Shure SM57's FAKE !!!!!!! ?????

[cosmos]

Originally Posted by joeq

what a strange phenomenon.

for someone to make and sell a fake SM 57 seems like a lot of trouble and risk for a small profit- kind of like making a counterfeit one dollar bill.

its not a small profit, in china you make make identical copies under a buck of cost ... $60 looks to me like a nice profit, considering that he sells 10 a day ???!!!

60x7 = 420 a week ...

$1680 a month

$20160 a year , and thats only from 57's ...

5 models fakes mic's, and you got 100k a year. looks promising right ? yeaaaa ... im going to buy me a nice SSL !!!

[stagefright13]

Here's a picture of the cases. None of my cases have a tag inside.

http://stagefrightonline.com/cases

[cosmos]

they are all the same size ? well, the chinese are the best in the faking industry, they can make them 100% identical, only with a $0.25 capsule... they just forgot to take the stiker out ...

[stagefright13]

Yeah all the cases are the same size. Slightly different texture tho. And notice where the shure logos are compared to your pics.

[DontLetMeDrown]

This thread motivated me to checkout my 57s, all of which were purchased from GC a few years back. All of my mic bags clearly say: MEXICO printed on the inside. I notice that the mic the OP has labeled as a fake has holes exactly like all of mine: 2 holes on the XLR end, not 3. As everyoned has metioned, there are many variations so I'm not worried.

The guitar tones I end up with are enough to ease my mind. Can't say I'm disappointed

[cosmos]

Originally Posted by DontLetMeDrown

This thread motivated me to checkout my 57s, all of which were purchased from GC a few years back. All of my mic bags clearly say: MEXICO printed on the inside. I notice that the mic the OP has labeled as a fake has holes exactly like all of mine: 2 holes on the XLR end, not 3. As everyoned has metioned, there are many variations so I'm not worried.

The guitar tones I end up with are enough to ease my mind. Can't say I'm disappointed

and what every Gear Slut will say: if you can get a good sound from a $2 made in singapure mic, then thats a mic to keep .

[DeepSpace]

Originally Posted by cosmos

... on the oroginal case from Shure, you will NEVER find " made in china " . never .

I'm afraid you're mistaken. Sm57s that we recently acquired from the Shure dealership in Australia came in vinyl bags that have 'Made in China' tags sewn into them. We queried this with them and they said the bags (only) are made in China. FWIW, the bags and mics look exactly like the ones you are saying are fakes - and exactly like the ones posted by Stagefright13

Originally Posted by cosmos

... weird, Stagefright13, your vintage sm57's looks identical to the fake that i have ... or maybe they are not .... **** it ... i dont know .

If you have two fake mics, I'd say its more likely the other two, not the ones that resemble Stagefright13's. Despite the "Made in China" tags in the bags.

All else aside, the creators of the fakes (if that's what they are) have gone to a lot of trouble. I do not think they are going to get 'caught out' leaving a tag that isn't supposed to be there...

[ImJohn]

I don't think that having a mic bag made in China nessisarily means that it or especially the mic are conterfeit. Shure does do manufacturing in China. In 2005 Shure opened two new facilities in China: a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Suzhou, and a sales and marketing office in Shanghai.

other related stuff . . .

Shure's SM57 user guide. look at the diagrams. It shows wiring colors the same as what I have and your have in your package #2 that you think is fake. It doesn't show a third hole either (but it doesn't show the XLR connector locking notch so it may not be the best indicator.)
http://www.shure.com/stellent/groups...ro_sm57_ug.pdf

A PDF of interest :
http://www.jands.com.au/jandsweb/dow...ShureAlert.pdf

[TheArchitect]

Originally Posted by ImJohn

I don't think that having a mic bag made in China nessisarily means that it or especially the mic are conterfeit. Shure does do manufacturing in China. In 2005 Shure opened two new facilities in China: a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Suzhou, and a sales and marketing office in Shanghai.

other related stuff . . .

Shure's SM57 user guide. look at the diagrams. It shows wiring colors the same as what I have and your have in your package #2 that you think is fake. It doesn't show a third hole either (but it doesn't show the XLR connector locking notch so it may not be the best indicator.)
http://www.shure.com/stellent/groups...ro_sm57_ug.pdf

A PDF of interest :
http://www.jands.com.au/jandsweb/dow...ShureAlert.pdf

The 57 I bought a month ago does not have a third hole and the bag says made in china. The one I bought about 10 years ago does have the third hole and bag says made in mexico

[stagefright13]

After closer inspection DontLetMeDrown is right there is an ink stamp inside the bags way down inside that says Mexico. Sorry I was looking for a tag.

[cosmos]

Could be, i realy hope they are real, i will check them soon.

you are right, i went to sam ash, the same one was on display, however i dident saw the case.

[Detuned6]

This whole thread is quite intresting. So i checked out my 2 57's that I got around 10 years ago. Both mics have the "3" holes.(i just noticed that the middle hole is threaded) And the bags have " mexico" printed in the inside of the bag. My friend just got two 57 from Guitar Center(last month), I must ask him what his mics have.

[cosmos]

very intresting, does any of those 60 revision have a sound diffrence ? i think i need to a\b\c\d\e\f\g them all .

