Just bought 3 SM 57's . Something is very wrong. Please help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Newtons Law
  • Start date Start date
Newton, not to worry. Blue Bear is, as near as I can see, a competent engineer, and a useful resource to this board. It may be that there's not a future for him in the diplomatic service, but I don't see myself going that way either. Bottom line- if you must use drum clips, use a little strapping tape or whatever to stop your vibrating caps. Booms will allow you to position the mics better acoustically and ergonomically (out of the drummers way). Yes they're all loose like that, and they've survived the test of time that way. My impression is that putting SM57's with drum clips was a real stupid maneuver by Shure. If I wanted to go that route, I'd have chosen Audix or Sennheiser, or something with nice short mics, but frankly, I get better results with a bunch of 57's, AKG D690's, Oktava MC012 overheads, and an AKG d112 on kick. At least the Beta was designed as a drum mic, and can live inside a kick drum just fine. Stick around, there's a wealth of knowledge here.-Richie
 
And just what are them colors Bear? you seem to know every thing.


You think because I get mad when a smart ass disrepects me that Im showing bad form?

Well fuck your form buddy.
Like I said I could tell from your first post that you were some smart ass coming in here to bless this noob with your all mighty wisdom.

And just because I only have 10 posts here dosnt mean Im a noob to a BBS. I know all to well about you freaking flamers and smart asses that seem to lure around a popular BBS such as this.


You show no respect to a stranger and then when they are offended by it you act suprised as if "What did I do"


I cant stand people like you. I come here for a simple question and you blow it all out of proportion with your marketing philosphy and your "Throw it out the door" BS.


How bout some real advice mr know it all.
Can you tell me why the Mic houseing's are so loose? What possible advantage could it have being so loose like that? So loose that the same vibrations its supposed to be recording are making it rattle?

And before you state the obvious again I know the vibration is extream do to the tom clips being on the toms them selves.

And I also know that if those freakin screen housings were nice and tight they would not be vibrating weither they were mounted directly to tom or not.
 
Newtons Law said:
How bout some real advice mr know it all.
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Absolutely......


Newtons Law said:
Can you tell me why the Mic houseing's are so loose?
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No idea -- I didn't design them...... youll want to ask Shure that question....


Newtons Law said:
What possible advantage could it have being so loose like that?
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No idea --- but I've never encountered a probem with them being in that condition because whenever I use them, I mount them in the appropriate way.... ie - boom stands... so the issue has never come up..........

Anymore questions or are you happy for the moment..........?!?!?


I should point out that I have been nothing but polite to you UNTIL you started being stupid........... I clearly told you I was not being sarcastic, but humourous....... apparently, you decided you would play the newbie martyr anyway....

No matter.... enjoy the site......

Don't feed the bears and you won't get bitten --- much............
 
Thank you very kindly Richard for a very freash breath of air :)


But from what you stated in your reply is the reason Im so frustrated with this Blue Bear guy.

He has completly turned my question into something else.
I never asked why the mic was vibrating. This is an illusion that Blue Bears misunderstanding has put in place.

Granted Im very new at microphones and micing a live drum set. My previous experince is limited to a couple cheap dynamic mics and a Octova M319.


But I understand why the clips are bad for these type of mics.
And I have learned (the hard way) that this so called kit was not set up properly.

And its not because I didnt relise that the clips being directly mounted to toms would create extream vibrations. Duh

Its because I didnt relise that the SM 57's had a very loose screen houseing.


See Blue Bear turned this whole discussion around making it sound like I was asking stupid questions when in fact I asked a very specific question which was answered in the very first post.

And before anyone else says to throw them mic clips out the door you have to relise these clips work great. Asuming you have the proper mic which unfortuanly I do not. Even thoe I bought them as a set :(

Shure its a complete kit :) Shure it is :)


BTW this whole flame war here didnt eveolve from this topic alone. It really started to heat up when Blue Bear had to nit pic me like a lil baby over in another forum. Treated me like I was spamming all over the place when I decided to post in 1 additional forum for advice.

