Shure Beta 52A

I have used this mic in the studio with good results for kick drum, floot tom, electric bass cabinet.

Kick drum:
I had trouble recording kick drums at first. I've read that this mic has a mid scope and thought it sounds kind of flat and lacking punch of a "real kick sound"
Long story short... I tried buying new heads and started experimenting with positioning. I found that tuning my drums was the main issue. I do use a kickport in rear and Remo CS clear (going for EQ3 or something smilar next time) with my 22"x18" and a small pillow.

With this setup i found tuning my kick drum without the need of black belt in tuning drums. Just a tip that worked well for me. So now it sounds better than the weaker papery "plack"-sound that I got before. Now it's definitivly a "boom" when placing the BETA 52A inside an inch or two aiming a bit above dead centre. I do use the Autix D6 in addition for kick drum recording. I place the D6 halfway in and get boomier kick with high frequency click. I like the D6 more, but that's another story to tell.

Pros
Legendary mic. Good starting point if buying first kick drum mic if you don't know what to aim for. This mic is great with floor tom if upgrade the kick drum mic to something else.
Cons
- Has mid scope. You should'nt be afraid to use heavy EQ to shape the sound. Consider Audix D6 if you think or know you want more low end, less mids and bit high frequency click out of the box. They are both excellent and in the same price range.

Floor tom
SM 57 is the mic i usually end up using. If i have a spare SM52 i definitivly want it with floor tom. The Beta 52A sounds great on floor compared with sm57 and the low end it lacks. The Beta 52A just adds a lot more "punch in your face"-lows compared to a SM57.
Pros
- First and only mic i used with Beta 52A
Cons
- None so far

Electric bass guitar cabinet
Beta 52A is the mic i usually end up using. It delivers good low end sound. I do sometimes use additional SM57 for a track with overdrive. I found line in more useful fot that purpose.
Pros - Gives great low end and sounds good when recording in high volume situations.
Cons - I usually need additional track from line or SM57 when recording bass for a fuller sound in the hi-end depending on music style and taste at the moment.

Overall
Great for kick drum, floor tom and electric bass cabinet. The mid scope is an issue for me with kick drum, but can easily be eq:d to sound more youi want it to. Sounds amazing in combination wuth Audix D6. I would choose Beta52A as a first kick drum mic to buy and try it out since it is a great mic as floor tom in case you buy another one. Tuning might be a problem regardless of mic used and should be a concerm to fix before recording and jiugdning, specially if there is no power in the sound.. Audix D6 is a heavy pre-EQd mic and might suit you betterif you know you more low end and a bit high freq click. Beta 52A ijs a safe bet and worth trying if you are unsure of what you want. It's built to last.

I've used mostly this and the AKG D112 and I have to say I like the Shure Beta 52 better. Even though the frequency response is pretty similar I do prefer the sound coming from the Shure.

The build quality is great, and if feels like you could choose a Beta 52a as you weapon of choice in the coming zombie apocalypse and you'd stand a pretty good chance.

I do wish they had designed the "holder" for the mic a bit differently, I find that the mic is to tall to work good with floor kick stands. But then again I don't have the most flexible of stands.

I have (contrary to the other review) used this on bass amps and I really like it, maybe not as a solo mic, but as a complement (with a 57 and/or a line signal) it's nice, this has been mostly heavily distorted bass. Recording clean bass might very well be different story,

I like more oldschool sounding bass drums. Audix D6, i think is a great mic, but not for recording, it has too much eq, it makes every bassdrum sound good. I wanted more character in my bassdrum sound. So there were two mics that everyone recomended in my budget, AKG D112 and this Shure. Everywhere where i listened they sounded quite similar, but for my taste, Shure had a bit more bottom. I realy like it, and i have found that this mic sounds the best, when you put this mic outside of bass drum, right where the heads hole is. It the way how i have seen Benny Greb micking his bass drum, and some Kings of Leon records where recorded that way too. I like it!