I think AT raised a great idea. Using two different mics on the same source. Something I haven't commonly done before/

 
I have actually done this recently with very good results.  I would blend the 2 mic's together to taste.  I know that I used this method on my song "Saved Me" on my SoundCloud site and really liked the way the vocals came out.  On several other songs as well but I can't recall exactly which right off hand.  It ends up being a lot of tracks though, when all said and done.  Especially if you end up comping 3 or 4 takes, you have to keep them grouped in their proper pairs.

This is my new mic. I was working on the base of the mic body today. I hope it will become one that I favor for vocals:
 

Nice Mike.  You going into the business of mic production?  But really cool.
 
As far as high-end mics, or preamps, or converters, there is little difference between good and great, but once you learn it it is hard to use the lessor stuff.  A bunch of high-quality electronics just seems smoother, more 3D, more right than a simple replication.  There is absolutely nothing wrong w/ a 58, for example, but putting a voice through a high-end or vintage mic will have that little extra you end up missing like a hard drug.  Which is silly and will have you wondering how someone could make a great recording using a 58.  But good equipment will have you making better music decisions quicker (ie., it will probably take longer to develop an ear).  And a great deal of pleasure when you learn you can make great recordings from more basic equipment.
 
Kinda rambling - it is Friday night.  But I stand by the fact the difference between high end and low end is slight but all the difference in the world.
 
@

Hi AT,
 I have no plans for going into the business of mic production, but I do plan to make a small handful for myself.
 
 The object on the lathe started as a big chunk of aluminum and I decided to video one of the final passes along the outer diameter. I have a "Binder" connector on the way which I will attach to the bottom of this base. It is a large format 7 pin connector with a threaded lock mechanism. It makes for a very reliable plate voltage and heater current connection.
 
 best regards,
mike

@ Mike:
 
Building your own mics is pretty cool, dude. 
 
I think you know Dave Pearlman (who's reputation for tweaking/building mics is pretty good);
he was a neighbor of mine for years. People thought he was crazy to compete with the big manufacturers and now he has major studios/engineers using his microphones.
 
Anyway, I need a mic that will make my godawful voice sound great. If you can build that one money is no object.
 
Good luck.

Hi Tom,
 I didn't realize that you had been neighbors with Mr. Perlman. I'd love to talk shop with him at a back yard barbque :-). His mics seems like a great choice if you are shopping for a really nice microphone. I especially like the fact that he will make you you a variation on his standard models if you have some special detail that you want to have included. 
 
 best,
mike

yes; a neighbor probably 20 years ago;
He had an 8 track in his garage and my partner and I had a 16 track a block away.
He used our studio on a few sessions when he needed additional tracks.
 
You might not know at one time he was one of the best pro pedal steel players in Los Angeles; also a very fine guitarist and engineer.
 
His mics and mods are pretty well respected around L.A.
 
Good luck building a mic collection.
 

Thanks guys for all of the ideas.
 
Beepster- I doing great man, how about you?
Best of luck in finding a decent LDC. I also like to scour and look scour and look scour and look, then decide when it involves a little more money. I wouldn't hesitate to try one of those AT2020s if they had good recommendations . I believe they were primarily aimed at the home studio users and probably sound at least as good or better than some.
 
ChuckC- You make a good point . It is possible to make different mics sound very similar depending on what you do with the signal. I hear you on getting the most you can when it comes to mics. 
 
Makeshift- glad you had good luck with double mics. I was getting almost a combing effect when I tried this. Probably didn't have them close enough. I liked how the result came out on your track. I am seriously going to be trying to perfect this in my studio.
 
So I received my Sterling ST51 in the mail on Saturday , this is the one I got for a little over 30.00 used. It had been in the cold so I made sure it was dry and warm before I decided to give it a try.I was  surprised that it sounded as good as it did. I put it just off center of the sound hole on my acoustic and recorded a few tracks. Then I added a short vocal to get some idea how it would sound. I didn't go to a lot of trouble to sound good on this test with the vox.Hopefully this is a decent representation of vocs and guitar on this mic.
 
 
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30861263/ST51%20Microphone%20test.wav
 
I might could have added some more space to it with mic placement or an M/S setup. This was close miked. I am really happy with this mic...I'm still not finished looking though.
 
 
 
 

That's some real nice finger picking and singing.
 
What happened at "I'll be looking for you" about 39.5 seconds in?

I used to think that you'd use a fairly expensive mic with a fairly expensive preamp and you could do anything.  I found out differently.  After about an hour of using a mic/pre combination that had worked in the past for a particular artist, I finally had to say, "Mind if we stop a few minutes and try a complete take with a different mic?"

I plugged in a GT66 into the same pre and the harsh rasp disappeared.  I don't know if it was the key, the song or the condition of his voice but on that Monday night, we had to change from our normal recording set up.