good all purpose mic?

I am setting up my home recording studio, I have a couple of old mics - an old AKG 1000 and a Marshall Industries MXL 604 condensor. Will these work to record both acoustic and electric guitar? If not what is a good all purpose mic in the 300.00 range?

yep both will work though you may want a pre-amp and a source of phantom power.

A mixer is potential cheap solution.

For shear versatility, price to value and bullet proof construction, you really can't go wrong with a Shure SM57. Street price ~$75. No mic collection should be without at least one of these IMO

I second the Shure SM-57. But at the same time, a good mic pre-amp makes a world of difference also....

If I were you, I'd invest in a 57 and a preamp....

Can't go wrong with an SM57 but if you plan on doing a lot of vocals an SM58 will do for recording guitar at home too (SM57 is a more of sn instrument mike). Believe it or not but Michael Jackson recorded the Thriller album singing through an SM58... not that that is a great plug anyway!

Ok here is my 2c. Im not saying anyone is wrong but this is what I'd do.

SM57s and SM58 are great mics, they are very robust and can taker a real punishing. This is why they are used live all the time. However they are used less frequently than large diaphragm condensers (LDCs) in well equipped studios for vocals.

For recording you would only usually SM57s for micking under conditions of very high sound pressure level (like a drum or close micking a cranked map). I have 4 that I use this way.

Normally, the LDCs will give you much nicer vocal recording than SM57s or SM58s for several reasons:

1) it is much ore sensitive which means you don't have to crank the preamp (boosting self noise) to get a reasonable signal level.

2) The frequency response is going to give you a nicer sound however this is dependent on the type of voice you are recording.

I have used SM57s to track my own vocals from time to time however I have a strange voice and it, in this instance sounded better through the 57 than with the other mics I had.

For this reason, Id go with a mixer and get to know the kit you have.


That said, you generally can t go wrong getting an SM57 or an SM58 as you can always find some use for them. Even if it is just knocking out a drummer who wont be quiet !

I agree Dr Simon.

LD are definetly the way to go for vocals. I'm currently making my own LD tube mic. I still have to source some parts, but It's gonna be nice when finished.

But again for a single cheap mic............shure SM57 every time.

Just my own opinion but I can't say enough good things about the Rode NT-1.
Excellent vocal mic, and it came with an isolation contraption and case for only $100 off eBay. Also makes a great acoustic mic, but you have to be careful with placement or you pick up your breathing and arm movements.

NT-1s are great !

I have 2 Rode NT-2s and I just love em !

One of my favorite mics in the budget range is the Rode NT-1A. New they are around $300, but you could get one on ebay for maybe $100 -$150.

I used one on the nylon stringed guitar on the last album I did, worked wonderfully !

Sounds really nice on dirty dirty Marshalled out PRS as well !