Is my Shure SM57 a fake ?

[Deck]

Hi everyone !
I've recently ordered a brand new SM57 to a English dealer on eBay. He has over 700 feedbacks, all positives. The mic was supposed to come from London, UK, refering to the description of the seller.

My SM57 came today, and I've been surprised to see it coming from China.
As this is my first Shure mic, I couldn't say by myself if this one is a counterfeit or not, and I would really appreciate the help of those who really know this mic. Of course, I first asked the seller why did it come from China, and I am still waiting for his answer.

 

[Deck]

Here are some pictures :

Many thanks, and best whises.

 

[jasonbmerrill]

looks right to me

 

[antichef]

same here -- looks real. You could carefully unscrew it on that middle seam, and see what's inside, then carefully screw it back together. I heard the fake ones have really obviously cheap stuff, like chinese newspaper, wrapped around the wires. The real ones will have some solidified glue holding a transformer (which may or may not be visible since it's encased in the glue). But if I had that one, I probably wouldn't bother, since it came with all that other stuff.

 

[WERNER 1]

Well it's pretty hard to tell if it's a fake or not,... they're building them very close to the original..

One way to tell is by looking in where the mic cable hooks up... besides there being the 1,2&3 pins ..there should be a flat tab in there as well .... I believe that the fakes don't have this ....

The one on the Left in both pictures is the real one,...the one on the Right is a fake,....

 

[_brian_]

I read on an ebay guide that the real mic weighs 284g and fakes are considerably lighter being 240g. If you have a meter you could check to see if the impedance is correct. It should be around 400 ohms, fakes are around 553 ohms. These will be approximate figures, so don't start flinging your 57 off of a wall if it's a few grams lighter or if it is a couple of ohms out.

 

[Deck]

Many thanks for your messages, I now believe this is a real one.
Mine has the flat tab at the end of the mic, and it do has solidified glue holding the transformer.
A friend of mine had an interesting theory : he thinks that "these are probably chinese people trying to do business under UK addy as they know people will not touch them with a bargepole if you know its coming from China."

 

[_brian_]

The microphone clip in your photo doesn't look standard shure issue, but they may have changed the design.

 

[Deck]

It has Shure written on it. But I don't care about the clip's origin
The mic sounds pretty good, I tried it and am happy with it. I just don't want it to fail next week.

 

[Rust E-Z]

Looks suspicious to me. The bag looks like the Chinese version (you'd have to see the sure bag to know what I mean) The clip is wrong for sure, and (this is subtle) the seam is tighter on yours like on the Knock Offs. The best way to know for sure is to see if you can compare it directly with a genuine one and compare the weight. The fakes are much lighter. Also on the fakes the body's are machined not cast and if you run your finger nail up and down the body you can detect the little micro grooves from the machining on the fakes. The literature looks better than on the fakes I bought though so you might be good.

 

[NewAgeMuttLange]

try and register the mic with shure? if its fake you'll find out :-D

 

[_brian_]

It has Shure written on it. But I don't care about the clip's origin QUOTE]

If the mic was sold as brand new you'll probably find that the mic came from the same origin as the clip!!

The bag looks like the Chinese version (you'd have to see the sure bag to know what I mean)

I have a 57 bag in front of me now & can see absolutely no difference comparing the pics. I know my mic is genuine!!

 

[Corndog]

I was under the impression that EVERYTHING was made in China these days.

 

[Deck]

So, here are new pics :

You can't see on the pic, but "Shure" and "1", "2", "3" are engraved in the bottom, here in the dark.

Well, I can't find my father in law's meter, I can't measure the impedance. It weights 245g, which isn't a good new if I believe _brian_.
Rust E-Z>I can't detect any little micro grooves from the machining. It is very soft, clean, dish, very well machining in fact (forgive my bad english... I'm french by the way).
The bag is made in China, no doubt about it as it is written inside it.

As suggested, I'll try to register and see what is coming.

Thank you everyone for your help !

 

[Barks]

Looks real to me.

Most likely the wage demands have gone up in Mexico where they were made...

Barks

 

[WhiteStrat]

Or it was made in Mexico like normal and shipped to China to be sold there. Now the Chinese person/company is selling it.

 

[Corndog]

I bought a 58 here in Vancouver from Long & McQuade and the case says "Made in China".

 

[Deck]

I just come back from a music store, and we had hard trouble to find a difference between my SM57 and theirs.
But it remains some very subtle differences...
For instance, the Shure sticker of the mic is matte on theirs. Mine is shiny/varnish...
The clip is also different.
But having both in the hands, I couldn't notice anything else. If I had gone with their mic, they wouldn't have notice it. But I'm too honnest
So I think I'll never know exactly... I'll say "I'll never be Shure"

 

[Rust E-Z]

your mic has thicker gauge cable on the inside than my knock offs do, so that's looks good. If there was nor an obvious difference in weight it brobably is not fake. My knock offs are alot lighter than a real 57. Also my Knock offs sound like crap so if yours sounds good your good to go. If it sounds good it almost doesn't matter weather its real or not. But I can't see a knock off company using the thick gauge cable that I see in your pic.

 

[_brian_]

"Also my Knock offs sound like crap so if yours sounds good your good to go."

Agree, the first thing you should do is listen to the mic, if it sounds good, there's a good chance there's nothing sinister going on. The point in a fake is to make as much money from a single sale as possible so they use the cheapest materials & their mics are of the lowest manufacturing standard. It should sound rotten if it is indeed a fake.