Attention RE20 users

N

nezpierce

New member
Hey all,

I thought that the RE20 had been phased out and then replaced by the PL-20. Now I see people selling RE-20's again and saying they are new. IS this kosher?

I wanted to pick up an RE20 (a used one) but this new thing confuses me?

Are the "new" RE20's exactly like the old RE-20's and how does this whole PL-20 thing fit it?

any help would be greatly appreciated. (I did a search here and it was fruitless)

thanks,

nP
 
Hmm, I'd always thought that they had stopped badging any as PL-20's. The PL models were distributed through musical instrument retailers, while the RE's and other models were sold through pro audio dealers. The PL's had perhaps less stringent quality control and a shorter warranty, but in most cases users can't tell a speck of difference. Not all the PL models had a standard line equivalent, but two I'm sure are dead on equivalents are the RE-20 and PL-20, and the PL-5 and 635a (you may not know it, but you need two of these). Most notable of the PL models without an equivalent is the PL-10, which in my limite exposure is quite an interesting criter; not incredibly flexible, a loose polar pattern, but quite cool on some things, and definitely not the baby RE-20 most assume it is.

Bear
 
The 635a/PL-5 is an omni dynamic mic, a bit smaller than an SM-57 put just as durable. A starting place for using it is to try it in the same places you would use a 57, to a slightly different effect. On guitar amps the lack of proximity effect can help to cut through a dense mix, and it'd be the mic to try first for my conception of punk guitar. I've used them on upright piano with heavy compression to get what I thought was a fairly Beatles-ish sound. Good for acoustic guitars where you don't want to shimmery a sound. A good go-to mic on problem percussion that nothing else works on (jingly, pingy, high spl, whatever). I find myself liking it more and more around drum kit, but for kind of non-standard use. One trick I picked up on another forum (thanks, Steve Remote) is to use it as your one mic on a kit, positioned over the kick or out a bit, about on level with the toms and pointing towards the snare.

Since you can always find these mics for under $50 each used, there's really no excuse not to have them. And they are probably the easiest way for Portastudio guys to do overheads without fussing with phantom power.

Bear
 
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