Things That I Know

Having worked in both a recording studio and radio stations, I’ve been around my fair share of microphones. Microphones are usually in the “you get what you pay for” category, but there are a few exceptions.

The obvious are the Shure SM57 and SM58, the industry standards for workhorse microphones. You know you’re always getting quality at a low price with those, but there are others out there that offer good sound at a reasonable price.

Working in radio, I found myself doing a lot of work from home, particularly voice over work. I had an SM58 and used that for remotes and live voice work, but I needed something for my home studio that would give me my best chance of getting the quality sound I could get at the station.

In the studios at the radio stations, the usual suspects were the Shure SM7B and the Electro-Voice RE20, both great voice microphones. These were the mics I was trying to duplicate at a lower cost. The first one I got was the Behringer B1. Not a terrible microphone, but if you have less than perfect acoustics in the room you’re recording in, this mic will bring out the worst in the room. I got by for a while on this mic, but I had to do so much cleaning up of my work that it eventually wasn’t worth it anymore.

The next mic I tried was the MXL 990. At somewhere like $60, it was a bit skeptical of it’s ability. I had used an MXL at the radio station once or twice in one of the production studios and was impressed, so I gave this one a shot. I made a good call. The MXL 990 is a very quality microphone.

The MXL 990 has great warmth and depth, which was what I was looking for in a voice over microphone. I was a bit worried that this mic would do the same thing as the Behringer with my questionable acoustics, but alas, it handled the room noise much better. It is a naturally quiet microphone and handled everything I asked of it quite well. I’ve even recorded guitars with it with good results.

This microphone will never be confused with a Neumann, but it gets the job done. If you are looking for something better than what they have at Radio Shack, and want something versatile, this may be you’re microphone. I would recommend this microphone for the home radio worker (like me), as well as the podcaster. If you have decent acoustics and do voice work on a regular basis, this microphone will suit you well.

I would rank the MXL 990 as one of the top microphones under $300 that isn’t a Shure SM57 or SM 58. The fact that you can get it for less than $60 is just a bonus. If you’re on a budget and are looking for a good microphone, I can safely recommend the MXL 990. Once your budget goes up, so do your options, but this is a very serviceable microphone. When you combine the overall quality of this microphone with it’s miniature price tag, you get a product everyone who records should have. At the very least, even if you have a bunch of expensive pro equipment, you should throw an MXL 990 into your arsenal because it’s quality is so much higher than it’s price tag.

This microphone is recommended by ThingsThatIKnow.com

I started playing the guitar about six years ago, and I started by walking into a guitar shop and picking out the cheapest, most “guitar-looking” guitar in the store. Apparently, I didn’t get a very good one, but I got one with six strings and made of wood.

For that reason, my first guitar was good enough at the time. At that point I didn’t know what a chord was, or how to hold a pick. There was no point in buying anything expensive because there was a good chance that I was going to use the thing three times and be sick of it. Instead, over the next year I got better and better and eventually fell in love with the instrument.

About three years into my guitar playing, I realized that the guitar I had just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I went to the local Guitar Center and started toying around with some guitars and realized just how much better everything in the store was compared to the piece of wood that I had. The guitar I loved in the store was the Gibson J-200, which runs a cool $3000. That’s a bit out of my budget for a guitar that I only play to entertain myself.

So after looking around the Interwebs for a bit, I stumbled upon the Epiphone EJ-200. This guitar is the little step-brother of the Gibson (Epiphone is made by Gibson). None of my local stores carried the guitar so I couldn’t try it out, but I loved the way it looked and decided that I needed that guitar. So when my tax returns came back, I decided it was time to just go for it, and I purchased the Epiphone EJ-200.

After waiting for the doorbell like a six year old for a few days, it finally arrived. Right out of the box, this guitar is a sight to behold. I got the ebony version, but it’s also available in natural and sunburst. All three of them are visually stunning. From the moment I opened the box, the thing played better than any guitar I’d ever played.

Being a jumbo guitar, the EJ-200 has a powerful, almost booming sound to it. It sounds great when played loud, but it is also crisp and bright at low volumes. I’ve never needed a single adjustment on this guitar, it had perfect action (for me) and seemed to just fit in my hands.

Even the strings that it came with sounded great, but over the years I’ve tried many different kinds. I started out putting Martins on it and they worked well. Then I strapped on some D’Addario EJ16’s and it sounded unbelievable. The only problem with them is that they don’t last too long, and I hate changing strings.

For long life, I use either the D’Addario coated strings or Elixers, both of which can last for quite a while. Right now I have D’Addario EXP17 Coated Phosphor Bronze Medium strings on my EJ-200 and I couldn’t be happier.

Since I’ve bought the EJ-200, I’ve had the urge to buy a new guitar, and regularly go to the guitar shop to try a few out. The problem is, I’ll get there and wish they all sounded like the guitar I already own. I’ve played the top end Martins, Taylors and Gibsons and outside of a few of them, I prefer the sound of the Epiphone, even at a fifth of the price (or lower). The closest I’ve come to buying a new guitar in the last three years was almost buying another Epiphone EJ-200 in natural or sunburst.

I know this sounds like a Gibson/Epiphone sponsored ad, but it’s not. I’m simply an extremely happy customer. When I was going to purchase this guitar, I searched all over for reviews of it. If I can help someone else into this guitar, then I’ll feel like I did my job.

The Epiphone EJ-200 is a fantastic guitar. Don’t let the price tag fool you — you can get a top of the line guitar for under $400. I’ve done it. And now that it’s three years later, I can’t even wonder how it will hold up. It played great out of the box, and it sounds even better now.

This guitar is fully recommended by ThingsThatIKnow.com.