Gear review - Audio-Technica PRO 70 lavalier microphone

I have written before about amplifying our Selmer/Maccaferri type gypsy jazz guitars and explained our hybrid system - a Bigtone piezo pickup in the bridge blended with an external microphone using the input panel of an AER amplifier. Originally we used full size condenser microphones on mini-boom microphone stands. This worked very well but has a few disadvantages - you have to stay fairly still to maintain the same position in relation to the microphone stand, the microphone stand takes up space on cramped stages, it creates a visual barrier between the band and the audience, microphones stands are heavy and bulky to carry around and with the amplifiers behind us feedback was often a problem. So in our quest for the smallest and lightest amplication setup we have looked at small microphones that could be attached to our guitars. We have noticed that on Bireli Lagrene’s Live Jazz A Vienne DVD that most of the guitars are amplified using a small microphone taped just below the soundhole. We haven’t been able to find out the exact model they used but have looked around for similar microphones. The one that we have found and now use all the time is the Audio-Technica PRO 70 lavalier microphone.

The PRO 70 is cardoid condenser microphone that comes with a small metal box (with a belt clip) which contains a single AA battery as power supply (though phantom power can also be used) and interfaces it to an XLR microphone cable. It is supplied with a lapel clip and the instrument clip shown on the right of the photograph which is designed to fit it to acoustic guitars.

We have experimented with using the clip to mount the microphone on the outside (left) and inside (right) of the guitar. The first thing to notice it that the clip is quite bulky and will only fit a D hole gypsy guitar, it touches the strings if you try to fit it to an oval hole (though you could discard the clip and use tape to mount it on an oval hole). Although it looks bulky when mounted on the outside it doesn’t get in the way because we are always picking nearer to the bridge than the fretboard. However it seems to work better when mounted inside because you get much less feedback and the sound stays the same.

How does it sound? It gives a good clear sound with plenty of middle. It isn’t ideal as a single source of amplification because it is difficult to get the top end punch that you need for gypsy jazz and it is difficult to get it up to sufficient volume at gigs in large or noisy rooms without feedback. However when combined with the Bigtone piezo pickup it is ideal - the Bigtone provides the punch and high end whilst the microphone fills out the middle and gives the sound some ‘air’. The Bigtone reproduced the percussive plectrum upstrokes when playing rhythm so there doesn’t appear to be any need for an external microphone around the soundhole.

We give this microphone a big thumbs up when combined with the Bigtone pickup - and everything fits into our guitar cases and the gig bags which the AER amplifiers are supplied in, no more big heavy bags filled with microphone stands (we have even taken to using a wireless microphone for announcements to avoid any stands).