User manual

Weight restrictions

All LiveStrings H-clamps are designed to hold microphone & clip / shock-

mount combinations weighing up to 0.5Kg. Up to at least this weight, the

H-clamp boom can be used with care in any position. Beyond this, the

boom should be used in the ‘captive boom’ position that causes it to lock

in the top disk’s boom slot under the weight of the microphone attached to

it. Once locked in this position, the microphone should be secure as long

as the clamp is sufﬁciently tight to prevent it becoming dislodged and the

instrument is not laid down in an orientation that causes the boom to be

pulled out of its ‘locked’ position in the top disk’s boom slot by the weight

of the microphone. With the normal attachment points and orientations on

the instrument this would occur most commonly when the instrument is

laid on its back.

To put the ﬁgure of 0.5Kg into context, there are few, if any, common

place professional vocal microphones that weigh more than around 0.4Kg

and microphone clips typically add less than 0.04Kg (Exploraudio’s multi-

purpose shockmount weighs less than 0.065Kg). Hence, very few vocal

microphone & clip / mount combinations should exceed 0.5Kg. However,

large capsule studio microphones combined with elaborate shockmounts

may weigh up to double this (or more). For these microphones, the ‘cap-

tive boom’ position (described on page 22) is the only secure means of

attaching them to the H-clamp. Although the ‘captive boom’ feature of the

H-clamp is designed speciﬁcally for this purpose, it must be remembered

that it relies on gravity to lock the boom in position. If the instrument is

orientated so the weight of the microphone is not pulling the boom into

the ‘captive’ position, it will not be secure. Also, it is particularly important

when using heavy microphones to ensure that the H-clamp’s grip on the

instrument is secure.

Even with microphone & clip / shockmount combinations weighing around

0.5Kg or less, the instrument should not be dropped suddenly or carelessly

on it’s back if the weight of the microphone could pull it down towards the

instrument.

Summary:

Microphone & clip / mount combinations under approx 0.5Kg

- use H-clamp boom in any position

Microphone & clip / mount combinations over approx 0.5Kg

- use H-clamp boom in ‘captive boom’ position only