Repair Shure SM57 & Beta58a

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00:00 Introduction
02:00 Troubleshoot SM57
03:08 Remove SM57 Grill
05:57 Remove Capsule
07:04 Fix Lead Wire
09:49 Test Capsule
10:38 Mount SM57 Capsule
12:32 Attach SM57 Grill
14:08 Disassemble Beta58a
17:25 Assemble Beta58a
19:38 Test Mic Polarity By Ear
21:16 Outro

[@nnov_tech_chan7891]

The most intriguing intro animation. Love it

[@DaveRat]

🤙👍🤙

[@simondanielssonmusic]

I learn so much from watching these repair videos! Please keep making them!

[@DaveRat]

🤙👍🤙

[@pauljohnson4590]

Dave - been fixing 57's for years and releasing the spring clip from inside - takes ages and fiddly. Your method from outside, is so much better - never too old to learn something!!!!

[@DaveRat]

How do you release it from the inside?

[@pauljohnson4590]

@@DaveRat when you have the capsule with the shroud pulled off, you can stick a craft knife into the gap and flip the ends out, then lever it out - but your way is more elegant. The perforated grill reveals the two ends and the centre bit and it works. Yours however goes back together more easily than my old way.

[@pauljohnson4590]

@@DaveRat this is how I killed one trying to fix it kzbin.info/www/bejne/haLLfoKBds5mkLs

[@DaveRat]

Interesting and thank you

[@mickeyscott1054]

Old technicians never die. They just get stronger magnifier glasses. Oh Oh, my hearing aid is feeding back like Hendrix.😅😅😅

[@russellszabadosaka5-pindin849]

What a cool coincidence, the only mics I own happen to be an SM57 and Beta58a. Thanks as always for sharing your time & knowledge Dave!

[@DaveRat]

👍🤙👍

[@treborretlaw]

preloaded twists..that is severla level of genius! Thx a lot!

[@DaveRat]

🔧🎛️🔧🎛️🔧👍

[@JonAnderhub]

Oops! The lock washer goes on top of the plate in the 57 to keep the nut from coming loose. You put it under the plate. Also to remember which side the wires should go to just a small dot with a black sharpie on the black side will help. Great video!

[@hellopsp180]

WOW getting them out of polarity cancels the background noise :D that's really cool trick

[@DaveRat]

🤙👍🤙

[@NiddNetworks]

Love the idea of having 2 mics out of polarity as in-built noise cancellation! Guess it's pretty much a balanced line, but in the free-air space! haha :D

[@DaveRat]

Yes!!

[@steveparmley]

Thanks for the video. You make putting the grille cap on the 57 seem easy. I've been struggling with it and gave up. I'll have to try your technique!

[@DaveRat]

👍🔧👍

[@steveparmley]

@@DaveRat Worked like a charm. My 57 is back in service. I was making it harder than it needed to be. Thank you.

[@DaveRat]

Awesome

[@matthewbourne6257]

Incredible that the 57, the most unbreakable mic ever comes down to a connection of a wire *that* thin...

[@rahulmenon4357]

Wire thickness is determined by expected strength of signal

[@DaveRat]

That wire is voice coil wire. The super thin wire that is used to wind the voice coil is left with extra length that is taped to the side of the capsule and soldered to the terminals. This is common for many mics but typically the terminals are located closer to the diaphragm rather than extending over an air gap like they do in the 57 and 58

[@DeadKoby]

Common on just about every dynamic mic I can think of... Although many other models have them much shorter before they tie them to "normal wire"

[@DaveRat]

👍🤙👍

[@brucenicoll4373]

Nice to see a metcal soldering iron thanks Dave

[@DaveRat]

🤙👍🤙

[@georgesnow]

As a small sound provider with mainly shure mics in stock this is useful to know

[@clicks59]

Dave, you are a true craftsman. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@meistudiony]

Wow, ive never taken the head off a 57 like that. I always take the sticker off (in one piece) and depress the tabs in the holes (then put the sticker back when im done). Yours looks way easier! Love the setup with the mirror btw. Brilliant way to capture everything in one shot. Here i am sending a signal gen thru the mic to check polarity... thats so much easier lol. Thanks for a great video!

[@DaveRat]

Awesome and thank you!!

