I had never seen a dead SM57

[ye olde fretmonkey]

until last night.

Plugged mine into the PA, and no go.

It's pretty old, a Unidyne style, but usually you can drive nails with those things and not hurt em.

[Paul G.]

Because that never happens.

I'll bet a wire to the capsule broke. Otherwise those things are indestructable.

P.

[David Barnett]

I've got a box full. All victims of drummers.

If I'd ever get off my lazy ass and do something about it, broken mics can be sent back to Shure for "repair". What they really do is just send you a new mic for $55. I have no idea what they do with the old ones.

[ye olde fretmonkey]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

I've got a box full. All victims of drummers.

If I'd ever get off my lazy ass and do something about it, broken mics can be sent back to Shure for "repair". What they really do is just send you a new mic for $55. I have no idea what they do with the old ones.

give em to drummers?

[Ben Harmless]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

I've got a box full. All victims of drummers.

I was just gonna say... I've seen a whole bunch, and it was drummers every time. The fun thing is looking around for that little meal spring that keeps the rotating head on when it's been smashed off. If you can find that thing on the stage, you're golden. I've got a pretty good record for that so far, with several repaired units to my name.

What I'm less fond of is the singers who want to use their own mic, that while it looks a lot less beat than the house 58s, is all over the frequency response map (even though it's a 58 too) and feeds back in really bizarre places. My gear is beat, but it works. I don't know how you kill a 58 without at least denting the grille first...

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Ben Harmless

I was just gonna say... I've seen a whole bunch, and it was drummers every time. The fun thing is looking around for that little meal spring that keeps the rotating head on when it's been smashed off. If you can find that thing on the stage, you're golden. I've got a pretty good record for that so far, with several repaired units to my name.

Yeah, I know how to put them back together if all the parts are there. And I hoard the copper clips from dead mics. Our dead ones usually involve damage to the diaphragm itself, or the glue holding down the edge of the diaphragm failing. If the first drumstick strike takes the plastic head off, subsequent strikes can do in the diaphragm which is left exposed.

I no longer use SM 57s on snare drum unless it's a national act who INSISTS. I prefer the Beta 56A for that application.

Originally Posted by Ben Harmless

What I'm less fond of is the singers who want to use their own mic, that while it looks a lot less beat than the house 58s, is all over the frequency response map (even though it's a 58 too) and feeds back in really bizarre places. My gear is beat, but it works. I don't know how you kill a 58 without at least denting the grille first...

Oh yeah, I've encountered those for sure. How does a 58 get mangled and still look good? Easy -- they replaced the old dented windscreen with a $9 Korean copy from the music store. I've got two unuseable 58s that were both ruined by the same a-hole on different shows. JD from The Legendary Shack Shakers is now on my list of singers for whom I will not provide a microphone -- if he doesn't bring his own next time, he does without. Nothing makes my blood boil faster than a douchebag singer who thinks that spiking the microphone is "showmanship".

[jz63]

I played a show in Fayetteville Arkansas once with a soundguy who made his own "drummer-proofing" for his sm57's.. he duct-taped a tablespoon onto the mic so that the diaphram was protected by the big end of the spoon.

[Ben Harmless]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Nothing makes my blood boil faster than a douchebag singer who thinks that spiking the microphone is "showmanship".

Well, as long as we're going there... I once, no lie, actually tackled a singer and took away his mic when he insisted on kneeling down and repeatedly smashing it into the stage. He had been warned once, and he ignored me. I don't take that kind of thing well, so the dude wound up singing through a crapy Radio Shack mic for the rest of the evening.

People, I beg you, remember that a microphone is essentially borrowed equipment. You wouldn't smash a borrowed guitar woud you?

Also, do not anger the monitor engineer. He is near the end of his rope already.

[Poppatwang]

Dropped it onto a concrete floor. Oops.

[Mike Dickerson]

I got tired of drummers knocking the ends off my 57's so I taped a fork on to mine. It has lasted 7 or 8 years and you can see where the fork has been beat to death.

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by ye olde fretmonkey

until last night.

Plugged mine into the PA, and no go.

It's pretty old, a Unidyne style, but usually you can drive nails with those things and not hurt em.

Strange, we've been using SM57's since 1980 and all 12 of then still work. We carry them around in tool boxes, in the shure bags they come with. Being an instrument mic they don't get handled, dropped to often at our concerts.

SM58's are great also, they are still being used on lots of stages.

