I'm a long way from a pro, but from my first experience with the Lawson mic, I can say it sounds sweet. I just did some of my own vocals last night through it and wow, it sounds very big to me. Keep in mind, my best mic up to now has been a Rode NTk, which doesn't sound bad imo, but the Lmp 47 is definately in another league. ...can't wait to see how it does on acoustic and electric guitz.

cheers,
Steve

Steve... give me sounds of your guitar direct rig!!

Congrats on the Lawson.

I know this is probably a very simple thing for many, but I have never done any mp3 doohickey. I went from a Roland VS1880 to Pro Tools Hd and am at the bottom of my learning curve. It will be a while until I can throw ya some goodies like that. I've been trying to get some stuff ready for a drummer friend to put some drums to and haven't done anything yet with that guitar sound other than just a quick track of a couple riffs to see how it sounded after the a/d/a.
Once I get all this crossfade, healing and shuffle mode crap figured out, maybe I can send ya something to show ya the sound I got.

sorry,
Steve

The lawson is a great mic. I use 10:30 on the variable pattern for vocals and creep in to 5" with a pop filter.

Enjoy,
Dyno

Loving mine. The variable pattern control gives just the right amount of play to be useful. And how about that blue light! The only problem with the mic is that we never use it in cardioid-only mode because nobody wants to lose the light.

A friend of mine used it on a classical soprano and got results that compared extremely favorably with his very sweet sounding long body U-47.

-R

RKrizman:

I absolutely love my lawson L47mp too, but what's this about a blue light???

Mine is about 8 years old, if I recall, and the only light is a red one on the power supply. I LOVE blue lights! (Like the one on the API 3124+). Some folks jones for analog VU meters - me, I'm a blue light kind of guy...

Waaaah! I want a blue light on my Lawson too!!!

You will also need a Joe Meek compressor then.

You'll need an Avalon 2044 compressor too. The little blue LED's come on when gain reduction happens.
I too hate to use the cardiod position on the Lawson because you loose the light. For some reason the coolness of that little blue glow gives something to focus on, adding to the recording experience. Sometimes I will turn off the lights. Clients love it.

Dyno

Damn! You mean the blue light is in the mic itself, not on the power supply???

Oh, oh, oh! I want one on mine! I'm gonna have to call Gene and see what he can do. Right now my best blue light is the one on my API 3124+. Tiny, but really gorgeous color... The one on my Meek SC2.2 isn't bad either. The Vintech and Tube Tech ones are a little too greenish or purplish though.

And a Great River ME-1NV. (which you'll want anyway for your Lawson)

-R

I'm not even going to mention the Kathy Lee Gifford slacks you can get for a screamin deal at a Kmart blue light special.

The "Nuke" mode on the Distressor is a cool blue, tho still not as cool as the API's.

I'll bet Gene will retrofit your mic for a nominal fee....

So where on the mic is this light anyway?

I'm sure the GReat River is lovely on the Lawson. I'm finding that for a lot of vocals I'm using the Tube Tech MP-1A with my L47. Anyone else have a favorite Lawson-pre combination?

Funny thing is, I get so spoiled with the Lawson that i just put it up all the time and sometimes forget about my other mics. But part way into a session the other day, i realized i just wasn't getting what i wanted from the male vocalist I was recording. So I set up an EV RE-27, and it turned out that was just the ticket. I gotta remember - the Lawson won't work on EVERYTHING! (But it comes damn close.)

The Pendulum stuff has a little blue "On" light I find most pleasing.

Huh, blue light? No blue light on my L47MP, what does it do????

Mark

I'm in the same boat, mark. That's what I'm trying to find out!

Hey Guys,
Another satisfied Lawson L47MP user here. I spoke to Gene Lawson a few months back and, if memory serves me correctly, he made two changes to the mic during the last year. I believe he is now running the tube in pentode mode rather than triode, the benefit being 3 db hotter output level (in cardiod) over the other patterns. The blue light indicates whether or not the cardiod pattern is selected.

Additionally, Gene mentioned he is now using a different output transformer, no longer using a Jensen.

I would be most interested if anyone has actually A-B'd the new L47 with a "vintage" one.

I don't know much about electronics, but don't mods that higher output lower sweetness(i know that's very unmathematic but it's been my experience)? also, what are the benefits to -NOT- using a Jensen transformer? And believe me, I really don't know anything so please enlighten me. I just hope this isn't yet another product that I couldn't get to before the manufacturer decided to lower its quality.

There's a little blue LED inside the windscreen of the mic itself that indicates whether you are in multipattern mode or not. Makes a nice target for singing into when all the lights are off.

-R

Shootout time vs. Soundelux E47, or anything else in the $2,000 to $3,500 range for a U47 type mic.

Bottomline a U47 for under $2k is a good thing.

I don't think it's under $2k, unless you are talking used...

I think that the newer L251 has a feature which allows for selection of a "cardioid only" mode. My L47MP does not, nor does it have a blue light. Perhaps we are speaking of two different mics?

I love mine too. Can't beat a nice blue light...and it sounds good too. For a good sound and light show, mine goes straight into the SLAM!.
Blue lights, red lights, green and orange led's, VU's...who cares what it sounds like, it looks great!!
cheers,
chap

The newer L47MP has that feature also.

So Chap, what do you use yours for?

-R

Vocals, room mic for guitar amps, some acoustic guitar (although I
like small d. condensors here) and more vocals...

Really wonderful on saxophones and other woodwinds too. I've used mine from time to time on acoustic bass as well.

If it's lead vocals, I'll throw 4 mics up (Gold Ref, Lawson, C12 and maybe an M149) and fool around with the combinations.
When it comes time for backgrounds or harmonies, I'll try and use a mic that the lead vocalist didn't use.
The Lawson sneaks in all over the place. I favor ribbons for electric and small diaphrams for acoustic but the Lawson makes a great ambient mic
and sounds great on vocals, dobro and Tube Wurly, Rhodes stuff. It's a great mic. Howsa bout you?
chap