I was looking for both a ribbon mic for recording guitar and also a figure of 8 microphone to experiment with some Mid/Side recording and hey presto, the SE Electronics X1R popped up in my search engine and best off, it was very very reasonably priced, so I had to give it a go. It is known that ribbons tend to sometimes sound a little bit on the dull side, but that they do have a certain smoothness and warmth which is why they are used, and also used for broadcast too. I think that this dulling of the high end is useful particular for guitar recording, where they get rid of some of the ice-pickiness of a tone. I was also particular keen to try it on an acoustic guitar too, hopefully to add some warmth to the tone.Looking at the microphone itself, the casing is all made of metal and it does look very rugged, I also like the fact that the microphone comes with it’s own specific clip. As mentioned above the SE X1R has a figure-of-eight polar pattern and according to the specs can handle SPLs up to 135dB, which is pretty damn loud! That is quite impressive, so no problem in front of that 4 x 12 stack!As it is a ribbon mic, the output level is actually quite low, so a good preamp is probably needed with low noise, or perhaps a line amplifier, I felt that this was a bit of a problem on the recording I made, as the gain from the Presonus didn’t give it enough oomph!Just recently used this micing up a 4 x 12 cab for a local band recording session and was very impressed with the results. I paired it with the standard SM-57 and together they combine to give a really deep and present guitar tone. Clips to follow!I think that this is a good all round microphone and I am looking forward to using it with a better preamp for something like voice, as I think it would certainly bring a smoothness to the table. It works really well on Electric guitars, and in combination with the M5 it gives acoustic guitar a real depth. Nice one, and I am a happy camperHere is a comparison between the SE X1R and the Rode M5 SCM microphone, whilst obviously not comparing like for like here, it hopefully puts the mic into context when compared with other microphonesPeaceNeil