sm57 and an sm58.
You'll sound like everyone else.

How many do i need, etc?

I have no idea how to answer that even if I was smart enough to attempt it :)

Is this the same question you double posted in another forum?

The answer is one.

This will be about all you can handle for a while. Until you get better at picking and singing, then maybe you can get two. But don't rush into it.

One mic will work wonders in a one room setting with one source.
Unless you add another source. So I wouldn't add the other source until I get real cozy with my one voice source.

But the 57s' and 58s are recommend here often by the real engineers. They don't have trains or anything, well, they may have anything but not a train. Heck some of them may have trains.

Have you ever heard the group Train?

I think they use one mic.

Jack, my friends here, Space & Greener are recommending to you, probably the most popular sounding microphones in history. Are there better ones? Sure. But all of your favorite rock-and-rollers all use the SM58 & 57's. So, when told you'll sound like everyone else, that's a real good thing. You really don't want to sound better than Steven Tyler, Bono or Michael Jackson do you? I mean, if you did? Their record companies would be very unhappy with you. LOL! That is to say, you can find inexpensive Chinese condenser microphones that may appear to sound initially better. Well, in the end, it won't be as flattering sounding as a 58 on vocals. There are certainly good applications for those kinds of microphones.

But the 57 & 58 in a head-on comparison to the famed Neumann U87 at $2500 US makes for a formidable device at only $100 US. The only better bang for the buck might be a Sham Wow? You'll say wow every time you use that towel or the 58. It's like a sponge, a towel, a chamois, a high quality sound capture device. A Chinese microphone will last a week. A 57/58 will last forever (10 years for the chamois). It sells its self. That 58/57 is for the car. The boat. The RV. The bathroom. It's not made in Germany even though the Germans make good stuff. Beware of Sham Wow & 58/57 imitators. I mean, if you want clean vocals? You'd be crazy not to own one. All we can say about expensive microphones is that they are a, Sham. Wow!

Buy them by the bag
Ms. Remy Ann David

it is not a stretch of the imagination to thiink that Remy will be buried with a 57 in her casket.

if you decideyou make the inevitable jump to condensor mics samson mxl is cheap and in my opinion a good buy for a starter condensor at a hundred and something bucks. my guitar playting friend makes excellent recordings of vox and AG with his.

i have one and the only reason i dont use it more often is because i am a snob. even though no one ever comes in my studio. ever.

Yeah, I have to agree that a sm58 is the mic. Why? Because it's easy to use, sounds good on just about anything, and if you can't get a good sound using it, then the only reason you can get a good sound with any other mic is pure luck.

LOL. Why is Greener a banned troll?

Give the Samson CO1 a try. It's cheaper than the sm57 & 58, and is a real gem. just a thought.

Here's my 2 cents. Would you consider renting? I'd suggest a pair of DPAs if you can - I think I used a pair of 4011s (? - actually it was when it was still B&K). They're suitable for close micing on the guitar with nice detail and lots of headroom for pops, so they don't become splats.

I use Oktava Russian mics that have been modified. The mods are not expensive.

They compare favorably to more expensive Neuman's. I have a 319 large diaphram and a Mk-012 small diaphram. Both condensors. The mk-012 is great on the guitar, the other for vocals.