Groove Tubes GT55 (Sterling Audio ST55)

[Benlittlejohn]

Hey guys.

I'm attaching a clip of me singing into a st55.

the signal chain was the st55 into my Sytek and my Gain Brain II.

this is a rough mix. but hopefully it'll give anyone interested an idea on the mic.

also not mastered... so quiet mix. sorry.

-----
vox- st55- sytek- gain brain
dobro -Beyer 930s- sytek
bass- jdi- sytek- gain brain
kick- 664- sytek
snare- beyer m80- sytek- altec 1589b
ovrhds- 930s- sytek
lap steel- sm7- sytek
wurlitzer- di- sytek- gain brain
hammond- st31- sytek
pedal steel- sm7- 1589b

[recordinghopkins]

Originally Posted by edwinhurwitz

$415 for a pair was worth a gamble and it paid off.

I traded a pair of Audix ADX-50's outright for my pair of 55's. Thank you craigslist.

[Salty James]

I also have a pair of GT55's. I think they are great for acoustic vox and OH's

[recordinghopkins]

Originally Posted by Salty James

I also have a pair of GT55's. I think they are great for acoustic vox and OH's

OH's all day long in glenn johns config

[TelosHedge]

kind of an interesting topic on this mic, and i'm sure i'll get flamed for it...

but yesterday we did a shootout with LDC's on a 12 string acoustic. for both bridge side micing and neck side micing, we compared all the LDC mics i had here... U87, kiwi, AT4040, C414-XLS, GT55. everything was run through an avalon, dry out into my FF800.

guess what we picked twice in a double blind test??? we were upset and surprised at the same time.

i will admit, though, when we swapped over to 6 string acoustics, i was less happy with the mic selection than with the 12.

[edwinhurwitz]

Originally Posted by TelosHedge

kind of an interesting topic on this mic, and i'm sure i'll get flamed for it...

but yesterday we did a shootout with LDC's on a 12 string acoustic. for both bridge side micing and neck side micing, we compared all the LDC mics i had here... U87, kiwi, AT4040, C414-XLS, GT55. everything was run through an avalon, dry out into my FF800.

guess what we picked twice in a double blind test??? we were upset and surprised at the same time.

i will admit, though, when we swapped over to 6 string acoustics, i was less happy with the mic selection than with the 12.

I'm not too surprised. I've gotten used to how useful these mics are. If you have the gumption, it would be nice to hear the samples you recorded.

[jkchuma]

ST69 here an it's great for the money. Perfect for some singers but it can get sibilant for some others. Works great on acoustic guitar as well. I'm looking forward to trying it on electric.

[s12512]

have an st55. use it quite a bit on female vocals when im not at the main studio. i get great results with it. ive been asked by plenty of engineers about what i use on vocals because it sounds so good and they are always blown away. just get at least a decent pre and u can have a nice vocal chain using that mic. also had the gt55. same results. got rid of it and missed it. thats y i went back and got a st55. works quite good on females. i use the u87, 414, rode classic, etc all the time and i can get the same caliber results with this mic running thru the rite pre!

[TelosHedge]

i am surprised at the positive response!

later on when i get the studio up and running i'll export the 4040/ST55 blend in between takes. i have no shame or insecurities - in fact i like knowing that i suck!

[brianellefson]

I've owned this mic for a couple of years now. On my last album, I actually used it on one song. Like a lot of people have said, it's got a real bump on the high end of things - so the source has to be just right for it to be a good match. The song I used it for had very quiet and calm vocals so that high-end worked well with em. I may try it as a room mic on a guitar cabinet, but that's about it.

Overall ... good mic - for certain applications.

[KennaOkoye]

Stonerroses I def. Agree. I have this mic and I hate it because of that. It has this annoying brittle thin sound to it. It sounds cheap.

[recordinghopkins]

It is cheap.

You get what you pay for. Mod that sucka and remove the resonator disk to flatten the bump a bit.

[KennaOkoye]

Mod???? I know nothing about moding mics... At the time I thought 400plus tax at GC was expensive

[recordinghopkins]

Use it for snare top then, peeking just over the rim. Or push it in a little closer for a suicide attempt and an excuse to buy some 414's.

[turtlejon]

I really liked my 55 up until it died...
It sounded a lot like my 4033s
Someday I'll have it fixed...

[syntax]

I like it on drums, electric guitar (try it off axis) and some voices. The one thing that never worked for me was acoustic guitar. No matter the guitar it always has a "plastic" sounding high mid attack.

[recordinghopkins]

I've got a dead GT55 too. It's been in pieces on my workbench for about a year. I just never sounded good enough to spend the time to fix.

[KennaOkoye]

Heyyy guys excuse my previous reply. I don't own an ST55, I own the ST66 :( sorry... I forgot which one I owned.

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Gearslutz App

[JLiRD808]

Lol Ive had one of these layin around for a few months now. About to give it a 2nd try. Trying to get it modded too.

My first impressions were not too impressive. Yet I'm thinking about playing with mic placement and room control a little more strictly now that Ive gotten better at it.

Its funny hearing some people saying they love it on acoustic steel/nylon strings...while others hate it. I'm sick of entry level LDC's and their "plastic" vibe as someone posted here....

I'm gonna try tomorrow and post some results/thoughts. Going thru a GAP Pre73.