Puttin' the band back together

[bluesrocker1212]

Okay, so this really belongs in a live sound forum, but I've beenwatching and reading and they seem a little gramatically challenged and rude over there, so I'm putting this up in the land of the scholars and gentlemen....
Or trying to..hitting something wrong on my keyboard sends this too soon..
Anyway, we're a bunch of middle aged rockers reliving our youth by getting ready to gig and I'm trying to figure out the equipment.
Starting with microphones. We have a couple of really old Shures, PE50SP, that I got years ago from a retired cruise ship singer. Also a Shure 588SB and the keyboardist has an AXS3. None sound great but it could be my feeble efforts at mixing/EQ. Some questions:
1) What have we got? Anything worth keeping? The PE50SPs sound the best. Are they precursors to the SM58 or some poor cousin?
2) How important is it for all the singers to use the same mic?
3) Anybody want to give me a short list of mics to audition? We have 2 females singing low to midrange and 1 male, baritone. The lead singer, me, vaguely resembles Bonnie Raitt in range and quality, maybe a note or two lower. Budget would be $200 each max, preferably less.
4) Any tips or tricks for testing a mic in the store?
Thanks for the love, everybody...

 

[paddyponchero]

Okay, so this really belongs in a live sound forum, but I've beenwatching and reading and they seem a little gramatically challenged and rude over there, so I'm putting this up in the land of the scholars and gentlemen....
Or trying to..hitting something wrong on my keyboard sends this too soon..
Anyway, we're a bunch of middle aged rockers reliving our youth by getting ready to gig and I'm trying to figure out the equipment.
Starting with microphones. We have a couple of really old Shures, PE50SP, that I got years ago from a retired cruise ship singer. Also a Shure 588SB and the keyboardist has an AXS3. None sound great but it could be my feeble efforts at mixing/EQ. Some questions:
1) What have we got? Anything worth keeping? The PE50SPs sound the best. Are they precursors to the SM58 or some poor cousin?
2) How important is it for all the singers to use the same mic?
3) Anybody want to give me a short list of mics to audition? We have 2 females singing low to midrange and 1 male, baritone. The lead singer, me, vaguely resembles Bonnie Raitt in range and quality, maybe a note or two lower. Budget would be $200 each max, preferably less.
4) Any tips or tricks for testing a mic in the store?
Thanks for the love, everybody...

Stretch that budget and get an RE20 then, thats what rumour has it bonnie raitt uses one. Should sound great on all those vocals, and has fantastic resale value.

 

[boingoman]

I'll take a shot at your questions.

1)I am not familiar with any of those mics, so all I can say is compare them to what's out there. Take 'em to a music store, tell them what you want to do. They should let you compare mics.
Try the SM58, Beta 58, Sennheiser e835, Audix OM series, those are good places to start. Good basic dynamics for live use, and in the price range you want. Try to test them through a PA similar to yours, or bring yours along.

2) Everyone having the same mic is a good way to go if you share monitors, or play a lot of really small stages close to the PA. The mics will have the same peaks and dips, and react to system eq changes the same way. It will be easier to get good results. It should be easy to find one mic that suits everyone within reason, if you go that route.
That being said, it's not critical, really. And definitely don't sacrifice your sound just so everyone has the same mic.

 

[goldtopchas]

Some big music store chains have a isolation room(usually in the recording equip. section) where they will have various mic.s set up for headphone auditioning. These are ideal to hear the subtle differences between mics.

But beware, sometimes they have the system tweaked to make even the low-end stuff sound fantastic! So, try to be objective and don't go with the cheapest one because it sounds OK. When you settle on one, maybe try it out with a PA. that's similar to what you'll be using.

In my limited exp. with female vocalists, An SM 58 usually works well. But with todays technology, I'm sure there are alternatives that might be even better. Ask the pros at the store(but trust your own ears more!)Also...YES it's usually best to use the same mic for everyone, unless there is a HUGE difference in vocal tone. It will help in keeping one performers mic from feeding back more than anyone elses. They can be tweaked enough for subtle differences in tone and vol.