How to spot a fake Shure SM58

[jonPhillips]

Look at the XLR connector on the bottom.
On authentic Shure microphones, each of the XLR pins will be labeled as 1, 2, and 3. Most fake microphones will not have these markings, and instead, will have some sort of connector branding logo or, more commonly, no markings at all.

Look under the hood of the SM58.
Unscrew the windscreen from your SM58 microphone. Examine the bottom of the windscreen; on the metal ring that goes around the thread, you'll notice a lip. A flat lip is a telltale sign of a fake microphone; the authentic SM58 will have a rounded edge.

Look at the capsule on the top of the microphone. On fake SM58, you'll find a "CAUTION" sticker wrapped around the capsule head. This is not on authentic microphones.

On both the SM58 and SM57, carefully unscrew the microphone in the middle. You'll see the inside of the microphone, with two wires leading between the sections. On the genuine microphones, these are yellow and green colored, and on many fakes, they've followed this color scheme; however, if they're a different color, chances are you're looking at a fake.

Now, look at the circuit board on the lower half. Genuine microphones will have a quality control stamp in red lettering. These will be omitted on the counterfeit mics.

Look & weight of the microphone
On the SM58, underneath the ring where the windscreen connects to the body, there's a printed "Shure SM58" logo. On counterfeit microphones, you'll find that this is a sticker wrapped around the mic itself. A sticker is common on SM57 microphones, but look carefully at the font and the type spacing -- on fakes, it'll be a little wider spacing and a much smaller font.

On both microphones, fake microphones will weigh noticeably less than authentic mics.

Check the box
Microphone counterfeiters have become very good at making Shure packaging look convincing, but one of the sure-fire ways to find out if your mic is fake is to look inside the box.

Authentic mics ship with accessories including a microphone clip, cloth cable tie, Shure sticker, carrying pouch, manual, and warranty card. Fake microphones tend not to include all of these accessories; most obviously missing is the warranty card and cable tie.

Another thing to watch out for: make sure the model number listed on the box matches what's inside. Many counterfeit Shure microphones come with a cable in the box; the only Shure microphone that includes a cable is the Shure SM58-CN. If the box includes a cable but isn't labeled with the proper model number, then you may have a fake mic. Also, some fake SM58 come with a switch attached; the model number should read SM58S. The plain ol' SM58 will be listed as SM58-LC.

Last but not least... listen!
A fake SM58 will sound very bright and harsh with moderate gain applied. A genuine 58 will sound like, well, a 58 -- smooth in the lows and midrange, with a slightly recessed and pleasant high end. A genuine 57 will give lush midrange tone with great low end response -- a counterfeit will not produce similar results.

[Anderton]

Great info, Jon!! Thanks.

[UMT]

I just bought a SM57 Beta NEW on Ebay for $100.00 delivered CONUS. Bought from a Power Seller with 99.5% positive and several thousand sales so I'm not too worried about it being a fake but having said that, at the same time on Ebay were 2 listings for NEW SM57 BETA's,,, one priced at 57.00 delivered CONUS and one was at 43.00 DELIVERED! Of course, both the sellers had 0 feedback and it doesn't look like anybody bought one yet but I turned 'em into Shure anyway! Sad business.

Like I said, I'm confident that I bought a genuine Shure but if anybody has any tips on spotting a Shure SM57 or 58 BETA fake, I sure would like to hear about them.

[konayuki]

Wow, I'm so new (and naïve...) I didn't even know that there were any counterfeit mics around!

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

[Brently54]

Originally Posted by evathomas

hure Microphones are both industry-standard and legendary; they sound great, they're reasonably priced, and the build quality is second to none -- in fact, the Shure SM58 vocal mic is well-known for being able to stand up to excessive abuse, as any live sound engineer working in clubs can attest.
________________

Are you just here to spam?

[Josh1967]

Thanks for the info

[LeePetersonUk]

thanks for the post, going to get an SM57.

Wont be going to ebay, will get from a retailer.

[Tom-Starr]

Hey, new to this lol. On monday i will be buying a SHURE SM58 of Amazon for 60 pounds. I have emailed them and asked if it is a 100% mcoy. But Havent emailed back just yet (was only 5 minutes ago i emailed them lol) if they say its real im going to be buying it. but when i receive it i will be taking it up to my nearest music shop ( rock steady music ) and ask them if they can can compare it to a real one. Im guessing it should be real if it comes of Amazon?. thanks

[Tom-Starr]

Also i forgot to add ( sorry ) that his feedback is really good lol thanks again!

[cusackmusic]

I just bought two from this guy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&it em=150348014856

I suspect they are fake. Has anybody dealt with this guy before? He sells alot of SM58s.

Jon

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

The SM57S from Han Yu Electronic Co. Shanghai is better then the old US made ones

[gonebye]

Originally Posted by cusackmusic

I just bought two from this guy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&it em=150348014856

I suspect they are fake. Has anybody dealt with this guy before? He sells alot of SM58s.

Jon

Those are definetly fakes. I purchased four of them from the same seller, sent detailed pictures of all aspects of the microphones to Shure customer service department and they said that they are definetly fake! I am in the process of getting my money back from Mannysclearance as of today. He claims that he had no idea that these were fakes, which is obviously bull since he has already had one person call him on it in his feedback. To bad it was after I bought my microphones.

[brian817]

the most commonly faked Shure SM58s are the one with the on/off switch, which I've never owned, or wanted to really.

when I first heard about these fakes going around, I checked all my 58s and 57s and luckily all were real.