Well I know First Act isn't the best fo brands but it does put out some good items.

Yesterday I saw a mic(and I think it was a condenser mic) for about 30 bucks.

Worth it?
But I'll have to double check if it was First Act or not....

well.. I've learned something over the last while, and that is that:

(Generally) you get what you pay for.

It's not a brand new revelation to the world, and it's terribly simple, but let's face it   The kind of "cheaper" price that I find compelling is the kind that is on "sale", which is generally more reliable than just the shelf items that carry the yellow sticker for 10, 20, 30, or even 50 dollars (depeding on the item).

Now.. I haven't got the greatest mic either, but when I treat it right, it does what I need it to do.  The vocal performances between my songs like "Actually" or "Aspirations" compared to "For Lisa [2]" or "Excalibur" is intense, because in the first two of the listed songs, I put more time and attention into the recording process.  For the latter two, I didn't.  For "For Lisa [2]", it was the whole "semi-live" dealio as explained in the posts I made there, playing the guitar and singing at the same time.  Naturally, it wasn't as professional, errors being accented by a bad mic.  for "EXcalibur", well, it's just a terrible recording in the first place, from bad vocal performance to weak piano volume and dynamics. 

so.. if it's fitting your budget, then I'd say, hey, what have you got to lose?  $30 at the most   Personally, I'd rather learn how to do things correctly and the best that I possibly can while using cheap equipment, because then I can move up and know how to even better use nicer stuff once it fits my budget.  If I were to go out and buy a several-hundred dollar mic as a first-time purchase, I wouldn't be starting in the right place, and I'd still end up making a mess out of a professional product. 

That's why First Act exists.. to make the basic stuff at affordable prices, so that poor people can spill their hearts out too

I Agree with TLS 100%!

I bought a keyboard there once. now it's breaking down. It might be the batteries though.

There's always the sonic youth idea though---

Azerrad writes that early in their career, Sonic Youth "could only afford cheap guitars, and cheap guitars sounded like cheap guitars. But with weird tunings or something jammed under a particular fret, those humble instruments could sound rather amazing—bang a drumstick on a cheap Japanese Stratocaster copy in the right tuning, crank the amplifier to within an inch of its life, and it will sound like church bells" Thank you Wikipedia!
later

what is the price of this stuff... I tell you though fender now has a Chinese strat out that is not bad.. somewhere around $125.00 
Acoustics  Jim mentioned Rogue stuff.. 

As far as mics go   you can get a good dynamic mic for around 100.00  that will smoke most condensers under the 400.00 range.  plus with the dynamic mic you can also play live gigs with less trouble..  a sure sm 57 or 58 is a decent mic and you can get good recordings.. I have purchased used 57 for $40.00 and they all worked fine.  Don't be afraid of used gear,  just be sure and check it out first.  My recording studio is all used gear ,except for the monitors,  mixer, and the at4047 mic that I bought earlier this year.   My guitars are used, and so are my amps, (except for the pod).  My mic stands are used , so is my keyboard .  haven't had any trouble out of any of it yet. 

Go out and meet other players in your area ... you should be able to find  lots of musicians, and they  are fickle when it comes to gear, they buy and sell stuff all the time.  You will be able to find bands that are selling off everything, and guys that have to keep upgrading to the latest and greatest stuff .. there is a ton of gear out there just waiting for someone to come along and buy it . 

Just have a clear idea of the type of gear that you want, and want you want to do with it.


I look for multi use gear for the most part.. stuff i can record with and play out live with .

Early, early this morning, I cut up some cardboard from a trash bag box and used it to enclose some sunflower seeds in a cardboard tube.  Hence, a rainstick.  Didn't have to go to the store at all.  Then I used my $100.00 Shure SM Beta 58A dynamic microphone to record it.  Got a pretty good recording.

I saw a $100 keyboard at target... It looked pretty nice.

The concept "you get what you pay for" is definitely up for debate as far as gear goes (but that's a different topic altogether), but I'm fairly certain it would apply to any gear you can buy from Wal-Mart.

As far as mics in that price range (< $50), you'd be better off buying a cheap Audio-Technica or Nady microphone for that price. I have a cheap Audio-Technica dynamic mic that's a backup for my backup mic. It's just as durable as my SM57 as far as I can see, it sounds decent enough (not anything to rave about though) and it only cost me $35.

And for workhorse mics (or any kind of audio equipment), I cannot say enough about Sennheiser. I have their e835 ($100 US) that absolutely blows my SM57 away in terms of sound quality. It's more comparable to the Shure Beta 58A, and for a full $50 less!

And can any of these found at like Sam Ash or like a regular music store instead of like online or something?

But found a good deal on a pretty nice mic(forget the brand) for about 50,originally 100 or so.

Sennheiser e835 at MF.com

The AudioTechnica mic I mentioned has been discontinued but there are plenty of other similar mics in that price range from companies like Behringer and Nady.

If you look around you can find some great deals on mics. I bought a AT 4047 for a fraction of the list price because it was used (2 weeks the guy had it then returned it). I think it was around 1/4 the list price.
If you have a music store any where near you like a guitar center or someplace like that, they will let you A/B mics. just ask them to hook em up for you ..tell them the price range and that your looking for a good mic in that  range. be sure to ask if the have any used mics within that price range too (just make sure you test the mic ) .

goat: seems like a good idea..and I think there is a Guitar Center relatively close...thanks :]