Mic grilles, misc. info that I need about mics

[Thared33]

Ok folks -- I've decided to start doing vocals, so I have some awfully retarded questions for ya!


I have an old SM58 that I'm using to mic my cab, and now that I'm doing vocals, I think I'm going to use it for that instead of micing my cab; my question about this is how important is a grille for it? The one I have is old and bent up, so I was thinking about just getting a new one from Musician's friend -- they have some for $13, but some cheaper ones for $6 or so... I'm not sure what to get or if having a dented one is no problem at all.

If I'm going to be doing vocals (studio only), should I also get some black windscreens for the 58? The dented grille that's on it now has a foam thing in the grille itself, but I'm not sure if that's what it's there for.

I'm using the 58 to mic my cab, and as far as I know, the 57 and 58 have very subtle differences: the 58 basically is a 57, but just with the extra foam thingamajiggers and the grille that comes with it so it's more prone to vocal use than micing a cab.



Soo... My plan is to pick up a 57 to mic my cab and use the 58 to do vocals; I'm not sure if a replacement grille is even necessary and if I should pick up some windscreens for it.

[kennydoe]

A new ball for your 58 isn't a big deal expense...just get it.

For recording, you're better off using a pop screen than a windcreen, and no the black foam on the inside of the ball isn't good enough.

A 58 is really not a very good mic to record studio vocals. It'll work, but if you're serious about it, you can get a decent enough vocal mic for about $150 on eaby.

[Thared33]

I don't even know what a mic grille/ball is for


There is foam on the inside of the ball on the (dented) 58 grille that I have now, but there is also a small piece of screen stuff on the inside of it when you take the ball off, so I'm thinking that that's the built-in popscreen thing... i'm not sure, but the ball itself has a screen and then inside the mic itself -- it has a very small screen thing on the head of the diaphragm.


I honestly don't plan to use just a 58 for vocals; when I do get well-versed in recording and when I have a lot of stuff written, it's going to be time to upgrade my recording gear, so the 58 is just fine for practice right now =)

[ScottB]

The SM-58 is better suited to live sound than recording, but will work fine for your purposes.