[DeepSpace]

Originally Posted by ImJohn

Shure's SM57 user guide. look at the diagrams. It shows wiring colors the same as what I have and your have in your package #2 that you think is fake. It doesn't show a third hole either (but it doesn't show the XLR connector locking notch so it may not be the best indicator.)
http://www.shure.com/stellent/groups...ro_sm57_ug.pdf

It's true that the diagrams (eg Figure 5) don't show the XLR lock-notch. But the photograph at the top left of the first page of the document *does* clearly show it - along with a single screw-hole.

[joeq]

so, uh, which fake 57 do you guys like on snare drum?

I think pre-crackdown Shenzhen fake 57s are great on guitar cabs but they don't do it for me on snare...

[Sqye]

lol

[myklcz]

Guys, I'm not sure that cosmos was right. With my humble option the top mike (on his foto) looks more like fake to me. BTW bags for Shure are manufactured in china, otherwise fakes bags have stamped Mexico in common...

Best metode is trust Your ears Or here are some simple guides, how You can determinate fake/ real SM57 I've found out:

1/ genuie 57 have silver coil, fakes with color as the rest of the mike body
2/ Genuie 57 have resistivity (pins 2-3) aroud 400Ohm max., fakes over 500Ohms
3/ real 57 have aprox. 20 grams more then fakes
4/ real 57 sound 5 times better


Good luck! Michael

[aussie_techie]

an old thread but the bags were changed around that time, probably earlier as there was plenty of old stock around for a long time, the bags are now made in china anyway.
All my SM only have a single screw hole and all have green and yellow wires joined to a while \ light green plate so if either mic is a fake its the first one.

the glue in all mine is neat and smooth on top and looks very neat, ive seen some that i wasnt sure if were real or fake that were very messy inside.

the finish is another thing that is slightly different between manufacturing runs.

[Vogon]

Originally Posted by joeq

what a strange phenomenon.

for someone to make and sell a fake SM 57 seems like a lot of trouble and risk for a small profit- kind of like making a counterfeit one dollar bill.

Volume.
57's sell like hot cakes. I would think they're also one of the first things "noobs" and hobbyists hear about and buy, so the demand must be pretty large.
And, even fake dollar bills would be desirable in a country with a royally screwed economy, (zimbabwe) if you could print 'em cheap enough, I s'pose.

I did read some fakes don't even have a transformer.

[GMR]

Last summer I thought I got a good deal on 2 beta 58's, turns out they were both fakes. this was a local guy selling them on personnal ads. I quickly called him back and luckily got my money back. but here's the link to the guide that helped me.

eBay Australia Guides - Fake Shure Beta series Microphones - How to spot them

[Stiff]

I like my fake 57. Not that it claims to be a 57, just a replica of it

[jbjoubaud]

Originally Posted by myklcz

Guys, I'm not sure that cosmos was right. With my humble option the top mike (on his foto) looks more like fake to me. l

Top mic was indeed the fake one.

If you had done a seach, you would have found this :

FAKE SHURE SM57'S (including pics)

[cosmos]

Originally Posted by jbjoubaud

Top mic was indeed the fake one.

If you had done a seach, you would have found this :

FAKE SHURE SM57'S (including pics)

indded, the top was fake.. i still have one of them, some kid stole the other one from my studio...

[jbjoubaud]

oops, sorry about that search comment... As it turns out, the thread I was pointing out was done about a year this one, and this thread is already 3 years old...
(I don't like it when people do what I just did )

[pan60]

what is really sad, is i will no longer buy used 57 or 58's because of the fear associated with getting screwed.
and when you do buy, you have to make extremely sure you are dealing with a reputable Shure dealer.
so not only dose Shure loose sell's, they loose repeated sell's, sadly they should not suffer for some making counterfeit mic's, but this is the case.

[TobyToby]

You can't buy any SM57 on ebay UK. Almost all of them are fakes and people bidding close to the official dealer price - stupid

[pan60]

Originally Posted by TobyToby

You can't buy any SM57 on ebay UK. Almost all of them are fakes and people bidding close to the official dealer price - stupid

insane!
i bet their is a lot more fake ones being sold then is even realized?

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Vogon

I did read some fakes don't even have a transformer.

meanwhile, there are folks out there who Mod their real 57s by removing the transformer.

maybe I could get a hold of some of those discarded transformers and put them into my fake 57s.

[aussie_techie]

Originally Posted by Vogon

I did read some fakes don't even have a transformer.

many don't because its the first thing they can take out to make them cheaper.
JTS seemed to of gotten the real body molds but non of their dynamics have transformers and the loading change from something as simple as engaging a pad completely changes the sound of the mic.

people try and argue the merits of the copies and under ideal conditions the mics generally sound fine but any change in loading and you'll think someone changed the mic on you.

[A_B_C]

I bought a fake 57 on eBay two weeks ago for $60, and I'm keeping it as an alternate to my other SDD mics. It's well-built and yields a hot signal with no audible noise. As you'd expect it's bright (there's no x-former), but it has some depth and character, all usable qualities that differ enough from my real 57s and Audix i5 that I decided to keep it. I let the seller hear about it, though, as did another buyer.

It's a shame they don't just come out and call these "Fake 57" mics, sell 'em cheap and dodge the law like other self-respecting criminals. Trying to pass them off as authentic creates a lot of confusion and consternation, and wastes too much time!

Anybody remember those great old Tokai Strats? The Fernandes wasn't bad, either.