ways, e.g., with a twist tie, or a cable tie, or simply by pass-through between the mandolin strap and end pin. Also, be sure to tighten the mounting bracket properly.

    That will solve your problem.

    P.S. John Reischman runs his DPA4099 output wire directly to a wireless transmitter that he has mounted on the back of his ToneGard. This leaves him free of any cables to amps/pre-amps, and there are no stresses tugging on the DPA4099 mounting bracket. This is another good solution to consider.

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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by sblock View Post
    P.S. John Reischman runs his DPA4099 output wire directly to a wireless transmitter that he has mounted on the back of his ToneGard. This leaves him free of any cables to amps/pre-amps, and there are no stresses tugging on the DPA4099 mounting bracket. This is another good solution to consider.
    Right, that's something I briefly tried, but it wasn't a great solution with the older analog transmitter I was using, a bit bulky with a long-ish antenna. Some of the new digital transmitters are smaller with little nubby antennas that would work better.

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    Registered User dwc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    Thank you. As you correctly surmised, I was asking a slightly different question than I thought was. I used a twist tie attached to my arm rest (I take off the tone guard when I clip on the mic) to hold the mic adapter, and that pretty much solved my initial problem. However, I have a question about the "feet" of the mic mounting bracket. Do they face down, in the shape of a lower case "n", sort of like legs of a table, or do they bend up to fully contact the instrument? Thank you again.
    Northfield Artist Series F5 (2 bar, Adirondack)

  8. #6

    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    I made a bracket for a customer that allows you to mount it and demount it. It's kind of like an armrest with a hole in it, then a bracket which allows you to screw on the mic when in use. I don't think I took a picture of it completed, but the part looks like this. I'm not sure exactly why he had me make this instead of the usual bracket - it may have been a Pro 35 that didn't come with the same kind of mounting hardware.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by dwc View Post
    However, I have a question about the "feet" of the mic mounting bracket. Do they face down, in the shape of a lower case "n", sort of like legs of a table, or do they bend up to fully contact the instrument? Thank you again.
    If it helps, here is a photo of how the mic clamp looks from the bottom side of my mandolin. Note that the two little "feet" fit nicely in a narrow gap of the Tonegard, so I don't have to remove the Tonegard to attach the mic.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Registered User almeriastrings's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    A few other examples...

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    Definitely loop the cable to avoid pulling on the mount.
    Gibson F5 'Harvey' Fern, Gibson F5 'Derrington' Fern
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  13. #9
    Mandolin Player trodgers's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    I've always been impressed with our beloved site-owner's custom tailpiece mic mount. Easy on/off and isolated from the instrument body. I wish someone would start making these!

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/akg.html

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    “Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free.” -- Aldo Leopold

  14. #10
    Registered User dwc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    Thank you all for your help. I think I now have good ideas for mounting the mic.
    Northfield Artist Series F5 (2 bar, Adirondack)

  15. #11

    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    Reviving this thread in hopes someone can post a picture of what’s described above in terms of how you use velcro, twist tie, or cable tie to take pressure off mic-cable adapter cord as my DPA mount keeps slipping and the mic keeps falling toward ground instead of staying mounted. Thanks!

  16. #12
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    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    Bit late to the party here but I suspect that much of the problem lies in the profile of the top/back in relation to the sides. A couple of decades ago, I had a problem keeping a carpenter jack on the edge of one of my mandolins and concluded that the top/back met the sides at a slightly convex angle whereas on every mandolin I’ve bought since the angle has been concave.

    As to bmfsfan615’s question, guitarists tend to wind the cord around their strap so that the first pull is not on the socket. If this doesn’t work, the mic assembly is probably too heavy for that particular mandolin. With the carpenter jack, I had some success with double sided tape but the contact points on the DPA mount are probably too small for this to be effective.

  17. #13

    Default Re: Mounting a DPA 4099 on a mandolin

    i've used the dpa mount with the A.T. 350 NEVER HAD A PROBLEM....GREAT SET-UP

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