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Originally Posted by monkeyxx  ahhh one of mine's a fake! the extra crispy sound is the giveaway. if you put on some headphones and speak into all your 57s, they should sound pretty much the same.... this one is noticeably different. hotter output too. longer screw on the capsule connecting plate, the wires are green and yellow though as they should be... this one's really a convincing copy. the xlr connector even says "shure". it's got a transformer, with the proper glue potting. the black plastic grille piece is a different thickness if you look closely at the tines, compared to my real shures. the sticker font is a little funny looking, too, and the capsule assembly does not rotate freely like a real one, it is pretty firmly set (I wish the real ones were like this!). I could be imagining this, but it seems ever so slightly lighter in my hand. I'm pissed that I spent $70 on this thing...now what do I do with it? I wouldn't feel right selling it, I guess I'm stuck with a sizzly fake. maybe I can find a use for it. it kind of has that late 60s light and sweet/tame snare sound dialed in. not my favorite sound, but I guess that's cool to be able to get. |
DO NOT ROTATE THE HEAD ON YOUR SM57! On older ones (approx. pre 1982) it's a sure way to kill the cartridge, and it's still not recommended. (the older had wires running from the inner cartridge to the back plate, which would break. Newer ones use little strips of fiberglass pc board, but it's still not foolproof, although it's much stronger. Interestingly the change came within a couple or so months after I demonstrated my technique for salvaging broken capsules with this problem to a couple of Shure reps who were visiting Don Wehr's Music City......
On newer ones rotating the head can cause the clip that holds the cap on to scrape against the two lead out wires from the voice coil, Although they are protected by a couple layers of plastic tape, it can eventually wear through, exposing the wires to breakage.