I don't know man, an sm58 is not so expensive. I'd go for a new one just to avoid all the beer and cam and all contaminents those old ones might have been exposed to.
Vintage is not always better.
Those old mics have been up when peace and love was at it's peek. I bet they are filled various ADN chains !! ;)

I've had reliably issues w an old unidyne mic which was a precursor to the sm57.

If your looking for a mic for day to day use then I'd just snag a new 58 like PC said.

Older condenser mics are generally sought after for sonic values. A dynamic in general doesn't tend to carry the same stigma.

They are a forerunner to the SM-58...

I have a few old Shures...hey at least they are not made in Mexico like todays' models.

If it is in good condition and works for you...but be wary of paying too much for them.

Sean G, post: 441503, member: 49362 wrote: They are a forerunner to the SM-58...

I have a few old Shures...hey at least they are not made in Mexico like todays' models.

If it is in good condition and works for you...but be wary of paying too much for them.

We're they actually made in the USA?? I know (pretty sure) old mackie stuff was at one point. I think it was the late 90's when they moved production overseas and actually had reliability issues for a period.

Any Shure pre 1984 should be made in the US...it was in that year that the company moved microphone manufacturing operations to Mexico.

Those models made in the U.S. are marked " Made In The U.S.A." and have the term "Patented" below the country of origin marking.

Shure model 545SD (above and below)...forerunner to the SM-57

Shure 585SB (above and below)...forerunner to the SM-58

Some more interesting info from Shure's own website -

1) If the mic is labeled "Chicago, Illinois", it was manufactured before 1956.

4) Check the date of the User Guide: [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.shure.co…"]View All User Guides[/]="http://www.shure.co…"]View All User Guides[/]

Another way of determining age is by the connector to the base of the mic.
With low impedence models, Shure changed over from amphenol to XLR connectors around the very late 60's - very early 70's...generally anything with the amphenol connector is thought to be pre ' 70 or very early 70's.
High impedence models had a four pin MC4F Amphenol connector, with pins 1 & 2 of the 4 pin connector being the high impedence output.

Shure 585SB (above) with two pin amphenol connector

Whoa that's pretty cool stuff right there! I had no idea sure had been making mics for so long!

I believe the origins of the company date back to 1925...

You may find this interesting Kyle

http://cdn.shure.com/brochure/upload/77/shure-the-unidyne-story.pdf

Jeremy Dean as Kyle touched on in an earlier post, the concern with buying older second hand microphones is that there is a risk associated with the age of the mic and the life it has had prior, so it can really be a gamble. Old doesn't necessarily mean vintage or that the mic was a good quality or desirable mic to start with.

You have to do your research...ask questions if you are not sure...remember this forum is a wealth of knowledge and members here can really be a helpful resource through their own experience.

Having said that, there is one guy who is based in the U.S. who deals exlusively in older good quality microphones, I have purchased a few off him and his mics are always tested, the mics he sells are always high quality examples. A few Shure mics I have purchased from him are like they just came out of the box although they are close to 50 years old.
It is always reassuring to know you are dealing with someone who specialises in old mics that knows their stuff and generally has a passion for them as opposed to someone who finds an old mic in the closet or basement or at worse a garage sale and decides to list it on ebay, untested, for a quick buck because "its old so it must be vintage".

If you PM me I am happy to pass on to you his details...at least you know what you are buying and can have confidence in doing so, as opposed to taking a gamble which may lead to throwing away good money on something that may be crap.

- Sean.

Ok, thank you! I figured it would be a gamble. The particular mic I looked at was pretty scratched and beat up. Probably why it was selling so cheap. I don't really have the money to spend on nicer vintage mics at the moment, but I'll keep that in mind for when the time comes. For now I'll leave the listing I saw alone and keep my money for a better buy.

Sean G, post: 441527, member: 49362 wrote: concern with buying older second hand microphones is that there is a risk associated with the age of the mic and the life it has had prior, so it can really be a gamble.

