421 on snare works but can be a bit midrangeish and I hate it when the drummer hits it and bends the grill ... also 421's don't have the lows that a 57 / 58 will ...

The 58 and 57 are pretty similar to my ear ... the main difference being the windscreen. Yes, I know that it is a different capsule element and that they spec differently but to my ear 57's and 58' have always pretty much sounded the same ... 58's would be good on amps, toms and kick drum in a pinch ...

Kurt Foster

Stick the 57 on snare...the 414 on guitar...the 421's on tom's...the U87 3ft away from the kick...facing the kick...whatever you have for a good kick mic inside the kick, etc etc...

I forgot to tell you that your going to have to get a female XLR-> male TRS cable..there's no XLR input on the U5...

I wouldn't recommend it...sierously

Cedar Flat Fats wrote: also 421's don't have the lows that a 57 / 58 will ...

Just checking here but doesn't the 421 (when set to "M") start to rolloff at 60Hz while the 57/58 dives at around 110Hz? Don't have the freq response charts handy but the 421 has always seemed beefier to me. I agree though that it's not my first choice for snare.

You'll love your guitar sound even more with two 57s at a 45-degree angle.

They're cheap - get another one.

And never pay more than $50-$60 for a 57. Ever.

the cheapest I've seen them new are about 80 bucs... where you find them 50 0r 60?

heinz wrote: [quote=Cedar Flat Fats]also 421's don't have the lows that a 57 / 58 will ...

Just checking here but doesn't the 421 (when set to "M") start to rolloff at 60Hz while the 57/58 dives at around 110Hz? Don't have the freq response charts handy but the 421 has always seemed beefier to me. I agree though that it's not my first choice for snare.

Both the 58 and the 421 roll off pretty quickly below 100Hz. The 57 begins rolling off at 200Hz. This is without the proximity effect taken into account ... however the 421 has a rise of about 2 dB per octave starting at 1K, extending to 5K where it begins to roll off again at about 1 dB per octave until it reaches 10K where it goes pretty flat to 15K or so and then rolls off again. The Shures on the other hand, stay pretty flat out to 2K where they start to rise at about 1.5 dB per octave until they reach a "presence" peak at 5K Hz...

As you can see, the mid range of the 421 is quite a bit stronger, so in terms of overall tonal balance the 421 is much more mid range-ish sounding. That is why they are a standard for guitar amps ... lots of mid range "punch". The one reason to turn to a 421 for use on snare is because the hyper cardioid pattern is better at rejecting hi hat spill ...

Kurt Foster

>>
the cheapest I've seen them new are about 80 bucs... where you find them 50 0r 60?
>>

Used! Find a club that's closing its doors, or visit your local used guitar shop. They'll have bar funk on them, but they'll work forever.

Also, you can sometimes find broken ones for little or nothing, and Shure will fix 'em - no questions asked - for $50 (plus postal costs).

idiophone wrote: >>
the cheapest I've seen them new are about 80 bucs... where you find them 50 0r 60?
>>

Used! Find a club that's closing its doors, or visit your local used guitar shop. They'll have bar funk on them, but they'll work forever.

Also, you can sometimes find broken ones for little or nothing, and Shure will fix 'em - no questions asked - for $50 (plus postal costs).

While I essentially agree with you, some people swear that 57's and 58's can wear out over time, just like speakers do .. . Many large studios regularly replace their inventory of SM57's and 58's .. just to keep them fresh.

Two points of view on the subject..

The things are so inexpensive, I just buy new ones when I need to ..

Kurt Foster

thanx guys..
i do think the 421 sounds a mid middly, but i havent tried one one snare yet, i will definitely try..normally use em for toms and kick..
i can't imagine it sounding nice on electric guitar??
i'll try it..but i normally don't have a lot of time for experimentation, i use my company's equipment at night, normally i try to record 3 songs a night(without vox)..hence the asking you guys instead of experimenting..

best mic I have for micing guitar amps is an old RCA D77- fat sweet sound-

I think 421's sound best on Fender-y clean stuff, not Marshall crunch.

But surprise, surprise, I found a new guitar mic that I LOVE. It's the BLUE Ball. It's not great on its own, but if you add it to another guitar track with the two-57s-at-once trick (only for crunchy stuff, you understand), and it's the biggest, fattest thing you can imagine.

But now we're getting off the subject.

By the way, I broke two 57s in two days once. Does that mean I should get a T-shirt or something?

Sm57 / Royer on guitars..

I like using the sm57 and Royer Ribbon mic combo when recording elec guitar..

Usually I will pan them hard left and right to get a huge sound..

Sm57 / Royer on guitars..

I like using the sm57 and Royer Ribbon mic combo when recording elec guitar..

Usually I will pan them hard left and right to get a huge sound..