zzounds has lots of little deals where they give you a free mic stand and cable with your mic. they must have an excess of mic stands laying around their warehouse or something. There are paired condenser mics from samson and behringer that are a great package deal, though I prefered the samson option. Your SM57 is also a great choice but I usually use that for close micing a guitar amp, or for stage vocals but not for recording vocals it's kind of touchy about distance and singers tend to move when they sing. Just a side not, I heard the first lenny kravits album, and the rolling stones 'steel wheels' album were done entirely with sm57s. I think one of those for your close miced instruments, plus some large diaphram condenser would cover all your bases, both for around 100 bucks, but if you look in the right place you can find package deals, 2-for-1 condensers, or free stands. I don't think the 57's sound is really any better than many other cheaper condensers but man those things are indestructable. You could pound a nail into a wall with it. The cheaper budget buy version (I think it's called a PG57 or some other letter combination ending with a '57') would probably sound about the same, if my experience with shure mics is adequate (I was a pro soundman for a couple of years, and I've used lots of dynamic mics - never noticed much difference in sound, just some are not as tough as others).
