[Andre Majorel]

I'm looking at an SM57 that has a 3-mm gap between the "head"
and the body through which you can see a fine black square mesh.
The mesh does not quite cover the circumference : there is a 1.5 mm
gap.

Whatever is behind the mesh is elastic. If you press on the
head, you can narrow the gap to about 2 mm. If you pull, it
looks like it could come apart.

Is this normal ?

--
André Majorel URL:http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/
"Cette supposition rappelle assez celle de ce prédicateur qui, en
pleine chaire, faisait remarquer à ses fidèles la bonté de Dieu qui
avait placé les rivières auprès des villes." -- Alexandre Dumas

[Don Pearce]

Andre Majorel wrote:
I'm looking at an SM57 that has a 3-mm gap between the "head"
and the body through which you can see a fine black square mesh.
The mesh does not quite cover the circumference : there is a 1.5 mm
gap.

Whatever is behind the mesh is elastic. If you press on the
head, you can narrow the gap to about 2 mm. If you pull, it
looks like it could come apart.

Is this normal ?


Yes, that is the rear port that allows it to be directional. The
movability is the elastic capsule mount that reduces handling noise.

d

[Laurence Payne[_2_]]

I'm looking at an SM57 that has a 3-mm gap between the "head"
and the body through which you can see a fine black square mesh.
The mesh does not quite cover the circumference : there is a 1.5 mm
gap.

Whatever is behind the mesh is elastic. If you press on the
head, you can narrow the gap to about 2 mm. If you pull, it
looks like it could come apart.

Is this normal ?

Yes, that's a very good description of a SM57. Perfectly normal.

[RD Jones]

On Jun 24, 12:56*pm, Andre Majorel wrote:
I'm looking at an SM57 that has a 3-mm gap between the "head"
and the body through which you can see a fine black square mesh.
The mesh does not quite cover the circumference : there is a 1.5 mm
gap.

Whatever is behind the mesh is elastic. If you press on the
head, you can narrow the gap to about 2 mm. If you pull, it
looks like it could come apart.

Is this normal ?

Yes, the rubber "shock" mounting between the upper body sleeve
and the cartridge has some play and they are sometimes loose
and sometimes a bit tighter. If it really bothers you, you can get in
there and tighten it up a bit. It's normal, though.

rd

[Eeyore]

Andre Majorel wrote:

I'm looking at an SM57 that has a 3-mm gap between the "head"
and the body through which you can see a fine black square mesh.
The mesh does not quite cover the circumference : there is a 1.5 mm
gap.

Whatever is behind the mesh is elastic. If you press on the
head, you can narrow the gap to about 2 mm. If you pull, it
looks like it could come apart.

Is this normal ?

ALL SM57's by definition are totally weird. Just LOOK at them FFS ! It's
not quite a 1930s design but getting on that way.

Avoid it at all costs. It could cost your career unless you have exactly
the right value resistor.

Better dynamic mics by far can be had from the wonderfully enlightened
European shores including mics by companies like AKG and Sennheiser.

Consider condensers, and the world's your oyster with the likes of
Neumann and Schoeps.

Graham

[Eeyore]

Don Pearce wrote:

Yes, that is the rear port that allows it to be directional. The
movability is the elastic capsule mount that reduces handling noise.

Whilst the indifferent construction is what gives it such a short life,
usually ending up as a nail hammer on drum risers.

Graham

[Paul Stamler]

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


ALL SM57's by definition are totally weird. Just LOOK at them FFS ! It's
not quite a 1930s design but getting on that way.

Actually it is; the patent was filed in 1938, granted 1941.

Peace,
Paul

[Andre Majorel]

On 2008-06-25, Eeyore wrote:

Whilst the indifferent construction is what gives it such a
short life, usually ending up as a nail hammer on drum risers.

The word "hammer" did come to mind when I first held an SM57. :-)
Thanks, everyone.

--
André Majorel URL:http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/
"Cette supposition rappelle assez celle de ce prédicateur qui, en
pleine chaire, faisait remarquer à ses fidèles la bonté de Dieu qui
avait placé les rivières auprès des villes." -- Alexandre Dumas

[jakdedert]

RD Jones wrote:
On Jun 24, 12:56 pm, Andre Majorel wrote:
I'm looking at an SM57 that has a 3-mm gap between the "head"
and the body through which you can see a fine black square mesh.
The mesh does not quite cover the circumference : there is a 1.5 mm
gap.

Whatever is behind the mesh is elastic. If you press on the
head, you can narrow the gap to about 2 mm. If you pull, it
looks like it could come apart.

Is this normal ?

Yes, the rubber "shock" mounting between the upper body sleeve
and the cartridge has some play and they are sometimes loose
and sometimes a bit tighter. If it really bothers you, you can get in
there and tighten it up a bit. It's normal, though.

rd

Yes, there's a nut inside (two nuts, actually) that you can loosen, then
retighten to adjust the gap. However, the gap is what gives the mic
it's directional characteristics. You don't want to be adjusting that
without a micrometer.

It's unlikely that it's off factory spec. Leave it alone.

jak