what's the weirdest way you got your first good microphone?

[kylosius]

we all started with something shitty, and then we heard about the better mics and better mixers and we had to have them. aside from buying, what is one way that you got that first good mic (or mixer, guitar, girlfriend...). i'll start: my media teacher had a broken sm 58. it was actually working just fine, except for a loose wire toward the top. he had me take it home and re-solder it. and i forgot about it one day, and he never asked for it, before you know school year is over and it's like "hey, i got an sm58. where'd that come from?"

 

[Be Loveless]

A friend of mine knew a guy who knew somebody who could "get me a real steal". I did'nt figure out til I had them in my possesion that they were real stolen. It will come back to me someday. Don't feel real good about it. If I knew where they had come from, probably a large events company, I would have considered anonomously returning them. I'd never do it again. It was years ago before I was even recording. I feel pretty shitty about it but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Anyone else ever buy "Hot goods"?

 

[Be Loveless]

Oh yeah and my first electric guitar....I was playing and learning on this old beat up Kay classical from like 1962 or some shit. My Mom thought I was coming Along real well. We saw this ad in the paper and my mom spent our grocery money on a Stratocaster with a peavey amp. I did'nt eat for two weeks but I had a FUCKING ELECTRIC GUITAR!!!!! I was 14. I still have that guitar and I barely play it any more but I could never sell it.

 

[earworm]

the first mics i used were just crappy "radio-shack-isch" mics,

but one day, my dad bought a big box, full with old electronica shit,
full with vintage (junk) mics....but amongst it i found one mic that looked great

but i couldn't use it...it had weird connectors...THREE PINS ???!!!
(now i know its xlr...but back theni thought it was an alien object)

anyway, i managed to make some xlr cables myself, and bought me the smallest and cheapest behringer i could find....secondhand

i started using that mic (just a cardioid mic...the brandname is TECT...never heard about it before....)

and guess what ? i've been doing my vocal work with it since YEARS !
its a very decent cardioid vocal mic, i never had a condenser, always messed with cheap mics.....so i just HAD to work real hard to make everything sound good

i still got that mic, i aint selling it,,, first reason:
the mystery and i'm attached to it....
second: no one would even pay $20 for a NO-brand mic...eventough it looks completely silver



same kinda story about my first 12 channel mixing desc, i started using it when i was 12 (it was my older brother's property back then)
he bought it secondhand for about $20 !!! cause the guy who sold it thought it didn't work anymore...it came out an old radio station,,,
the damn thing still works today ! and its like 20 years old now .....

and my first real serious mic was the AKG d12 (real vintage, old motherfucker)

so i started with old old old shit, and after a few years i started digitalizing,
but i still LOVE analog

cheers

 

[krimson]

Bought an ATM31a off a guy used. Anybody remember or use the 31a? I've used it a few times and it seems ok.

 

[notbradsohner]

16 channel mackie vlz in the dumpster!!!!

im only in highschool right now, and last summer, after school was out, i was helping out cleaning stuff out. Well, our school just got a grant for the music program, and as i was throwing out the 30 boxes from the brand new sm-58s, i saw this mixer just sitting in there. Mackie! So i grabbed it, took it in, and asked my teacher if i could hdave it. She goes, why is it nice? We got a new one. As i followed her to set it up, there it was, a brand new Trident.


and now our school is asking for an operating levy

(sorry that wasnt about mics, but i had to share)

 

[wesley tanner]

my first 58 I got because my band played a show at our middle school and they decided they weren't going to pay us like they had told us, so we tookm teh $8 radioshack mic that we had and unscrewed the top of it and the 58 and poof, there it is. I don't think the school ever found out, either. besides, the radioshack mic had an on/off. tried using the 58 in the kick at our next show. wondered why it didn't thud like we wanted, thought the school had a bum 58. ha! if I only knew then....

wes

 

[chessrock]

I went out and bought one.

Sorry my answer was kind of anti-climactic.

Should I insert some wild story about how I was abducted by female nymphomaniac alien porn stars on the way to the Guitar Center?

 

[Warhead]

I went out and bought one.

Sorry my answer was kind of anti-climactic.

Should I insert some wild story about how I was abducted by female nymphomaniac alien porn stars on the way to the Guitar Center?

No, cause that's how I got my first good mic!! How'd you know my story? Damn you Chess...you took the wind out of my sails again.

War

 

[spankenstein]

A friend's dad pulled a 1/4" 2 track out of the basement and said "here's a multi-track, you can can record on this!" So we pooled our money and went to Radio Shack. We bought a battery powered 4 channel mixer and a dynamic omni mic. I still have the mic.

 

[Wireneck]

16 channel mackie vlz in the dumpster!!!!

im only in highschool right now, and last summer, after school was out, i was helping out cleaning stuff out. Well, our school just got a grant for the music program, and as i was throwing out the 30 boxes from the brand new sm-58s, i saw this mixer just sitting in there. Mackie! So i grabbed it, took it in, and asked my teacher if i could hdave it. She goes, why is it nice? We got a new one. As i followed her to set it up, there it was, a brand new Trident.


and now our school is asking for an operating levy

(sorry that wasnt about mics, but i had to share)

So your saying that your school tossed a Mackie that was in complete working order in the dump just because they bought a new mixer? Then they just gave it to you for free? What would a highschool be doing with a trident? Your school must have one hell of a budget, where im from, they struggled to get enough money so everyone could have their own books for classes.

 

[c7sus]

I guess you missed the story a couple years ago about the guy that bought a pair of vintage Neumann's at a "garage sale" at Washington State University for $25 bucks. I think they went off ebay for something like $16,000 to a studio in Atlanta.

You know what the really beautiful part of the story was? The guy didn't even know what they were value-wise. He bought them because they were German, looked expensive, and the boxes looked really cool!

 

[c7sus]

I bought my Cactus from a woman in CA that had it up on Ebay. I emailed her after the auction closed and it hadn't sold, and asked if she was willing to use escrow.com for the transaction.

We agreed on a price of $1700 plus shipping and escrow fees, and did the deal. Far and away the most expensive deal I ever did online, and it worked out great. I had 3 days to try it out, and escrow.com leads you right through the process. If you ever want to use it, the BUYER must initiate the escrow.

I also bought a Monster snake off ebay, and the auction closed while I was in CA, so I was able to just swing by the seller's house and pick it up. That was pretty cool too. If I would have had some extra bread I could have picked up a couple nice Focusrite pres too.