User manual

Common uses for the LiveGuitar H-clamp

The H-clamp’s design is based on circular clamps used by stringed instru-

ment makers to hold the edges of the sound box together very tightly

while the glue that ﬁxes them together sets. The circular clamp jaws mean

that it can be ﬁtted very quickly and easily to any location around the

body of the guitar. As long as the precautions described in this manual for

tapered or domed sound boxes are followed, it should be difﬁcult to cause

any structural damage to the edge of the guitar body by over-tightening

as this is its strongest point. It is also unlikely that it would prove neces-

sary at any stage to tighten the H-clamp any more than the guitar maker

would have tightened the cramps used in its manufacture. The only real

constraint on using the H-clamp is whether or not it gets in the way when

the instrument is being played. The three positions described earlier should

normally be the best for avoiding any interference with the action of play-

ing the guitar but the beauty of the LiveGuitar H-clamp is that there are

no hard and fast rules. Any position that suits your playing style, your

microphone(s) and the tone your are seeking is the right position. For

recording in particular, multiple H-clamps can be attached in various posi-

tions. The only real limit is how many can be attached before the guitar

becomes too unwieldy to play. The number depends primarily on the type

of microphone used, larger, more bulky microphones being the more limit-

ing. Nevertheless, in most instances it should be possible to attach at least

three before the microphones become too obtrusive.

In the same way that there are many different options for attaching the

H-clamp to guitars, the range of uses is almost limitless. Some of the more

common ones are outlined here and more information is available at

exploraudio.com

A) On stage

1. Single microphone (typically a pencil style

instrument microphone but small lavalier or pro

fessional vocal microphones may also give good

results) positioned to capture the best possible

acoustic tone. Ideal for any pure acoustic per-

formance - classical, folk, rock/pop or jazz.

2. Single vocal microphone positioned to cap

ture either vocals only or both guitar and vocals.

Particularly useful for the solo performer. One

microphone and an ampliﬁer may be all that’s

needed.