repairing connector on shure super 55

[Nate Najar]

a friend of mine brings over her super 55 that stopped working, asking me to fix it. it's a current model with a beta 58 element in a 55 style birdcage. no switch. this one here:

http://www.shure.com/americas/products/microphones/classic/super-55-deluxe-vocal-microphone

it has a coiled "spring" that runs from the transformer through the swivel joint and down to the xlr connector. The spring connects to a tab on the connector. that jumpers to pin 1. there are a black and yellow wire that travel in the middle hollow part of the spring and connect to pins 2 and 3 respectively. When she gave me the mic and I plugged it in, it just hummed and buzzed with no "transducing." I opened the face and nothing was wrong so I went to the connector. The yellow pin 2 had disconnected and the pin 1 jumper to the ground tab was disconnected. If I touched pin 1 to the metal case the mic performed properly. in my yanking and screwing around, pin 2 black also disconnected, so the only thing connected is the spring to the tab.

It's a simple repair: feed the black and yellow wires back down to the connector and solder them and then re-jumper the ground to pin 1. the problem is that it's on this stupid spring (which as I said, is the ground). I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it all out to where I can work on it. The black and yellow wires are just long enough to reach the connector and then a small bit. I though about clamping the mic to the desk and then putting the connector in a vice, but that puts the whole thing under tension, until the spring snaps or disconnects and then I'm done.

Anyone have any ideas on how to access it? I almost want to tell her to just send it to shure since I imagine they have something in the shop they can just put it on for assembly and testing, but it's technically such a simple repair I'd like to fix it for her if i can....

thanks,

N

[Nate Najar]

I have the solution! I do not know which one of you fellows forwarded my enquiry to a nice fellow in Brittany, but whoever it was, thank you. I got a nice email this morning that gave me the answer. And I'm embarrassed I did not think of it myself. I'll detach the spring from the cartridge end, work on the connector freely and then reattach everything to the cartridge once it's mechanically back in place. It's so simple, I was just trying to do it backwards!

N

[[email protected]]

Hi,anyone know how to solve the issue of the thread in the base going?retapping will surely enlarge it making unusable?thanks in advance
Alan

[david gourley[_2_]]

said...news:4b784303-95af-4744-9873-06c73ae55a50
@googlegroups.com:

> Hi,anyone know how to solve the issue of the thread in the base going?
retapping will surely enlarge it making unusable?thanks in advance
> Alan
>

So tap it larger and use an insert.

david

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[Scott Dorsey]

In article >,
> wrote:
>Hi,anyone know how to solve the issue of the thread in the base going?retapping will surely enlarge it making unusable?thanks in advance

I'm not sure what you mean. Just like the SM57/SM58 mikes, there is a
plastic Switchcraft connector insert with a reverse-threaded screw. The
insert slips into the body of the mike, you turn the screw counterclockwise
and it locks into the body.

There really isn't any threading, except in that insert. If you have
somehow managed to damage the threading in the insert, just get any male
Switchcraft XLR connector and transplant the insert from it onto the mike.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Mike Rivers[_2_]]

On 7/27/2018 3:57 PM, wrote:
> anyone know how to solve the issue of the thread in the base going?retapping will surely enlarge it making unusable

Are you talking about the XLR connector or the 5/8-27 threaded hole that
mates with a mic stand? The XLR insert is replaceable. If you've
actually worn out the stand mounting hole, how? What kind of stands have
you been using with it? The Super 55 model was introduced less than 10
years ago. Yours must have really been abused. Are you sure the problem
isn't with the stands that you're mounting it on? With the rash of cheap
stands around these days, you may have some with slightly undersized
threads.



--

For a good time, call http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com

[[email protected]]

Hello, i have the same problem, How did you loose the spring from the cartridge?
Thank you

[Scott Dorsey]

In article >,
> wrote:
>Hello, i have the same problem, How did you loose the spring from the cartridge?

Nobody even figured out what the original poster's problem was, whether he
had damaged the plastic connector insert or whether it was the screw threads
for the microphone stand that were damaged.

Shure, however, has a complete teardown diagram in the maintenance manual
which you can download, and it has all the parts numbers. The plastic
connector insert, though, is just a Switchcraft XLR insert.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[[email protected]]

I have the same problem pls help?

[[email protected]]

pls share that email?

[Scott Dorsey]

In article >,
> wrote:
>I have the same problem pls help?

We never figured out what the original poster's problem was. Did his
XLR connector fail somehow, or did the diecast metal around the threaded
hole for the mike stand fail?

Since we never could get him to explain what his problem was, perhaps you
could explain yours.

The XLR insert is just an ordinary Switchcraft insert, you can scrap any
male Switchcraft XLR connector and get one.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Richard Kuschel]

On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 1:57:47 PM UTC-6, wrote:
> Hi,anyone know how to solve the issue of the thread in the base going?retapping will surely enlarge it making unusable?thanks in advance
> Alan

I would get a quick connect lock on connector and use that for the microphone. The Atlas LO-2 fits that bill. If you don't want to epoxy the connector in permanently, there are thread repair adhesives that could hold the connector and still allow its removal. Those thread repair compounds do not hold up well in repeated use.