SM stands for Studio Microphone, which is a little ironic given where most SM58s end up. Sidney N. Shure started selling radio parts in Chicago in 1925, Ben Bauer’s Unidyne 55 of 1939 was the first single-element directional dynamic, and Ernie Seeler’s Unidyne III capsule turned into the SM57 and SM58 in 1965 and 1966. We’ve got SM57s, SM7Bs, SM81s and the odd ribbon coming through.
Seeler reportedly couldn’t stand rock and roll, which didn’t stop his capsule becoming the snare mic on most of it. The SM7 followed in 1973 as a broadcast mic and ended up on half the vocals you can think of as the SM7B, and the SM81 of 1978 put a small-diaphragm condenser in a body that survives drummers.
Dynamics are the bulk of what we see: SM57s and SM58s, SM7s and SM7Bs, the SM56, 545SD and 548 Unidynes, the KSM8 Dualdyne and the Beta 56A, 57A and 91. Condensers turn up as the SM81, KSM44, Beta 27, Beta 87A, Beta 98 and Beta 181, and every so often a 300 or 330 ribbon or a Green Bullet 520DX harp mic lands (the M267 mixer and FP11 line amp cover the broadcast end).
Shure moves quickly here, so if the SM7B you want has just gone, put it through Find Me Gear and we’ll tell you when the next one arrives. Everything is checked over in our workshop and ready to ship UK-wide.
