SM57 Mod in the new TapeOP

[AdamJay]

anyone tried this?

basically you take it apart, boil the half of the mic with the tranny in it (to loosen the glue that holds it in), remove the tranny and rewire.

result has more low end, though 10dB less output. (hey, free pad!)

i'd like to hear some other opinions of this mod before i butcher one of me 57's

[The Fifth Flaw]

april edition per chance?

[AdamJay]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Flaw

april edition per chance?

yes, just came in today.
Mar/Apr 2006 Edition.

interesting review of the API 2500 comp in there too.

[ALL*MYTEE]

I saw it, thought about the 58 I have for sale right now and then realized the other places I could get a better return on my time. Looks cool though, actually sounds as if it made it a better mic.

Tape Op rules. I read my first one when it was almost xeroxed and a strange size. They were way into Radio Shack PZMs (or so I thought--of course I started asking about dead stock at every RS I went into). Somehow they've managed to keep that home grown feel even though they're now talking about $4K mics. An inspiration.

[keithrt99]

a guy on harmony central did it. it sounds much bassier.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...readid=1199630

[Sven]

Why not just get Audix i-5?

[warhead]

Originally Posted by Sven

Why not just get Audix i-5?

The i5 will still walk the dog on the 57 across other parts of the frequency spectrum as well.

A buddy of mine however did remove the transformers from his 57's and liked the result.

War

[TornadoTed]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Flaw

april edition per chance?

That's what I was thinking!

[Jim Williams]

That trick is older than dirt. It was done in the 70's. Use good wire, I use military surplus silver teflon wire.

Audio is like fashion, everything comes around again.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[beats workin']

i did it- took about 15 minutes. indeed, more bottom end, and a more even freq. response in general. seems like it would work better in some situations, whenever you didn't want the usual extreme amount of nasal tone.
57s are tough with a digital medium. much better with tape.
so if you've got a few lying around, it's certainly worth it.
david lawrence

[mixerguy]

anyone else done it?

[Drumsound]

I think I'm gonna try it. maybe then I'll find the 57 useful...

[pigpen]

Yea screw it....lets check it out!

[rainsinvelvet]

I plan on trying it out this weekend. I've got 8 sm57's that just sit in there pouch waiting to be usefull on something. Maybe this will be the ticket

ERic

[Jim Williams]

Here's another monkey wrench for ya, the current crop of Mexican 57's sound nothing like the classic American made Unidyne III models. Those older ones, if you can find a clean one, have much better top end clarity than the Mexican 57's.
The Mexican models sound nasel next to a clean Unidyne III model.

Question is: do you want to change a classic mic that's no longer made?

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[pan60]

Originally Posted by warhead

The i5 will still walk the dog on the 57 across other parts of the frequency spectrum as well.

A buddy of mine however did remove the transformers from his 57's and liked the result.

War

i have been really liking the Audix om-2

[everybody's x]

Well thats exactly what I did, I had an old dead 545 (I have 8 all together) I prefer them to the 57.

I took the tranny out of the dead one and soldered in solid core wire. Initial run through; it is way more bassy, similar to my rca ribbon.

I am considering putting my old tranny into the newer 57 I have


I am planning on cutting some samples and posting them compared to the original 545 and a 57

I'm thinking

snare
guitar
vox
and a kick just for well....kicks

suggestions?



edit; as a tribute to War (and so I could tell which mic was which) I painted it blue

[Brad McGowan]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Here's another monkey wrench for ya, the current crop of Mexican 57's sound nothing like the classic American made Unidyne III models. Those older ones, if you can find a clean one, have much better top end clarity than the Mexican 57's.
The Mexican models sound nasel next to a clean Unidyne III model.

This has been my experience as well. The newer models are different sounding indeed.

Brad

[Tibbon]

Does it work on a 58? I have a 58 that something in it was killed by a water leak and a mixture with phantom power. Removing some parts like this does,... might make it work again?

[NathanEldred]

I'd like to hear it with the Lundahl output. But I definitely wouldn't want to have an SM57 padded 10db, it's already low enough.

[everybody's x]

Originally Posted by Tibbon

Does it work on a 58? I have a 58 that something in it was killed by a water leak and a mixture with phantom power. Removing some parts like this does,... might make it work again?

yes, provided the capsule itself still works

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by NathanEldred

I'd like to hear it with the Lundahl output. But I definitely wouldn't want to have an SM57 padded 10db, it's already low enough.

Probably wouldn't work correctly. The 57's coil is 12 ohms impedance. Not 150 ohms.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[DarkSky]

Originally Posted by AdamJay

boil the half of the mic with the tranny in it...remove the tranny and rewire...result has more low end, though 10dB less output...

LOL. Well, yes you can boil up your 57s.

Or on the other hand, you could just use a different mic that has more bass and a 10db pad to start with.

[AdamJay]

Originally Posted by DarkSky

LOL. Well, yes you can boil up your 57s.

Or on the other hand, you could just use a different mic that has more bass and a 10db pad to start with.

i think you are missing the point.

[twotracker]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Here's another monkey wrench for ya, the current crop of Mexican 57's sound nothing like the classic American made Unidyne III models. Those older ones, if you can find a clean one, have much better top end clarity than the Mexican 57's.
The Mexican models sound nasel next to a clean Unidyne III model.

Question is: do you want to change a classic mic that's no longer made?

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

I've got 3 Unidynes I will definately NOT boil.

So is this the reason the new Mexican Shures suck, the transformers are not as good?

[warhead]

Originally Posted by everybody's x

edit; as a tribute to War (and so I could tell which mic was which) I painted it blue

Mustang blue?

War

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by twotracker

I've got 3 Unidynes I will definately NOT boil.

So is this the reason the new Mexican Shures suck, the transformers are not as good?

No, it's the capsule. I asked a Shure engineer about it in 1990. He said the dies and stampers were old and sent to Mexico. Anyone who remembers doing records back in the 70's would know about worn stampers.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[wavcatcher]

Call me crazee but,
I like that I know what to expect from a 57. If I need a mic quick during setup
I know what it'll do and how it will react. The last thing I'd want is to throw it up
and go - what the hell,where's all this low end coming from or why the heck is this signal so weak!?!.

I guess what I'm saying is, if I want a 57 I want it to be what it is because it's a solution I am familiar with and I can spend my thoughts on placement while eliminating an unknown variable. If I want something different, then I'll grab it. But I don't want to get fooled by some secret modded 57 during setup and get bit in the ass because of it.

So I'm calling on all modded 57's to come with huge labels. Stickers, color coded zip ties anything - but please mark those bastards.

[Brad McGowan]

Or you could just use your ears, listen to what's coming through the monitors, and adjust from there.

Brad

[Bat Head Sound]

Originally Posted by NathanEldred

I'd like to hear it with the Lundahl output. But I definitely wouldn't want to have an SM57 padded 10db, it's already low enough.

Yeah, but then you could use it to mic up a nuclear explosion, wouldn't that be fun...