SM57's n eBay

JDOD

JDOD

therecordingrebels.com
SM57's tend to go on eBay for between 40 and 50 quid - anyone know how reliable these things are and if there are real world risks getting a 2nd hand one?
 
Hi,
I bought pretty much everything I have on eBay but the only thing I'd avoid is 57s.
Maybe I got bad luck but twice I bought a 57 and twice I got a fake! They're just far too common.

Use your judgement. If someone's selling bucketloads of them for £40 a piece, they're fake.
If someone's clearly just having a clear out and happens to have a 57 in there, maybe it's worth a punt.
From that point of view you can get a bargain because no one wants to take the risk!

If you can find out the weight of a 57 and get the seller to weigh his to the gram and send you a pic, that might do.
The fakes I got had very lightweight thin capsules glued onto an empty plastic chamber.
On a real 57 that 'chamber' is solid metal and quite heavy.

Saving a penny is always good but if you really want a 57 I'd just buy on a forum like this or buy new from an authorised seller. :)
 
+++++++ ^^^^ What Steen said !! I was ripped off on Ebay for a 58. And I have a friend at work who had the same thing happen to him on a 57. All I can advise is to check the feedback and the return policy. If you feel safe....go ahead........but "Buyer Beware" really means something when it comes to 57's or 58's on EBay.
 
I say just pony up the extra $40 or $50 and buy a known legit SM57 off of sweetwater/musician's friend/zzounds/music123/ams. Better than the $150 you'd spend if you got a fake and then had to go buy a legit one anyways :D
 
Yeah, only buy from a dealer. The one I got was most-likely a fake, from ebay - only after the wires ripped out from the head did I post pics here, and it didn't match up to a legitimate one OR like most of the fakes out there. I sold it "as-is" on ebay - with notes that it was probably fake - for $65 - got most of my money back. I wonder if the buyer then fixed it up and re-sold it as a real 57...
 
I agree with others, do NOT trust ebay, even when they say it's genuine, the same sellers will always have really blurry and bad quality photos, I bought my sm57 from an authorised dealer/music shop and it's lasted me 15 years so far with no problems at all.
 
For the cheap street price that can be had from most music shops around the world, buy a new one from a dealer. Funny they are half the price of what I used to pay in the 1990's

Alan.
 
I only ever buy 57s or 58s from places like Sweetwater or MF, and even then I am skeptical and do a full breakdown to check for authenticity after I receive the mic. Maybe I am paranoid, but the mics are only $100 brand new anyway, so is saving $50 on an already inexpensive purchase (considering what you are getting for $100 new) really worth the risk?
 
Well they're also a £150 quid new which is more like $150-160 so it is a decent saving depending on how skint you are. I am just buying a new house so every penny helps.
 
Studiospares £94
Thomann £85 inc a cable!
Never buy one ever from ebay or 58s, or Sennheiser 835s - they're the most common counterfeits going!
 
Find a reputable UK stockist. Production Room (Leeds - fantastic showroom and staff) & DV247 (used via internet but quality customer service & turnaround) are my 2 favourites.
 
I got a Meek TwinQ off ebay and the compression is all messed up. It crackles like crazy. The pre and EQ work just fine so I just turn the compresion off. That's the only thing I ever bought off ebay so I don't know if I can justify doing it again.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
I got a Meek TwinQ off ebay and the compression is all messed up. It crackles like crazy. The pre and EQ work just fine so I just turn the compresion off. That's the only thing I ever bought off ebay so I don't know if I can justify doing it again.
Click to expand...

Unfortunate for you, as their compressor is the whole reason most people buy Meeks to begin with.

I too, am leery of ebay, but if a reputable local music shop has any used ones, that would be the way to go to save some money. 57s are extremely hardy pieces of gear.

After the apocolypse, the only things left will be cockroaches and sm57s.
 
Ebay is a great source, but caveat emptor applies - kit that appears to be bargain may well be, but people often use it as a method of shifting old or unreliable gear, stolen gear and counterfeits!

Counterfeit Shure and Sennheiser mics can be sourced from the Chinese factories for crazy prices. Some are quite good, others are simply dreadful - thin, tinny and weedy! They come in convincing boxes, but the black much is a little 'stiff'. The instructions and guarantee cards are pretty good too. One of my regular suppliers offered me some Shure SM86 condensers - and I have some of these and quite like them. The sample price was $5! I don't sell counterfeits, but I was intrigued. So I added one to the order. When it arrived, first thing was it was too light, slightly the wrong shape, but when I plugged it into the system, it worked. This was actually a shock because the phantom power was off! Investigation inside showed a dynamic element! Absolute rubbish. However, some SM58s and 57s sound very similar. The problem is that until you try them you don't know. It's clear that thousands of people think they have a Shure mic, from ebay, but have a cheap copy instead.

Music shops are always more expensive, but handy. On-line gets you a genuine Shure much cheaper, but the choice is personal.
 
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