Yea.. Ya never know. It might have been left out in the snow, or the mud ... Or maybe it was even run over by an idiot from Northeast Ohio with a lawnmower.
"Older" doesn't always mean "vintage" or "better". Sometimes it just means older.
Those precursors to the modern 57's and 58's were "okay" mics, but considering that the cost of a new model is so affordable, personally I'd go that route, as opposed to possibly inheriting the various issues that an older dynamic could have; based on age, years of use, the type of connection it has .....not to mention the horsepower of the lawnmower that ran over it in 1994.

DonnyThompson, post: 441537, member: 46114 wrote: Yea.. Ya never know. It might have been left out in the snow, or the mud ... Or maybe it was even run over by an idiot from Northeast Ohio with a lawnmower.

Haha, I just so happened to look at that thread just a few moments ago. So sorry to hear about the passing of your trusty SM57. RIP

Jeremy Dean, post: 441536, member: 49624 wrote: I don't really have the money to spend on nicer vintage mics at the moment,

As others said, vintage dynamic mics aren't to be seeked that much.. the new ones would sound very much the same..
It's when you get to condensers that jems are to find. I think the reason is there isn't many parts in a dynamic mic compare to a condenser in which those parts have been changed a lot over the years. The quality and cost of electronic parts are the reason they are so different.
This is the reason early AKG 414 sound better than new ones.
Few companies went the extra mile to keep the sound integrity of their gear.
Most went the 'more profit' path and while keeping the same design the end result is very different from their first prototype..

Also there is another thing to consider. The recording methods aren't the same as back then. I'm sure some new mics are better tuned to give accurate results with our super clean digital converters and computer processing. You got to turn to high gear to get that level of attention.

Jeremy Dean, post: 441538, member: 49624 wrote: Haha, I just so happened to look at that thread just a few moments ago. So sorry to hear about the passing of your trusty SM57. RIP

If I remember the story correctly D found it in the spring and it still worked... Or perhaps that was a different incident lol?

kmetal, post: 441553, member: 37533 wrote: If I remember the story correctly D found it in the spring and it still worked... Or perhaps that was a different incident lol?

I believe that was the case...and from memory it worked for another 22 years???

- Matbe D can clarify the detail.

Sean G, post: 441559, member: 49362 wrote: I believe that was the case...and from memory it worked for another 22 years???

- Matbe D can clarify the detail.

Lol he's probably still mic'ing cabs with it!!!

Yup. It worked for another 22 years after that, and then finally died this past Friday.
38 years is a pretty good run for any live mic; with countless load ins and outs, smoke, and general live gig abuse - but adding to this, the ridiculous punishment that this mic in particular took; ice, snow, sub zero temps, spring mud and then a lawnmower blade...and it still worked fine; it was a real trooper. Definitely got my money's worth out of that mic.

DonnyThompson, post: 441571, member: 46114 wrote: Yup. It worked for another 22 years after that, and then finally died this past Friday.
38 years is a pretty good run for any live mic; with countless load ins and outs, smoke, and general live gig abuse - but adding to this, the ridiculous punishment that this mic in particular took; ice, snow, sub zero temps, spring mud and then a lawnmower blade...and it still worked fine; it was a real trooper. Definitely got my money's worth out of that mic.

Its testament to the build quality of those older Shures...thats for sure (pardon the pun).

I don't think too many mics could stand that type of punishment and still perform day in day out.

You should be a beta tester for Shure Microphones.

Crash Test Donny ;)

DonnyThompson, post: 441571, member: 46114 wrote: Yup. It worked for another 22 years after that, and then finally died this past Friday.
38 years is a pretty good run for any live mic; with countless load ins and outs, smoke, and general live gig abuse - but adding to this, the ridiculous punishment that this mic in particular took; ice, snow, sub zero temps, spring mud and then a lawnmower blade...and it still worked fine; it was a real trooper. Definitely got my money's worth out of that mic.

Lol that's a classic story! Talk about low maintenence.!! Amazing.