Drummerbones
New member
I did a session this past weekend and the drummer brought in a Shure mic kit to use...all PG mics. It was just a demo and I was curious, so we agreed to use what he'd brought. 3 of the 56's, 52 for the kick, 81's for overheads. I slapped an sm57 on the snare. Anyway, the reviews I'd heard about the PG52 are true. This mic is not all that. However, with some clever EQ and a few other tricks, I ended up getting a bad-ass kick drum sound. It just took a lot more work and effort than it should have. This mic isn't worthless (and they're freakin' inexpensive) but you gotta know what you're doing. You can't just stick it in the drum and expect a good sound. Moving on, the 56's were actually a surprise. Though not as detailed as my E604's, they did the job well enough. And the PG 81 over heads weren't that bad either. They didn't have the clarity you'd expect from the real 81's, but they worked nice as well with a little high-end enhancing....a bit on the hissy side when I pushed the gain, but we close-mic'ed the cymbals and got a good sound. All in all, I was more shocked/surprised than I was disappointed. Would I run out and buy them? No, but for a project studio or for live use, they'd be alright. Overall rating (including bang-for-the-buck ratio): a generous 7. Okay, now everyone please start slinging crap at me for giving cheap-o mics a decent review!!!!! 
