Hot / Neutral reversed on outlet

[Chuck H]

Is the metal screen on an SM57 actually grounded? I had a friend in college (where all the houses and bars had terrible wiring) who would only sing with 57's because he got shocked less than 58 style mics.

That mirrors my experience. I never had any of the 57 or 58 variants. Just the basic SM57 and SM58 mics. Tried and true. My personal vocal mic was a 58 because I was playing a guitar and singing backup while dodging around on stage. Less directional than the 57. I used the 57's for recording and mic-ing cabinets and instruments. If I were only singing and had the mic in my hand I suppose I could have used the 57. I know Robert Plant used one and (of course) he did well with it.

[Helmholtz]

Since the shielding is for the electric field I would have thought a suitably rated low inductance capacitor no bigger than 10nf ( approx 1mA at 240V 60Hz) instead of the wire to the case would be almost as effective and would eliminate the possibility of electrocution by touching the mic case. The inductance of the leads would have to be kept as low as possible so think really short.

I like the idea with galvanic isolation of the mic case which should include the shell of the connector as well.
But do you really think a series inductance of maybe 50nH matters?

[glebert]

How come nobody just throws some heat shrink or something similar on their mic bodies?

[nickb]

I like the idea with galvanic isolation of the mic case which should include the shell of the connector as well.
But do you really think a series inductance of maybe 50nH matters?

Sure! At 1GHz that's over 300 ohms. Think WiFi 5.4GHz, radio mics 0.8GHz, cell phones 0.8-1.8Ghz. It's dirty out there.

I also like the insulting coating / covering ideas

[Helmholtz]

Sure! At 1GHz that's over 300 ohms. Think WiFi 5.4GHz, radio mics 0.8GHz, cell phones 0.8-1.8Ghz. It's dirty out there.

But the inductance of the cap leads would be in series with/just add to the hundred times higher inductance of the mic cable's shield.
Mic and instrument cables act as low pass filters at high frequencies.

[nickb]

But the inductance of the cap leads would be in series with/just add to the hundred times higher inductance of the mic cable's shield.
Mic and instrument cables act as low pass filters at high frequencies.

Good point That makes it easier.

[J M Fahey]

Yes, the foam condom is the low Tech but effective solution.

And like the thin lubricated ones, must be replaced often.

[g1]

How come nobody just throws some heat shrink or something similar on their mic bodies?

That will stop you from getting shocked when you hold the mic, but not the shock from putting your lips against a 58 ball.

[Chuck H]

Yes, the foam condom is the low Tech but effective solution.

And like the thin lubricated ones, must be replaced often.

Ah! Nobody told me. Yet another thing I've been doing wrong.

[Chuck H]

That will stop you from getting shocked when you hold the mic, but not the shock from putting your lips against a 58 ball.

Right! They should make the ball out of some sort of plastic and put a shield under that. Or leave it like it is, but coat the exposed portion in some sort of tool dip or any soft polymer plastic coating product. I don't think it would hurt the acoustic operation. 58's tend to "ping" a little at the screen ball resonance because of it's rigidity (I've noticed). Maybe a soft coating would actually help performance.

[Leo_Gnardo]

58's tend to "ping" a little at the screen ball resonance because of it's rigidity (I've noticed). Maybe a soft coating would actually help performance.

Beta '58 pings even worse, helps set off a nice feedback squeek @ 11 kHz to entertain dogs & bats in the neighborhood.

IIRC some EV mics have hard plastic screens. H'ray for EV!

[olddawg]

My thinking was that since "touching the mic" has been a common denominator in the problem often enough that (maybe) some clever manufacturer could have started coating the screen with insulative material or use a secondary plastic guard or some such. I hate spit guards, but I use them. I bought a big, fat bag of them after my shock and changed them every so often when they got smelly or whenever someone of questionable oral hygiene used my mic

“Donkey Dick” wind screen/pop filter...

[Chuck H]

IIRC some EV mics have hard plastic screens. H'ray for EV!

I have to admit that the EV mics have been a great thing for the band on a budget. Good performance and (it would seem) good design considerations. But I'm old school and this was over twenty years ago. Everybody knows how to manage the 58's and 57's. Sound guys, odd stand in players, etc. Any musician with even a little nerd trivia can reference famous recordings done with those models. So that's what I used. My singer had a top end EV mic that he was very proud of. It wasn't as durable as the SM58 (you can use those for carpentry ) but performed a bit better overall really.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I have to admit that the EV mics have been a great thing for the band on a budget. Good performance and (it would seem) good design considerations. But I'm old school and this was over twenty years ago. Everybody knows how to manage the 58's and 57's. Sound guys, odd stand in players, etc. Any musician with even a little nerd trivia can reference famous recordings done with those models. So that's what I used. My singer had a top end EV mic that he was very proud of. It wasn't as durable as the SM58 (you can use those for carpentry ) but performed a bit better overall really.

Plenty of good EV mics. They were first with the "new" neodymium magnet models, I got a couple in the late 80's. Bit of zing in the high end, ND757 was supposed to be the '58 killer. It definitely helps muffly sounding singers cut through the racket of a band. Can't beat the ol' RE20 in a kick drum, on a sax, or standup bass, or for raspy voiced singers. Their omni 635A was the world standard unbreakable ENG (electronic news gathering) mic for decades, also made a dandy hi hat mic. And their 666 & variations were popular on early blues, jazz & rock stages as well as school auditoriums 50+ years ago. I have a 644 dynamic "shotgun" that was the benchmark for film & TV work back then too, still sounds good! EV gave Shure some competition, and still do.

First PA outfit I got going around here, the boss man came up with a dilly of a mic, a very old and rare EV ribbon which he wrecked twice by using it in a kick drum. EV made him an offer to trade for any dynamic mic they made short of an RE20, because they wanted it for their museum and couldn't bear the thought of dingbat busting it one more time - does he ever learn? NO! EV makes good stuff, not to be sneezed at.