Review of a Gravity MS U CLMP sprung mike clamp

I usually stay clear of spring‑loaded mike clamps, because they tend to be noisy things.  Any bumps or shakes, and the springs resonate with high frequency ping that the mike picks up.  And they have thin plastic parts that don't survive much abuse.  However, after having mikes fall out of their holders at an open‑mike gig I frequent because they don't fit their mikes properly, and they often have to be placed where they're pointing down, I decided to see if I could find some decent ones.  After a bit of a trek around Adelaide, I found these in Derringers.

They're made of thicker plastic than the usual spring clamps I've dealt with over the decades, the spring is a lot quieter, there's foam grip inside the clamp to better grip the mike body, and they have a knob to tighten the pivot point (so no screwdrivers are needed).

They have grooves in a few spots where coloured O‑rings can be fitted as some kind of colour‑coding scheme, though I replaced their green ones with black so they don't stand out so obviously.  Anyway, it's usually the mike or the cable that you want to be able to quickly identify at a distance, not the clamp.  The O‑rings may help you grab the clamp with your fingers when you're screwing them on tight to a mike stand.

I've yet to find out how well they survive handling abuse, only time will tell.  One thing I don't like is the squishy rubber on the knob used to tighten the pivot.  I have contact allergies with some rubbers, and so do lots of other people.  Also some rubbers chemically degrade after a few years.

I'm currently using these with my Nakamichi CM300 mikes which are cylindrical mikes, though they also hold conical‑shaped mikes fine, too.