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Good alternatives to 421's for toms?


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Harvey Gerst and others on the Pro Audio Forum mentioned a "best buy" for a low cost tom mic... A Sennheiser made mic sold by radio shack. Comes with a mounting bracket and everything... Part numner 33-3032. Great for toms, bass amp, guitar amp. Best news? They were on sale for $20 ea. I don't know for sure if the sale price is still on... (only sold in stores, not catalog), but I think the "regular" price is only $40... I bought 4 and find them to be decent for the purpose... and nothing comes close to the price. I think a few others here have played around with these also, maybe they'll chip in some more comments... I think this was discussed on George's forum, perhaps you could search for comments there. guitplayer

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Here's a couple of links about the Radio Shack mics... Radio Shack 30-3032, great on toms... http://www.musicgearnetwork.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=003711 and Radio Shack Microphone.....don't laugh, read... http://www.musicgearnetwork.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=003501 guitplayer

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Depending on the mics that are available, you might want to consider using 3 Overheads. (Left, Center, Right) A nice large diaphragm tube mic can work wonders as a Center overhead. In this scenario, the 10"/12" toms won't need spot mics. The tube mic will provide plenty of meat! Just pop spot mics on the 14"/16" toms. A C414 is outstanding on large toms. If necessary, put an SM57 on the 8" tom. Be careful of phase problems. If the kit is that large... phase probably won't be a problem. (The mics will be far enough away from each other) But do some test recording to be sure. Move the mics if necessary. I've used this method many times... and you'd be amazed at just how good the toms can sound. Jim Roseberry [url=http://www.studiocat.com]www.studiocat.com[/url] jim@studiocat.com

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Well, this might be a stupid question, but let me ask anyway- what mic could be sonically mistaken for a 421 on toms? I love the 421 sound but damn I'm looking at $2000 in tom mics alone! Those 421's are not going to get a lot of use besides toms- I rarely track brass and I prefer large condensers on guitar cabs. I'm going to check out all the suggestions posted. I'm admittedly looking for a "hyped" tom sound- I like 'em big and bassy. For that reason I wonder if I might have a hard time with an method relying solely on overhead mics. However there are times when I do go for a more natural sound- how do you guys who use only overhead/room mics deal with the cymbals? I always have too much cymbal noise in my overheads to use them exclusively, which is understandable because they're closer to the mics than the rest of the kit.

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[quote]Originally posted by Philter: [b]Well, this might be a stupid question, but let me ask anyway- what mic could be sonically mistaken for a 421 on toms? I love the 421 sound but damn I'm looking at $2000 in tom mics alone! [/b][/quote]The beyerdynamic M201 is an excellent choice, but they cost about the same as the 421s, or at least aren't cheap enough to really allow for savings. Consider using small or large diaphragm condensers for the toms. I use a Rode NT2 for the floor tom, and get a large, meaty sound with a lot of body and TONE. And that's not even a really great application. If you already have a decent collection of small or large diaphragm condensers, consider using these for some or all of your toms. Some people use the Oktava 012 (US$200 or so) small diaphragm condensers for toms and get a great sound. Earthworks might work, but that's not cheap. I use one or two 421s (depending) on the rack toms and the aforementioned Rode NT2 on the floor tom. You can do something similar. I've also used small diaphragm condensers (AT4051s) on rack toms with good results. More tone, typically, than a 421, and really meaty sounding. My 4051s are modified, so they get a little more bottom end than stock ones. This way, you don't have to invest in a mic that you are primarily using only on toms, although that said, the 421s are quite flexible (snares, guitar cabinets, kick drums, congas, djembes, etc.).
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Man, those radio shack mics really suck. Why pay $20 bucks and get some half ass peice of shit, when you can save up a little more and get a SM57 or 58... or some other mic that you won't be spending hours on trying to get tracks recorded with it to sound decent. If $20 bucks is really all you have to spend, you could definitely do worse than the radio shack job, but I don't think there are many who would regret saving up for something better.

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