For owners of Shure sm57 ...

ORIGINAL: ericuf

Hi! I just got my first "serious" microphone - the sm57. I have a question: the very top of the microphone rotates -- it's not locked in place. Is it supposed to be like that? Thank you!

All of mine do..........

ok thanks! ...

The top is held in place by a spring clip that sits in a groove and has two little tabs to hold the cap on. To dissassemble, just set it up in the vicinity of a drummer with no stick control.

ORIGINAL: bpclark

To dissassemble, just set it up in the vicinity of a drummer with no stick control.

Funny, but soooooo true!

Aside from that darn plastic part, the mic is really durable.
It seems most Shure mics are durable except for a single part. SM58 - the grill.

I've never broken the plastic, but I've dented the grill.

ORIGINAL: krizrox

ORIGINAL: bpclark

The top is held in place by a spring clip that sits in a groove and has two little tabs to hold the cap on. To dissassemble, just set it up in the vicinity of a drummer with no stick control.

LOL! Yes - the SM57's are great percussion instruments. I once miked an SM57 with another SM57 just to capture the sound of the plastic capsule being knocked off by my drummer.

.....

LOL ! The SM57 works OK to mic the knocking off of the capsule of another one but fails to capture the full dynamics and detail of the event. I've found that an SM81 (even when placed over by the hi-hat) does a better job of captureing the full depth of the "performance" but may not sit as easily in the mix as your method.

Ahhh... the SM57, best cowbell mic ever made.

ORIGINAL: bpclark

You could leave it off, but it leaves the tender part(mic diaphragm) exposed. The problem is that it can be a real bugger to get the top back on.

ORIGINAL: ParanoiA

This is probably one of the reasons I stopped using SM57s on drums.

Ok, stupid question alert...

I've never taken mine off and haven't had it near any drummers, so I don't even know what exactly is exposed when it pops off...so, could you just leave it off?

I don't know about that... the pickup pattern and even tone of a mic can be affected by removing the grill. The case and cap are often the most clever part of the design.

I don't know about that... the pickup pattern and even tone of a mic can be affected by removing the grill. The case and cap are often the most clever part of the design.

Really? Interesting. Not that I would have actually tried it, but it's good to know these things.

ORIGINAL: Beagle

Yeah - Frank's right. You can verify that info by looking at the specs on the SM57 and SM58. The only difference between the two mics is the grill. The bodies of the mics are exactly the same thing. And looking at the specs, the SM57 freq response is from 40Hz to 15kHz while the SM58 is 50Hz to 15kHz. Since the only difference between the two is the grill - that means the grill does make a difference.

It does make a big difference, the grill on the 58's is thicker and has an internal
foam rubber liner, there is a good 1/2 inch from the diaphram to the grill
with the 57's the grill is thinner and just an 1/8th inch grom the diaphram.
Which is why 57's diaphrams blow so much faster, but sound crisper.
They are both excelent mics. I always liked singing through 57's.
I used to take off the inner foam liners on the 58's for a better sound.
I hate wind screens........just a pet peave.

Direct from the horses mouth:

It is true the SM57 and SM58 microphones are based on the same cartridge design. The main difference between them is in the grille design. The SM58 was designed for vocal application and it uses a separate grille with a very effective pop filter. The SM57 was designed as an instrument microphone where smaller grille size is preferred. In this application the pop and wind are not usually a concern. The SM57 uses an integral resonator/grille assembly, where grille is actually a part of the cartridge. These two grille designs place the diaphragm of the microphones in a different acoustical environment. First of all, the distance from the top of the grille to the diaphragm is significantly shorter on the SM57 compared to that of the SM58. This allows for closer sound pickup with even more pronounced proximity effect. Secondly, a different resonator/grille assembly design of the SM57 is responsible for its slightly higher output above 5 kHz.

congratulations.
Its ironic that so many people spend so much on "more professional" mics.
you will find 57's in pretty much every pro studio in the world.
You wont find many CAD, MXL or Behringers though!
the 57 and the 604 are pretty much always on my amp.