Mission: Radio Shack Raid!

  • Thread starter Thread starter grahamware
  • Start date Start date
G

grahamware

That FAQ Guy
For those that are interested...

The RS 33-3032 mic that has gotten much attention on this particular board has been discontinued. I visited my local RS to find that its price, where available, is $14.97! Compare that to its near-identical twin, some overpriced Sennheiser.

Your mission: Run (don't walk) to your local RS, and ask them to give them all the 33-3032's they have. My store didn't, but one 40 miles away had 4. I cleaned them out...
 
FYI, here are some tips about this:

1. Radio Shack has a linked inventory system. That means you can call one store and they will tell you who else in the area has them in stock.

2. They will allow you to purchase them over the phone for later pickup.

I just did this and picked up three of them for about $48. w00t!

Thanks so much, grahamware!
 
This sounds pretty awesome....I'm just not familiar with the mic. Would someone be able to describe it a bit? What it's good for, etc.
 
what do these mics usually cost? I saw $30. If so, that's still pretty cheap for mic, no?

At $15, it's still a cheap crappy mic isn't it? Educate me.
 
With pleasure.

No, no my friend - this is not your typical RS garbage by any means.

The 33-3032 is similar to a sennheiser drum (kick/tom)mic - e604, I think - which runs at a higher premium (more than $100) than the 33-3032. I use mine for trumpet as well - good for high-impact instruments. Nothing too fancy, but I like it.

I would suggest you search the forums for further info.
 
Last edited:
I think harvey is the one the reconmended it last summer.
Its a best bang for the buck mic.
 
I just called my local RS and they said these have been discontinuted since Sept 2002. Needless to say, they had none....
 
This is one where I have to go against the grain. I bought one of these puppies for $20 and gave it away to a poor drummer. Beyond appearance, it has no acoustic similarity to a Sennheiser E604, and is, without a doubt, the worst mic of any kind I have ever auditioned. I wouldn't pay a dime for it. A high-noise, distorted, waste of a good channel.-Richie
 
That's strange... because I too seem to remembering reading somewhere Harvey saying it was a pretty good mic... no?
 
Richard Monroe said:
This is one where I have to go against the grain. I bought one of these puppies for $20 and gave it away to a poor drummer. Beyond appearance, it has no acoustic similarity to a Sennheiser E604, and is, without a doubt, the worst mic of any kind I have ever auditioned. I wouldn't pay a dime for it. A high-noise, distorted, waste of a good channel.
Click to expand...

Wowie. Maybe you got a bad one...but then again, I'm sure you have more recording experience (and a better mic ear) than myself. I like its sound, and for the price I just don't see how you can beat it.

If you're in the market for the e604 there probably isn't much sense in picking up a $15 dollar mike instead. If you are in the market for cheap-o mikes, this is a steal.

Yeah, they are discontinued...that's why they are 'clearance', and why they aren't found in every RS.
 
good call grahamware!

I just picked up 2. I had to go to two differant shacks for each. So i gave them a mini test drive. I ran the shack mics into my digi 001 pre's. My skins on my toms are pretty beat so im not looking for some great sound from them. What i did notice that they are some what clear, unlike what have been said in the past. I recorded the toms very hot and they even cliped in the red(the little red square on the rec channels in PT), but no distortion. so both of them work good(saves me from returning).
The plastic clip bracket is very cheesey, i can see down the road them gettin stretched out. Im not sure if these can withstand bashes by lunitic drummers. The mic seems to be bit bright, this is something im not very fond off( i also dont like how it picks up my snappy snares ringing out when i hit the toms...lol) im sure cutting some of the hi feq on a eq could help calm the brightness. Overall-KILLER DEAL FOR $15.00. I wouldent buy these for anything over $25, but shit, decent toms mics for $30. I reconmend for any body on a budget. These can hold me over till i can afford 3 sennhesier E604's.
 
Straight up

Yeah, they are bright. For trumpet, I only use it for hot, loud jazz numbers where I need the sound to cut through the rest of the band. Also, a lot of high-pitched key clicking, but just like you said, cut the high-end and it sounds fine.
 
I now own four of these. Three that I purchased (14.95 for the first and the next two cost me $20 for the pair, one was a display model) and one that I got from Richard Monroe. I also own two of the Senheisser e604's.
I would not reccommend these mics (RS)for acoustic guitar or voice,(that's why RM didn't want them, they were awful for him) but damned if they don't work well on drums. I use them in a very close mic and they can capture the full resonance of the skins. I imagine that they sound just WAY too bright and cheap with guitar.
The e604's are actually flatter sounding. The Radio Shack mics will be the mics I use for live stage. They don't get in the way and are just fine. I'm using one of the e604's as an under the snare mic with an e835 on the batter.
If you find any more of them, don't buy them, let me know where they are and I'll unburden Radio Shack of these unwanted mics. ;)
 
what about as a kick mic?

would these things do any justice at all as kick mics?

i'm mulling over picking a couple of them up (provided there are any in town at that price) just to have em, but i've always been of the mindset that you don't need tom mics if you get a good sound from your overheads (which i do), so I don't see myself using them as tom mics (although, as percussion mics, maybe).

so, while it's hard to imagine that these things would *excel* at anything, what other uses have y'all used them for that they at least didn't suck at?


wade
 
I havent tried them on kick drum yet (todays after work project), but harvey said they suck on kick drum. They are much better on smaller rack toms( up to 14") i did a search on the bbs and went thru all the post from last year and some said its not ideal for say floor tom or kick drum. Im gonna try it on my 16" floor tom today, and if it does ok i might go snag another one up.
 
Just ordered 4, sight unseen

I've been in the market for a budget tom mic anyway, so I'm going to give these mics a try. I just ordered 4. There were only 2 in the area, but the RS associate was able to order 2 more outside his district for me. You should try to order one from outside your area if your local Radio Shacks doesn't have the mic on the shelves.

I'm ordering the mic based, in part, on Harvey's recommendation. Plus, I figure the price is a steal. Even if the mics don't work out, it's $60 gone. If, however, the mics are any good (in particular for toms), then I'll have a pleasant surprise that I paid little for... a true bargain.
 
I've tried three local stores here in the San Diego area but no luck.:(
 
Originally posted by tdukex I've tried three local stores here in the San Diego area but no luck.:(
Click to expand...

tdukex,
Don't call around yourself. Call a single RS store in your area and ask them to order the mic(s) from outside areas if they have to. They have a computerized inventory where they can order stuff from all over (or they can call their national or regional folks). Let them do the dirty work and you just show up and pay for it.
 
I've had some 33-3032 for a while (use them to mic congas/bongos in my live percussion rig). They are not bad low profile mics for toms 8"- 14" or for hand percussion.

I would not recommend them for bass drum and I did not particularly like them on 16" or 18" toms or on snare. (I did not try them on voice or any other instruments - that's not why I got the). I recently got a chance to use the Sennheiser 604s - while the RS mics certainly may look like the 604s, the 604s are clearly a much better, more precise mic.

However, I did A/B the RS mics against SM57s and some CAD drum mics - the the 30-3032 held thier own - within the limitation I've mentioned).
 
Thanks mikeh. I've been wondering how these mics sound on larger toms and snare, especially given their noted high frequency response. I hope to experiment with mine on Monday when they come in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top