Shure 55sw mic

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microx

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Messages
159
Location
Alicante,SPAIN
Picked up one of these old mic's on evilbay.
Capsule is faulty, Shure in Germany tell me no spares available, anyone know of a source for R55 capsule or is it just a cool ornament now.
Steve
 
I'm afraid I've got no help for a new capsule, but have you seen this page at Shure:

http://www.shure.com/datasheets/guides-discontinued.html

...lotsa PDF's of datasheets for discontinued products including yours:

http://www.shure.com/pdf/discontinued/55s.pdf

You could always put a different dynamic cartridge in, or even use a Panasonic electret capsule- you can make it phantom powered very easily, and with the 55 body it would make a good quality but groovy-looking talkback mic!

I've got the schem I used for P48V with an electret capsule somewhere...

Mark

:thumb:
 
Hi microx, try this e-mail [email protected] for replacement parts in Europe. Also check out the service section at all of the Shure centres worldwide. If you want I can check here for the North American Service Centre. Up to you. E-mail all of the world shure repalacement part centres 4 in total and see if they can help you. Nice looking microphone. There is a new model 55s and possibly this capsule will be a next best substitute. How do you know that the capsule is the culprit? My astatic mics just had cold(crappy) solder joints in the stand. I was really pissed when I fired them up to hear nothing and then crackling. Turns out it was cold solder joints in the "G" type stand. They work very well now. Not as quiet as most vocal mics of today but they sound warm for Dynamics. Neat high mid low switch too.
 
Thanks for the input,
Mark, yes I have these notes
Straycat, Yes, tried the German service centre and they were helpful but had nothing, also no reply from other places.
BUT!

I fixed the capsule. I figured I had nothing to loose so I cut away the gauze and pried off the grill and there was the problem. The aluminium dome had become separated from the suspension, it's glued in place.
So I applied a tiny ammount of contact adhesive to both and left it to dry for five mins. Then I used toothpicks (non magnetic) to GENTLY push the suspension down on to the edges of the dome both sides SIMULTANEOUSLY. The dome was picked up but was off centre so I loosened the two screws holding the suspension and played with it until it was free. Then I breathed out, plugged it in and sang "Heartbreak Hotel"
and it bloody works
Interestingly, when compared to say an SM58 it has almost no proximity effect and this may have been the reason for it's popularity in the days of crappy PA systems, anyone else notced this. Of course I may have modified it's respnse by adding mass to the diaphram but I seem to remember this when I installed them in the sixtys.
Steve
 
Great news microx. Do you have any pictures of the repair you made. One of my astatic 77a microphones had a loose capsule. The mounting putty?? had dried out and was turning to dust. I used hot glue to mount the capsule back in it's original position. Works like a charm. Unless you are in to authenticity then lightning should strike me down. Ouch!
 
No CJ,

55sw is a great big chromed thing that was a favorite of Sinatra, Sammy Davis jnr, Presley etc. Can be seen on the covers of many old LP's. Just the capsule is about 2"x 1.5"x1.5". There are also many copies arround.
Steve
 
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