[@donm1547]

Dave, learned a few tricks on this one, thanks. Also, I literally said WOW when you explained the Grateful Dead noise cancelling tactic!

[@MichaelNatrin]

Great video! Checking polarity by ear is a cool trick.

[@Rompler_Rocco]

This is invaluable wisdom, thank you!!

[@topa1798]

Thank you Dave,we owe you a lot🙌🙌🙌

[@ryanstewart116]

I've repaired only about 3/4 mics so far. Half of them were just cheap (like Radioshack 58 knockoffs) and didn't last long but it was just a matter of replacing their wiring with mine. Diaphragms were fine. Fixed my first one back in 2009.

[@DaveRat]

Super cool and I totally support the fix everything you possibly can adventures!

[@issaccartwright736]

To everyone watching this video, buy a set of "tubular spanners" Roughly 6 local currency units for all sizes, and vastly enable tightening stuff without leaving apprentice marks everywhere or snapping more cables cause your leatherman slipped. Pedal inputs, amp inputs, guitar inputs, hard to reach inputs, anything hexagonal under 14mm you are covered. Don't mention it.

[@DaveRat]

Yes, definitely saves a a minute or so. My love of using minimal tool habits of old, die hard.

[@tommykennedy7827]

Thanks again Dave! I need to follow up on 57 dust cap rattles from snare drum friendly fire :-) Wish I could get help with bad shock/vibration isolation issues with RE20 & AKG D12 mics. miss using those...

[@gregbear123]

Would be cool to see Sm7b and sm57 comparison. People keep telling me they are virtually the same with the same cartridge, and I disagree. Sm7b looks like a bigger diaphragm and has no transformer.

[@66fitton]

Good circlip tip, sir! 🤣

[@Yerjckk]

Thanks I just fixed a borrowed mic that I broke, tell no one. Thank you again....

[@DaveRat]

Perfect!

[@grantbovee]

Thank You Sir

[@andyevans2336]

I recently rebuilt a switched SM58 with a Beta 58head for my guitar player. Better sounding and he can mute it when he wants.

[@DaveRat]

👍🤙👍

[@Sachifu]

That looks fun, what kind of companies could I possibly apply to do stuff like that? Not gonna pay as much as a national lab position in the bay area, but I'd prospectively be a lot happier doing this than masquerading around as Jill Nye the Science Gal.

[@DaveRat]

Years ago to supplement my income I would go to various recording studios and fix all their mics in exchange for them giving me their broken mics or paying me for the fixes. It actually went surprisingly well. I also fixed amplifiers and DJ mixers and that kept my income stable between doing shows

[@lpseem3770]

I know why those clips have to be there, but the are really annoying. Thank You for explaing how to deal with them. I tend to brake them end replacing with a good ones.

[@DaveRat]

👍🤙👍

[@MrAdopado]

It's certainly a strange design. I don't really see the benefit unless it's simply to discourage people from taking them apart!

[@TechGorilla1987]

@1:20 - "We've got some potential here..." About 48 Volts, amiright. 😆

[@sergeiponomarev8316]

Amazing job! Are you planning to fix the broken 58 capsule?

[@jorgemellooliveira9611]

Obrigado trabalho maravilhoso

[@DaveRat]

👍🤙👍

[@DJSHaKa]

Hey there! Great video. I have a Shure Beta58a and the circlip snapped in half for literally no reason. Mic barely used never dropped. Know where i can get a replacement? Shure doesnt want me to find one 🤣

[@fabricesolignat]

Hello can you make a video of the disassembly and reassembly of a Shure SM 56 now it is very important thank you.

[@fabricesolignat]

I like it

[@DeadKoby]

Considering that Shure charges NEARLY the price of a full replacement to get a replacement capsule, I've opted to get some aftermarket capsules to repair numerous mics. I do this for a music store. I inform them of what I have done, and they are satisfied with the performance of the repaired mics. Do you have a problem with aftermarket capsules?? providing that the info about their use is disclosed to the customer?

[@DaveRat]

How do the after market capsules sound? Swapping out a mic even with the factory console can be slightly less or more feedback stable. Wonder how close the aftermarket capsules sound. I know with aftermarket JBL 2" horn diaphragms, they vary greatly from ok sounding to honky and dull depending on who makes it I serviced a night club pa A while back (Roxy in Hollywood) and one thing I did to get the sound better was get rid of the aftermarket diaphragms.

