SM58 sounds ill

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martthie_08

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
685
Location
Stuttgart, Germany
I have a SM58 here which sounds a bit muddy, is it possible that it's just the grill? Is there a good way to clean it? The mic has been used live for rock and roll so it has tons of spit goo on it and has been dropped to the floor many times. Not sure if the capsule is screwed or if the grill head just needs a "bath", I don't have a second one here to switch grill heads so I thought I'd give it a chance - any suggestions?

thanks, Marten
 
Just take off the grill and see if it sounds any better with the grill off. If not, it's probably the capsule. The diaphragm might have come unglued partially or maybe it has a tear. Some mics suffer treble loss when you use them in a kick drum a lot.
 
:oops: why didn't I think of that. Thanks, Rossi :thumb:

Anyways, it is better with the grill off. I took out the foam from the grill and what should I say yuckksss, disgusting. I'll spare you the details, but the foam is taking a bath at the moment.

It is still lacking a little power though, I compared it to a 421 I had around and the highs are there, but it is not sounding very upfront. But the comparison with the other mic showed me how horrible the preamps are on my 828, I hadn't used them for a long while, almost forgot.

Will report back when the foam has dried, but I have a feeling something else is screwed, the capsule did look alright, at least visually. The is not so old, maybe 6 weeks, but has suffered heavy stage abusage. :twisted:
 
these things deteriorate with hard use. we bought all new mics a few years back and all the sm's sounded great. 6 months of student handling and the "sm" sound was back. if the grill has "filth", imagine how the mic was handled. i think its mainly in the super thin clear diaphragm material and if it is abused, the tone changes.
 

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