Here are some great bottom feeder mics I've found:

Behringer ECM8000 1/4" measurement mic - $34
(Great small omni condenser mic for drum overheads, percussion, and acoustic guitar.)

Marshall MXL-603S 1/2" cardioid condenser - $80
(Good for acoustic guitar, overheads, some vocals, flute, strings.)

Marshall MXL-V67 1" Cardioid Condenser mic - $89
(Great vocal mic.)

Audio Technica ATM-25 1" Hypercardioid Dynamic - $149
(Great for kick, floor toms, guitar cabs, low percussion, sax, and bass cabs.)

Sennheiser 421 Cardioid dynamic - $250 (used)
(Great for kick, floor toms, guitar cabs, low percussion, sax, bass cabs, and some vocals.)

Shure SM-7 Cardioid Dynamic - $300 (used)
(Great for sax, and vocals.)

Oktava MC012 1/2" w/3 capsules - $300 (Oktava.com)
(General purpose 3 pattern condenser mics.)

Lomo 33mm head for MC012 - $200
(Excellent vocal mic.)

Beyer M201 Dynamic Hypercardioid - $200 (used)
(Great for snare, and assorted stuff).

Harvey

Where can one get a V67 for $89? That's a pretty darn good deal.

Thanks Harvey,

I'll have to check some of these out...

The LOMO head sounds intrigueing...

Thanks again...
geo

Nate,

I think that $89 may be the price for a refurbished V67 from Mars Music.

Thanks Bear,

I have been tempted by the RE 15s, very little off-axis coloration ... would probably yield better and more detailed results than the 58s I currently use. They are somewhat hard to find though...

Bleed on the large diaphragm condensors probably won't be a problem because all electric guitars/bass are either recorded direct or amped in another room and the drums are behind baffles. We use headphones to monitor...

Sometimes the scratches are keepers, other times not so a few overdubs do occur

The little Behringers are also an interesting item. I currently use Radio Shack (!) 33-1052 omni lavalier condenser mic inside a Martin D28 to record. Though its a little noisy it sounds very true. How quiet/flat is the Behringer? The shack mics are rather cheap and flimsy (duh) and thus I have had to repair them more than once after some — shall we say — rather enthusiastic takes. Maybe the Behringer could be an eventual replacement option.

Thanks again for the input Bear,
geo

"... but you can mop up dust."

Try the Oktava 319's. I recently recorded a band with the Oktava 319's in a 3mic setup on the kit. To hear what they sound like, go to:

http://www3.telus.net/Home/MP3/

And listen to the song Randene. 95% of the drumsound is the Oktava's

Mark

Oh yeah,

The shure sm98's or beta 98's sound wicked on toms etc.

Hi guys

I absolutely like the M88 and 201, but the Beyer M69 is a pretty good microphone too, and what about the Sennheiser 441, a really great mic, hyper cardioid with a nice off axis response. Also a great mic for horns.

Sometimes you just need the compression of a dynamic and Sennheisers are great mics

But, be always very careful when buying a used mic. I bought two D12's and after a while I found out they didn't sound alike, one had much more low than the other.

So I went to the AKG specialist and he found out there was a dent in the capsule and it needed a new capsule, not a cheap one :)