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SoundSpot – Hot --Congas

SoundSpots are ultra-sensitive transducer pickups suitable for stringed and non-stringed acoustic and ethnic instruments. Unlike other “dot-type” transducer pickups, each SoundSpot™ is hand ground to extremely fine tolerances. This process, along with the selection of mate-rials, renders a pickup with a very thin surface that also maintains its strength and flexibility. The result is a transducer that is ultra-sensitive to an instrument’s surface vibrations and, therefore, is extremely natural and warm sounding.

Position near the edge of the head. Find a location on the conga’s head that won’t be hit during most playing, and affix the pickup with its metal side against the head. Finding the best location will take a bit of experimentation, so don’t attach the pickup permanently until you’ve found the best spot for your needs.

For testing, hold the pickup down with a 1"-wide piece of adhesive tape; stick it over the black side of the HOT SoundSpot and press the tape firmly around it. Once you’ve found the opti-mum location, remove the adhesive tape and affix the pickup to the head using double-sid-ed adhesive tape. If you plan to attach the HOT SoundSpot to a drum that has a natural skin head covered with fur, smooth the area with fine sandpaper before applying the double-stick tape. This ensures better adhesion.

Because you’ll most likely amplify your congas through a P.A. system or vocal amplifier, you’ll have to adjust the EQ to suit the instrument. Try increasing the bass while decreasing the treble. It may also be necessary to decrease the midrange in the 1kHz range. For P.A. and recording applications, a high-quality direct box such as the Solstice or Equinox is suggested.Here are some important points to remember:

When playing two congas, you can split the sound into two channels for stereo.When recording, you can employ two HOT SoundSpot pickups and a microphone for an extra-big sound. Plug the HOT SoundSpot on the left conga into channel 1, the right conga’s HOT SoundSpot into channel 2, and send the overhead microphone to channel Various mixing levels and EQ will create different effects.HOT SoundSpot pickups can be used as trigger pickups when plugged into drum machines or controllers that accept pickups. Even in small clubs or rehearsal rooms, using a HOT SoundSpot pickup through an amplifier expands the sound and makes it easier for you to play without compensating for loud guitars, drums, etc. Using HOT Soundspot pickups instead of microphones allows you to run your onstage monitors louder without feedback