[@DeadKoby]

@@DaveRat I thought they sounded just fine. I was testing them in my home studio. I suppose the only way to find out is to get a few and test them. Aftermarket SM57 Capsules were about $15usd....compared to $89 for genuine. Considering a drummer wholloped the original mic... the guys seemed satisfied with the replacement capsule. I suppose unless you compare them A to B, it's just guess work. Also, many of the mics I fix are/were just used for talking at events... and someone dropped the mic and broke it. That's a less critical application I suppose.

[@MrAdopado]

I think in that scenario the repaired mic should be marked to indicate it does not have a Shure capsule. Later in life that mic may be bought and sold a couple of times and people need to know what they are buying. Also it should be the customer's choice whether they have a good value repair with an alternative capsule or pay higher price for the Shure capsule.

[@tuukkatervo8760]

But ontologically speaking whose mic is that 57 now? Is it Dennis' or is it Dave's? Which part holds the essence of the microphone?

[@tuukkatervo8760]

One thing we know: it is not Grant's.

[@ladjkaoz]

I had a sm58 long time ago.. I must had drop it 10000 times, run it over with a 89 chevy pick up 3500 loaded with all the gear on. I wrap it with a cloth, clamp it on a bench vise remove the bend mesh, screw the new one and keep working. till I Lost it. I believe those mics were indestructible.

[@insulatedworld]

it's not the first time i see capsule snap like that in shure beta. now that i have one - i'm really concerned. grill seems alright so it seems like it didn't take that much force to break...not something i expected form an unbreakable industry standard.

[@bernieasis159]

that is what happened to my 57 but mine is very unfortunate it ripped closer to the diaphragm so there is no more wire to solder. It happened because of turning the grill which is supposed to turn freely but the yellow tape got stuck with grill. SO the lesson is even so it is made to turn freely just refrain from doing it as the tape may come loose ang get stuck to the grill. Ill never buy a 57 again

[@tvdylan]

if my voice cool has come loose, is it fixable or crazy difficuilt to fix ? : )

[@DaveRat]

I've never tried to reglue the voice coil that sounds tough. Probably need to unsutter the lead wires remove the diaphragm completely then glue The voice coil on, then re-center the diaphragm and glue it back on then resolder the lead wires. The good news is you have nothing to lose by trying!

[@tvdylan]

ohh ! -_- sounds finnikitty ! ha. thanks for the suggestion ! i might try one day but for now ive just ordered a bran new 57 !! haha !! yeah baby ! d.i.y. fixing attemps another day perhaps ! cheers ! @@DaveRat

[@DaveRat]

That is a better use of time considering the low cost and high probability of unsuccessful outcomes

[@tvdylan]

ha! indeed !! have a good day ! : ) @@DaveRat

[@bandslam33]

He said don't spin it, but he spins it

[@DaveRat]

Ahhh, confusion over "it" The it that is grill spins = good Because The it that is capsule spin = bad

[@djamelsadji8819]

Shure SM27 which gives parasites

[@price.gaines]

I have a great fix for a beta 58! Throw it in the garbage and buy an sE V7!

[@mattiacenacchi726]

You know too much about everything....................think if we only we had politicians like him.....

[@weareallbeingwatched4602]

Next thing... "demonetised"

[@DaveRat]

I'm afraid I don't understand

[@weareallbeingwatched4602]

@@DaveRat you know what happens to people who share information about how to fix things... it's called Louis Rossman syndrome. I joke of course, but it is getting to the point where you can have your youtube channel shut down by a manufacturer complaint about intellectual property, and showing how to maintain equipment yourself. We are deep into a slavery form of consumerism, and the prohibition on "hardware tampering" is how the mass surveillance is getting done - we don't have the legal right to publish many things learned about commercial systems, since the era of the iPhone jailbreak suppression and PlayStation court cases. I doubt shure will have you struck off but KZbin would have no hesitation in honouring such a request. This is, in my opinion, reprehensible, and shutting consumers out of the science is a dangerous game. Black box syndrome.