# I love my SM58 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518 "2008-08-10T18:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![unstrung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a698b9/32.png) [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/1 "2008-08-10T18:48:01Z")
When I play with friends, they often mock me for using my severely antiquated SM58 microphone. They like to tell me about all sorts of new-fangled microphones that are supposedly much better than the dinosaur that I use. What they fail to realize is that I just don’t care. I love my SM58. I bought it over 10 years ago, and over the years it has traveled all over the place with me - it has been bumped, jostled, dropped, thrown, rained on, puked on, bled on, and has suffered all manner of other indignities. But, after a solid decade of abuse, it not only still works, but still sounds pretty spiffy as well. So, you all can keep your shiny new microphones to yourselves, I’m good with my severely dented yet unmistakably awesome old mic, thanks 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/2 "2008-08-10T19:09:20Z")
I hear you - '57’s and '58’s are great standards - we have a bunch - they take a licking and keep on ticking… But dude (non-gender specific, since I don’t know if you are a he-dude or a she-dude) how many Dopers will understand your thread title? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![unstrung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a698b9/32.png) [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/3 "2008-08-10T19:22:52Z")
I’m a he-dude, dude 😉 Yeah, the title of this thread might be confusing to a lot of people… but then again, I suspect those people aren’t really gonna care about how much I love my microphone anyway. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/4 "2008-08-10T20:28:00Z")
Didn’t confuse me at all, of course… 😉 I do the exact same thing…I’ve got a couple of them and they look like they’ve been used as dog toys or for raising sea monkeys, and I’ve got a chipped tooth from doing that whole stomp-the-mic-stand-get-smacked-in-the-mouth accidental slapstick routine. ---
**Author:** ![unstrung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a698b9/32.png) [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/5 "2008-08-10T21:30:05Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Didn’t confuse me at all, of course… 😉 I do the exact same thing…I’ve got a couple of them and they look like they’ve been used as dog toys or for raising sea monkeys, and I’ve got a chipped tooth from doing that whole stomp-the-mic-stand-get-smacked-in-the-mouth accidental slapstick routine. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’ve definitely made some tooth impressions on mine too (why do I never learn? It hurts every time, you’d think I would know better by now). ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/6 "2008-08-11T04:47:43Z")
When I started performing again after (mmmpfty-mmmph) years, I asked my brother-in-law, who runs a studio in Los Angeles, what perforning mic would be the best. I told him I had a budget of $250. Without hesitation he popped off with “The SM58. And right now it’s on sale at (store name) for $49.” I’ve never regretted it. Not for a moment. ---
**Author:** ![unstrung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a698b9/32.png) [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/7 "2008-08-11T04:59:29Z")
I really think Shure should adopt the phrase “my microphone can beat up your microphone”… ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/8 "2008-08-11T09:46:05Z")
[QUOTE=unstrung] I really think Shure should adopt the phrase “my microphone can beat up your microphone”… [/QUOTE] He he. In the red corner, Sennheiser 441. . . (this is not going to be a long bout) In a previous life I ran a PA (sound system) doing mostly rock bands. One act we (how to say this?) dealt with several times was [John Otway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Otway) who had some unique microphone techniques. He had a song _Headbutts_, I think you can probably guess what he did in that one. Another song involved him using his SG as a cricket bat with an SM58 as the ball. I remember one gig where his roadie was going through the mike box\* trying to find one that worked sufficiently. He wanted to use our 58s (they had a deal with Shure and offered to replace the mikes they used with brand new ones) I declined. So you _can_ break an SM58, but then you can break a rock if you try hard enough. - Otway brought his own mikes, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-sm58/459518/9 "2008-08-11T11:32:18Z")
I carry two microphones in my guitar gear bag, an SM57 to mic my amp and an SM58 for singing. I bought both about twenty years ago, they have both survived and performed well at nearly 1,000 gigs. While I’m sure that mic geeks could argue that there are better mics available in terms of technical quality, I doubt that I or my audiences could appreciate the difference, and I’m sure that there are no mics as sturdy and dependable as the Shures.