RIP Trusty Friend, or, Why Patience Is a Virtue

[jafo]

My SM57 died today following surgery; I'd removed the resonator disc, and in my glee at how fantastic and open my old friend sounded, I wasn't careful enough and accidentally removed the diaphragm on reassembly. Kinda Humpty Dumpty, ya know? Ah well; at least I finally got that midrange spike to disappear. (Along with all the other frequencies.)

[artifus]

ho hum. you can at least grab the transformer from it. heat the body to soften the glue, some folk boil 'em, and it should just pull out.

[jafo]

Well, $100 isn't exactly ho-hum to me (it's more like a year of saving up pennies), but no worries.

Hmm, didn't think of saving the transformer. Good call, and thanks. Kinda worried about the toxic chemicals in the glue, though.

[artifus]

you could buy a replacement capsule. maybe try a few different ones, they can be found quite cheaply. just open a window to extract the transformer if you're worried about fumes. i removed one of mine to have the option of using it with or without the transformer.

[Seljer]

The replacing it with an original capsule is still cheaper than buying a new one altogether http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=242-2114

[artifus]

http://www.jlielectronics.com/transsound/dynamics/

[jafo]

Very cool. Thanks, guys.

[wavley]

That's pretty sad, I'm a fan of the disc removal, I have a few mics that I never really used because of that peak and now I use them all the time.

[Cliff Schecht]

What's this "disc removal" trick you guys speak of? I've never heard of it..

[artifus]

http://www.oktavamodshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=115

*also*

http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Shure/SM57

http://www.recordingmag.com/resources/resourceDetail/330.html

http://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/4001/shure-sm57-sm58-mods/

[Paul Marossy]

What's this "disc removal" trick you guys speak of? I've never heard of it..

I was wondering the same thing, but the link provided by artifus explains it. I didn't know they had a resonator thingie inside of them.

[Jazznoise]

Only an engineer could break a 57!

If you don't like the resonator please try a lower Z pre-amp. The 2.2K impedance we load 57's with these days is 4 times what we used to, after all. Or get a different mic! Those RM700's Thomann do are great for cabs if you're not going live!

[tempus]

If you're looking for a replacement (other than a 57) I'd try an Audix i5. I could never get a 57 to sound quite right (that nasally thing is tough to get rid of) even with gobs of EQ after the fact, and no amount of positioning solved the problem either. I even went to a low impedance mic pre, and, although the sound improved somewhat, it still wasn't great. I'm not exactly sure how it got to be such a legendary mic (other than it got used on zillions of recordings). I picked up an i5 a few weeks ago, pointed it at my Marshall, and it sounds great. I haven't really had time to mess around with different angles and placement, but the very fact that I just plugged it in and got a usable sound is encouraging.

[a soBer Newt]

Hey check out these guys http://www.speakerrepair.com/page/product/microphones/37-206.html for $30 cant go wrong.

[wavley]

Only an engineer could break a 57!

If you don't like the resonator please try a lower Z pre-amp. The 2.2K impedance we load 57's with these days is 4 times what we used to, after all. Or get a different mic! Those RM700's Thomann do are great for cabs if you're not going live!

The load thing works too, but in a different way.  I like them both for pretty different reasons.  Where the disk removal type thing worked best for me was on the original AKG C3000, I always found the high end of that mic to be harsh and phasey, remove the metal mesh resonator disc right in front of the diaphragm (that was put there to hype the highs) and now you have a smoother more usable mic.  Honestly, my favorite way to mic an electric bass right now is an old Shure Unidyne (565 I think, the switchless one that looks like a 58) with both the disc removed AND loaded to 500 ohms on a 15" and a BLUE Ball pointed at a 10".  The result, when mixed, is a bass that goes boom in the right way and has definition.  Of course your results may vary, we use pretty much only short scale basses (Squier Jaguar, Jaguar Custom Baritone, a Hofner copy that I believe is an Ibanez, and sometimes a full scale Peavey T-40), point being, do I need a mic that goes down to 35 or 40 for this application?  Not really, but it really does mix well with what we're using and the modded Unidyne does a great job of giving me a warm/smooth bass/midbass.

The other place I like the disc removed is on my tom mics, when solo'd they are too thuddy, but when mixed with the overheads and room mic it gives me a great balance.

For guitar, I'm pretty fond of a mix of e609 and Apex ribbon on my big amp, my Vibrolux likes a mix of the BLUE Ball and an un-modded, get this, Radio Shack 58 clone!  Of course that's from back when Shure made Radio Shack's mics, it's really a surprisingly good sounding mic.  Of course this is going into an old green face Altec mixer as the mic pre, so no extra loading needed.