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Thread: Thile using an SM57 mic

  1. #26
    NY Naturalist BradKlein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    I believe this is a legit quote from Gillian Welch, although I can't remember or vouch for the original source.

    "We carry Shure SM-58s and SM-57s," Welch says. "Fancy microphones can be very difficult. The one thing that’s nice about the Shures is that their quality control is low enough that they are all different. They’re like snowflakes. If we carry a complement of eight microphones, we can go into a hall and find the right one for the room and the system. We play the microphone game; we swap them out."
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  3. #27
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    I ran sound for the Steel Drivers once, and Brent Truitt was cool with a 57. Me, I'm rather fond of my K&K's.

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  5. #28
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    ...Bet they've made Shure a ton of money...
    I never really gave that much thought until just now. They sold those same Mics for years and I don't remember ever having one go bad. I'm sure they did just none that were in my control. They had applications in beyond stage work for everything from grocery stores to school PA systems.

    Yeah, there are a bunch but I've seen those mics that had to be 40 years or more old still in use. I wonder if that affected the bottom line?
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  7. #29
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    This thread reminded me of something I read a while back regarding fake SM57/58's not being uncommon.

    Plenty of info regarding same on Google.

  8. #30
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    I saw one person mention the quality of the instrument. So I'll second that.

    I would think he'd travel with his own mikes that he likes for whatever reason, and not leave this important factor of the show up to fate.

    Shure has been my go-to forever. Dependable, reliable, and nearly indestructible. One of the proudest moments in my performing career was when I broke the barrel of an SM 58. I don't know how I did it, and I can still scarcely believe it happened. But I've always felt it was a real accomplishment. Not to be desired, of course, but still to be admired. It can be done!
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    I’ve been happy with Shure SM-57 and -58 mikes since forever, especially in live performance. Here’s something from a bass forum that seems relevant:
    “Bassist Anthony Wellington put on a clinic in a Chicago music store. The guy at the store asked Ant what backline equipment he wanted. Ant told him, ‘Whatever you got is fine.’ It wasn't because his sound didn't matter to him but because he knew he could sound like himself no matter what. For unfathomable reasons we, as a group, refuse to learn that lesson.”

    I’m convinced that few audiences are populated by microphone and speaker snobs so few audience members are likely to discern a 57 from a Nady from a Neumann.

  10. #32
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    From a practical viewpoint, a Neuman through the average PA system is unlikely to sound that much different than an SM57.

  11. #33
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    From a practical viewpoint, a Neuman through the average PA system is unlikely to sound that much different than an SM57.
    Maybe, but back to my drumming days again...
    We miced the drums with 57s because that's what we had. On those occasions when we played with a hired sound crew and they put Neumans on my drums, I could sure tell the difference, and I suspect the audience could too. Still, 57s did the job most of the time.

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  13. #34
    Registered User Randy Mallory's Avatar
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Frank Sinatra used an SM-58 as his live vocal mic for years.
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  14. #35
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Quote Originally Posted by PDMan View Post
    Frank Sinatra used an SM-58 as his live vocal mic for years.
    Sinatra did it his way
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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  16. #36
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Question Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    So , Brad Klein, He has a website did you write to him and ask directly?

    Although Speculation is Entertaining
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
    about architecture

  17. #37
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Quote Originally Posted by sunburst View Post
    Maybe, but back to my drumming days again...
    We miced the drums with 57s because that's what we had. On those occasions when we played with a hired sound crew and they put Neumans on my drums, I could sure tell the difference, and I suspect the audience could too. Still, 57s did the job most of the time.
    I remember doing a sound job in the Channel Islands (off the south coast of the UK but nearer to France). I decided to use the house PA as it meant I could fly over and avoid a 4 hour ferry trip each way. Good choice as the PA was as good as if not better than I had available and the only mics they had were Neumans.

    It’s a job I’ll always remember as the drummer arrived without his kit. He was accredited by Yamaha and the flight case wouldn’t fit in the aircraft so we had to borrow a kit from a local studio.

  18. #38
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    From a practical viewpoint, a Neuman through the average PA system is unlikely to sound that much different than an SM57.
    Agreed, in a studio it is another matter, but live and studio are two different worlds. Jerry Garcia said that being in the studio was like building a ship in a bottle, and playing a gig was like being out on the ocean.

  19. #39
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    The best recording engineer I ever worked with actually preferred a 57 for miking a resonator banjo in the studio. And he had dozens of high quality mics at his disposal to choose from.

    For live work, the instrument itself is very important. I have found that oval hole mandolins are generally easier to mike than F-5's. The best miking mandolin I ever had was a Lyon & Healy style B. If the sound man couldn't dial that one in, it was time to look for another sound man.

    I once sold off what would now be a quite valuable old Martin guitar because it was nearly impossible to mike.

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  21. #40
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Ahem: "plain old"?

    If you can't get it with a 57, you can't get it.
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  23. #41

    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    In Sinatra's day there were some really terrible hand held mics, even AKGs stunk. Boom,,crack...whenever the vocalist grabbed the mic. Not so with a 58 which is the same thing as a 57 but with a pop filter for handheld vocals.

  24. #42

    Default Re: Thile using an SM57 mic

    Quote Originally Posted by Paul Cowham View Post
    Agreed, in a studio it is another matter, but live and studio are two different worlds. Jerry Garcia said that being in the studio was like building a ship in a bottle, and playing a gig was like being out on the ocean.
    Indeed! I remember seeing a concert where Grisman was playing with one of his quintets and he was floating around riffing and chording, sometimes 2-3 feet away from the mic and everything was perfectly balanced. Of course, the caliber of the musicians and how attuned they were to eachother was a big part of it, but the quality of the mic's allowed more freedom for the musicians.

    I remember reading about a pro (can't remember now, it may have been Tim O'brien) saying that they always carried a couple of KM 184s with then when they traveled to different venues. Point being that musicians can hear the difference, and that affects their experience.

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