JackLondon Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Hi Chaps, I'm in need of advice again and this time it's on microphones. Bascially I've got the Boss BR900CD and today I've got a brand new SM58 in a trade. Will this be good for micing up guitar and bass cabs and quite possibly acoustic/classical guitars or would you recommend something else? Ideally I don't want to spend more than £50-70 second hand but I'm just wondering what is out there. The mic does not have to be high quality, just enough for home recording to see what's what! Any advice appreciated! Cheers Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Savage Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 [quote name='JackLondon' post='845365' date='May 22 2010, 09:31 PM']Hi Chaps, I'm in need of advice again and this time it's on microphones. Bascially I've got the Boss BR900CD and today I've got a brand new SM58 in a trade. Will this be good for micing up guitar and bass cabs and quite possibly acoustic/classical guitars or would you recommend something else? Ideally I don't want to spend more than £50-70 second hand but I'm just wondering what is out there. The mic does not have to be high quality, just enough for home recording to see what's what! Any advice appreciated! Cheers Jack[/quote] Guitar amps absolutely fine, it's pretty much the standard (all but identical sound-wise to the industry-standard SM57); for acoustic guitars and bass amps you might want to combine it with a large-diaphagm condenser mic for a more 'full' sound (SM58s are standard for vocals and guitar amps because they're more focused in the mid-range, condensers will get more of the high and low end). You might get a secondhand Rode NT1 for that kind of money, great mics in my experience; there's also Red 5 at the budget end which get some very good reviews from those 'in the know'. I also had a Behringer B1, which did me fine for a while (dirt-cheap, especially secondhand) but I was staggered by the improvement when I switched to a Rode - it's worth spending a bit more IME, even for home recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShergoldSnickers Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 [quote name='JackLondon' post='845365' date='May 22 2010, 09:31 PM']Hi Chaps, I'm in need of advice again and this time it's on microphones. Bascially I've got the Boss BR900CD and today I've got a brand new SM58 in a trade. Will this be good for micing up guitar and bass cabs and quite possibly acoustic/classical guitars or would you recommend something else? Ideally I don't want to spend more than £50-70 second hand but I'm just wondering what is out there. The mic does not have to be high quality, just enough for home recording to see what's what! Any advice appreciated! Cheers Jack[/quote] The SM58 is a specialist mic really. It can suit some instances perfectly, but is far from being a general purpose mic. However, for live vocals - fine. Some recorded vocals - fine. A guitar cab - fine. Anything delicate or with any real bass output - you are far better off with a good condenser. If I were restricted to just one at a reasonable price, I'd go for a CAD m179. Variable polar patterns from omni to hyper cardioid to figure of eight, a transparent sound and built like a tank. You might just pick one up second hand with your budget, but there's always the less expensive CAD m177 - similar to the m179 but without the polar pattern switching. Reviews: [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct01/articles/cadmics.asp"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct01/articles/cadmics.asp[/url] Others? As Ian says quite correctly, the Rode range is very solid. So, yes, the NT1 would be a great choice, or the newer NT1-A, as would the NT3. You'll have to hunt these down second-hand though, as new they are over budget. Worth it though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Thats a really low budget for mics. If you can source one keep an eye out for a Heil PR20 or PR22 second hand. Fantastic dynamic mic with a very extended top end (up around where a lot of condensors go), they are applicable to a very wide variety of sources for home recording standard stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimskidog Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 [quote name='51m0n' post='845420' date='May 22 2010, 11:50 PM']Thats a really low budget for mics.[/quote] +1. that's a really low budget. While dynamic mics tend to be much better for the money they really need a decent preamp to drive them as they tend to need much more gain to bring them to life. If you have an SM58 already I'd probably try and add a decent preamp. The Rane MS1b is the only half decent one at your budget level. If not and you are thinking of the LDC option the NT1a, as mentioned above, is probably the best of the budget bunch of LDCs. The ADK A51 is also a great buy if you can find one. If you dont plan to use if for vocals and SDC may be a better bet though. The little Rode NT5 is a bargain buy and probably better on guitars that the LDCs mentioned. You might be able to pick up a used one about about that level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShergoldSnickers Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 [quote name='Rimskidog' post='846030' date='May 23 2010, 09:16 PM']+1. that's a really low budget. While dynamic mics tend to be much better for the money they really need a decent preamp to drive them as they tend to need much more gain to bring them to life. If you have an SM58 already I'd probably try and add a decent preamp. The Rane MS1b is the only half decent one at your budget level. If not and you are thinking of the LDC option the NT1a, as mentioned above, is probably the best of the budget bunch of LDCs. The ADK A51 is also a great buy if you can find one. If you dont plan to use if for vocals and SDC may be a better bet though. The little Rode NT5 is a bargain buy and probably better on guitars that the LDCs mentioned. You might be able to pick up a used one about about that level.[/quote] Good point about the NT5. It's also more manageable in and around acoustic instruments, being relatively small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaphappygarry Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 [quote]The mic does not have to be high quality, just enough for home recording to see what's what![/quote] Then, get a used SM57 (you will see them more than any other mic ever I would suspect) and one of these: [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/behringer-c-1/67828"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/behringer-c-1/67828[/url] Its crap in the grand scheme of thing but will give you a solid idea of where the differences are between the dynamic (57) and condenser mics. I would also advise that time invested in faffing with mic position will be a better investment than rolling lots of money into better mics early on. You will learn more from listening to where the mics are than what they are. The above will also give you a couple different sounds. Good luck, its a load of fun. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algmusic Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 [quote name='slaphappygarry' post='846122' date='May 23 2010, 10:43 PM']Then, get a used SM57 (you will see them more than any other mic ever I would suspect) and one of these: [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/behringer-c-1/67828"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/behringer-c-1/67828[/url] Its crap in the grand scheme of thing but will give you a solid idea of where the differences are between the dynamic (57) and condenser mics. I would also advise that time invested in faffing with mic position will be a better investment than rolling lots of money into better mics early on. You will learn more from listening to where the mics are than what they are. The above will also give you a couple different sounds. Good luck, its a load of fun. G[/quote] If you're not happy with you're live rig.. I'd just get a sansamp bass driver second hand and record though that.. you get a great sound as you can blend in tube or solild state sound it'll improve your live rig.. when I'm really lazy.. I just plug that into the pa and use a monitor and the sound in amazing. I just use that to record most of the time even on a pro recording.. it's very handy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Savage Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 [quote name='slaphappygarry' post='846122' date='May 23 2010, 10:43 PM']Then, get a used SM57...[/quote] Mmmm....my two problems with that would be a/ he's already got an SM58, which to all intents and purposes is the same mic, and b/ there's NO point in buying secondhand Shures these days, especially via eBay, as there's too many rubbish Chinese fakes out there. I was stung on a secondhand SM57, which looked legit but on taking it apart (and I'm SO glad I did before I gigged with it) there was a big lump of resin where the transformer should have been and the thing was operating totally unbalanced. Hence, if I'd plugged it into a mixer which had phantom power applied (which I do at least 50% of the time live), it would have fried the phantom circuit on the desk. I'll say again, for the sake of it - DON'T but secondhand Shures unless you absolutely trust the seller! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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