stumbled upon an old mistake today
 

I had a cheap set of drawers that I think I picked up in Michael's about 30-35 years ago. It was one of those unfinished kits that come flat packaged and get put together like Ikea furniture. Anyway, it was cheap and it managed to get tucked away in a corner of a rarely used room and mostly forgotten for the past 20 years or so. A couple of weeks ago I went through the drawers and threw away almost everything that was in them.

Today, I took the piece to the curb and on the way the bottom drawer opened. I forgot that when I went through it a couple of weeks back, the bottom drawer wouldn't open for some reason. There were only two things in there. One was the label maker I replaced a few years ago when I couldn't find the one in that drawer. The other was one of the very first microphones I ever bought.

It was in a Shure SM58 bag and I got excited because I thought I had given my SM58 away many years ago to an open mic venue when one of theirs was stolen. For a second, I thought my memory was mistaken but then it occurred to me the bag was quite light for a 58. I opened the bag and my disappointment was palpable. In that bag was easily the worst microphone I've ever owned... an AKG C525S.

I knew nothing about microphones when I bought it and I've no doubt the salesman knew. Noise? That mic hissed like an angry cat. Inconvenience? It required an AA battery that you needed a tiny micro-screwdriver to access. I should have bought an SM57.

Disclaimer: this is not my photo. I grabbed it off the internet.
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...mcc6pdcguz.jpg

Never encountered that mic but I understand it was more inexpensive predecessor to the 535 condensor.

I would be infinitely happier to find an old 535 than an SM57. The 535 on the right voice (mine and my partner's) is an incredible live mic.

The 525 on the other hand doesn't appear to have many fans.

I don't know anything about the 535. I just know that had I bought a 57 instead of that 525, it would still be useful on occasion. I'm going to throw it up on Reverb. Maybe I can clear $50 for it and put that money towards that BU67 I plan on buying.

Thanks for sharing