How to clean a mic?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:01 pm

I just bought a Shure Sm48 on ebay. I have no idea where it has been, and since it will be close to my mouth an touching my lips I would liek to clean it. Do I take the grille off? Can the grille even come off fro an Sm48? What do I clena it with? ect. Thank you. Also it has some rusty stuff on it and stuff that kind of looks like boogers on it. How do I remove all this grose stuff without damaging the mic? Thanks for the help. I DON'T KNOW WHAT FORUM THIS SHOULD BE IN, SO I JUST PUT IT IN HERE BEING THAT IT IS BUDGET GEAR ($30) SO IF YOU KNWO WHAT FORUM IT SHOULD BE IN PLEASE TELL ME.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 5:59 pm

Boogers, beer, and broads...WTF has had contact with this mic? Go to Walgreens and get a a package of sterilizes wipes, just like they use in call centers around the friggin' world. Open up the pack, smear one of those sanitized wipes all around the mic and PRAY for the best...may the
force be with you....ENJOY!!!!!!

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:34 pm

the stuff won't leak in the mic and damage it?
Thank you for your time and advice.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:34 pm

no youll be fine. one of my teachers who toured with prince, willie nelson, phil collins, etc he use to clean their mics in between songs and stuff. hed lysol the towel or w/e and whipe the mic. shouldnt be bad.

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:28 am

salamichrist wrote:

the stuff won't leak in the mic and damage it?
Thank you for your time and advice.

Naw, that chemical is basically isopropyl alchohol, so it will evaporate fairly quickly. Have some clean paper towels handy to follow up afterwards. You might also check the XLR connector for...grunge. Have some cotton swabs and isopropyl handy to get that crap out, too.

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:52 am

I was doing a concert sound gig for a group of musicians that were "strange" to say the least. We used SM-58s for the vocals. They used the microphones to rub themselves as part of the performance and they rubbed EVERY part of their body including their feet, under their arms and some other places that the sun don't shine. After the concert we took the windscreens off all the microphones and used Lysol and alcohol to sterilze them. No problems. Just don't dump large quantities of anything into the microphone. You can also use some DeoxIT from CAIG labs on the XLR connector for cleaning up the connections. Here is their website http://www.caig.com/ Most GC stores have it in stock.

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 12:30 pm

If the SM48 is like the SM58 the ball containing the pop shield unscrews from the body exposing the capsule. I would then clean the ball/pop shield as described as this is the bit closest to your mouth. I'd also wipe down the external body but I'd avoid trying to clean the capsule as this is the "delicate" bit.

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