Granted I know how it is when people flood a bunch of forums with the same topic. I truly feel this was not the case and felt the nit picking was un called for.

I know this is the first time I have posted here on this BBS but I have been visiting this site for quit some time now for information. Just never really had a specific question such as this.
 
Hi Newton:

Please excuse me if I change the subject back to the issue of clip-ons.

I regularly use "The Claw" brand mic mounts on snare and rack toms, because it makes for a whole lot less clutter by cutting down on the mic stands surrounding the kit. This often means the difference, in my limited space, of the musicians being able to get past the drums and get to the bathroom. This is a significant consideration.

I never use Sm57's on Toms, but I do use one on snare, and haven't noticed the rattle. The end cap which includes the grill does rotate freely, but doesn't seem to make any noise, at least when used with the claw on a snare. On rack Toms I tend to use EV ND408's or AKG414's (either EB or b/ULS) - and again have not noticed a problem with them in conjunction with the Claw.

This could be for a few reasons:

•I mount the claw on the bottom rim, not the top?
•The Claw might be less vibration prone than the Shure clips?
•My Sm57's don't have as much "play" in the grill cap as yours do?

If I were you, I would contact Shure tech support. You could start with a detailed e-mail precisely describing both the symptoms and your concerns. It's hard to believe they would deliberately create a drum mic package that plain doesn't work. Let's see what their tech guys have to say. Then PLEASE tell us what you find out... you have greatly piqued my curiousity!

Good luck!
 
See thats just what I dont like about you Blue. You think you know every fucking thing and you dont.

Theres not a damn thing wrong with them clips other then using the APROPRIATE MIC. ie Beta 57

And just because I was mislead by Marketing and thought I was getting the appropriate mics to go with the clips you come in here and try to make me look like a fool by answering questions I didnt ask.


Like I said many o times already I never asked the stupid faulkin questions that you had the answers to.

I never asked why my mic was vibrating.
I never asked how to keep it from vibrating.
I never asked if drum clips were appropriate for use with SM 57's

I simply asked one thing and one thing only. And I will say it one more time as clearly as I possibly can............."ARE THESE SM 57'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE A VERY LOOSE SCREEN HOUSING?"

Thats it. thats all. do you get that Blue Bear? with all your wisdom is that not clear enough for you.

So stop answering stupid faulking questions that nobody is even asking.
 
OMG Lil Dog

Thank you thank you thank you for pulling me from the flames.

I hear you 100% my friend.


ATM I have 1 claw that im using for the floor tom. And I desired the clips over boom stands for the exact same reason.

Which is why the shure mic package was so attrative to me.

And I was left with the same conclusion that this cant be right. Why would they sell a kit that has items within the kit that are not compatible.

I guess folks at shure should have checked with Blue Bear first before putting millions into the distrabution of this so called kit.

After all thats been said I still feel there is nothing wrong with using these clips for the toms. and feel they are an appropraite method for miking them.


I will defenitly take your advice and go stright to the source and email Shure about this. Ill send your regaurds Blue Bear. Tell them about your lil marketing conspiracy.


I just thought that I would be able to get some info from SM 57 users before i jumped to conclusions.

Replies like Littledogs are what I was hoping for. In no way was I looking for a flame.

Well I think everything that can be said about this in fact has so I will greatly thank the folks that gave me their thoguhts without sarcasim and smart ass remarks and I bid you adue


Take care folks
 
The end cap is supposed to rotate freely.
The design of the 57 is slightly flawed, 9 out of 10 won't rattle when mounted on a claw but that rattle is a very common occurrance. Like Memriloc said its very easily fixed with one or two tiny strips of tape 1/4" wide from the body to the grill (not wrapped around the mic). I do it at gigs all the time.