Then there's always that one guy who shows up with a Beta58 and thinks it's the greatest thing on earth. So we accomodate him by removing our SM58. The Beta58 is just a hotter mic. It's like comparing a Les Paul (humbucker) and a Tele (single coil).

Wireless mics, lets not go there.

Drummers? They may damage the most mics because they have the most around them.

short microphone story:
We did a concert one year and we were using a 16 channel mixer. We had everything done except the drums. So we started going around setting up mics and got to the floor tom and we needed another channel. So we dropped the 17th mic chord in behind the amps in the spaghetti of wire and he never new the difference. The other 4 mics picked up everything and the drummer was none the wiser.

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by ye olde fretmonkey

until last night.

Plugged mine into the PA, and no go.

It's pretty old, a Unidyne style, but usually you can drive nails with those things and not hurt em.

Strange, we've been using SM57's since 1980 and all 12 of then still work. We carry them around in tool boxes, in the shure bags they come with. Being an instrument mic they don't get handled, dropped to often at our concerts.

SM58's are great also, they are still being used on lots of stages.

Then there's always that one guy who shows up with a Beta58 and thinks it's the greatest thing on earth. So we accomodate him by removing our SM58. The Beta58 is just a hotter mic. It's like comparing a Les Paul (humbucker) and a Tele (single coil).

Wireless mics, lets not go there.

Drummers? They may damage the most mics because they have the most around them.

short microphone story:
We did a concert one year and we were using a 16 channel mixer. We had everything done except the drums. So we started going around setting up mics and got to the floor tom and we needed another channel. So we dropped the 17th mic chord in behind the amps in the spaghetti of wire and he never new the difference. The other 4 mics picked up everything and the drummer was none the wiser.

[Ben Harmless]

Originally Posted by Bandit

Drummers? They may damage the most mics because they have the most around them.

...Which is why I use this exact sentence every time I mic a kit:

"I'm going to be sticking some mics on your kit. If any of them are at all in the way, let me know and I'll move them."

And that's always followed up after I'm done positioning them. Some drummers are very helpful, and assist me from the other side of a rack of toms or something, but many just say "nah, they're not in the way," and proceed to beat the snot out of them.

Oh well, I've been mic'ing snares from farther away lately anyway.

[ye olde fretmonkey]

That brings me to one of my favorite quotes from a sound guy, at Rudyard Kipling in Louisville (medium size brick room):

"58s don't work in this room."

Hmm? The industry standard mic for pro audio and PA doesn't 'work in this room'?

Never understood that.

[photoweborama]

I have a 58 go bad, I've never had any 57's. I sent it back for repairs, and they send a new one, but they sent it free of charge...

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Ben Harmless

Also, do not anger the monitor engineer. He is near the end of his rope already.

Old Greek saying: Don't anger the chef, or he'll piss in your soup.

Q: What's the difference between a monitor engineer and a toilet seat?

A: The toilet seat only has to take crap from one ******* at a time.

Friends don't let friends drive monitors.

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Bandit

short microphone story:
We did a concert one year and we were using a 16 channel mixer. We had everything done except the drums. So we started going around setting up mics and got to the floor tom and we needed another channel. So we dropped the 17th mic chord in behind the amps in the spaghetti of wire and he never new the difference. The other 4 mics picked up everything and the drummer was none the wiser.

Ah, the dummy mic trick. I've done this many times. Usually the dummy is the second overhead on the drum kit, or the second mic on the top rotor of the Leslie for the organist who insists on stereo.

[Paul in Colorado]

My 57's aren't very old, but they've been work horses. I have a 58 that I've been using since the '70's. The foam in the ball is beginning to turn to dust.

I've been using Audix mics a lot recently along with AKG condenser mics.

In most situations a kick, snare and overhead mic will take care of any drum set. The rest of the kit is bleeding into the vocal mics anyway!

[Fret Wilkes]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Ah, the dummy mic trick. I've done this many times. Usually the dummy is the second overhead on the drum kit, or the second mic on the top rotor of the Leslie for the organist who insists on stereo.

We play a lot of small rooms and the drummer insists on miking ALL of his drums. (I'm beginning to really dislike snare drums). So, he gets one of the guys to play his kit while he listens out front and I tweak the knobs. He says "little more...little more...little more...good". He sits back down, happy with his sound and I realize that I had the MUTE button on the mains all along (by mistake...HONEST)!!!