P.S. - I have heard that those shure mounts are very hard to use, positioning the mics properly is supposedly either impossible or a pain with them. I get the feeling that they started making them just so they could compete with the Senheisser 604 clip ons.
 
Ty kindly Vox.

Unfortuanly I got 3 out of 3 that rattle lol.

I knew a simple piece of tape would remedy the problem.
It all falls back to me just wanting to know if I had defective equipment or not.

And judgeing by the responce from everyone there isnt anything out o the ordinary with these mics.

So again I thank you Vox for your input. It is exactly what I was hopeing to hear.


take care
 
Just remembered, the LP claws actually have a rudimentary built in shock mount, I don't think the Shures do, so the problem might be worse with them.

Anyway bottom line is -

Live I always use claws, they save space, dont get knocked over, and my relative mic positions survive drummers who need to readjust the whole kit.

Recording I never use claws, they transmit vibration, rattle and rumble and its easier to get the mic position exactly right with a boomstand.
 
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Roger that my friend.

The claw is far supeior to the Shure clips as there is much more flexability as to where you can mount them.

But the clips that come with the kit work just fine as long as there are no moving parts in the microphone.

I have 1 Beta 57 which I have mounted to snare with one of the Shure clips and it works great. no rattel in the slightest. Everyting is nice anf tight and out of the way.

I know that cant be possble seeing how its not the approprtiate way to mic a drum or so Blue Bear says.

So far I see nothing wrong with these clips. The only problem I see is in these mics and their loose end caps.


Which I am emailing Shure about right now.
 
From Shure's web site:

You will need a toothpick and Duco Cement (available from a hardware store). Locate the black metal screen that is 1.25" below the SM57 grill. This screen is right below the band that says "Shure" and "SM57". In a strong light, look carefully through the screen. You will see four bright areas that are just below the screen. Each of these areas is 90 degrees apart from the next area. These four areas are the glue targets.

Stand the microphone upside down on its grill. Put a small dab of cement (the size of a pin head) on the toothpick. Place the cement on the first area. Let the cement flow downward and get between the black screen and the rotating plastic grill. Repeat for the remaining three areas. Let the cement dry thoroughly.

This technique should stop the rattling. Use the cement sparingly.

Never cover up this black screen with duct tape as this will destroy the SM57 directionality.
 
Do you have those tom mounts that just let the hoop support the mount instead of the solid ones that go into the side of the toms?
 
Harvey you are a God :)

Folks this conversation is officaly over.

Harvey has put the nail in the coffin


Thank you so much my friend.
 
Harvey, I gotta question about this: what's the purpose of this loose design, do you know it? Is it a cost thing, or something else? Cheers, Andrés
 
Hmm...
I just grabbed my 57 by the butt and shook it. The screen rattles. Guess I never noticed, figured it just spun.
 
It should spin, but it shouldn't rattle. To make the SM57 a little more profitable to build, Shure came up with a snap on grille assembly that doesn't require costly machining or small screws. They found that it didn't interfer with the sound when they let it spin, as opposed to using stops, so they just said, "the hell with it; if it doesnt cause a problem, we'll go with it." - and they did.
 
This thread is sadly comical.

Blue: I feel your frustration! Great advice btw. Personally, I'd much rather someone be 97% accurate, and blunt. (Don't pussy-foot around, just tell me like it is.)

Newton: Way to make a great first impression.:rolleyes:
 
Harvey Gerst said:
It should spin, but it shouldn't rattle. To make the SM57 a little more profitable to build, Shure came up with a snap on grille assembly that doesn't require costly machining or small screws. They found that it didn't interfer with the sound when they let it spin, as opposed to using stops, so they just said, "the hell with it; if it doesnt cause a problem, we'll go with it." - and they did.
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Thanks Harvey. I hope they deducted the cost of answering the questions of dumb customers like me on their equation.

(On the other side they should add the branding benefits they get from us talking about it).
 
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