GLS Audio ES57

[SeayBass]

has anyone tried the GLS es57 mic for upright?
It is a Shure SM57 knockoff, and has many positive reviews. Many say it's better than the sm57. Many compare it to the beta 57, because it is more similar in design to the beta series(neodymium magnets in GLS and beta's).

anyway, they're CHEAP. I would love to hear from the gang if anyone has experience with them...

thanks in advance-

[steve_n_his_urb]

I am happy with my recently purchased beta57 after a few gigs.

I tried the SM57 and after buying what turned out to be a counterfeit (to save about $20) the first time round, I bought the real thing from a Shure dealer. The fake mic would not drive a long cable to the desk (it had a far higher resistance measured at the output - around 300ohm cf 20ohm for the real deal). The real SM57 fixed the long cable problem, but it never worked well on my bass live - it was way too boomy in the 'rubber band' mounted position.

After an opportunity to test out a beta58 I finally bought the Beta57 for its form factor. It has the clarity / defined tone I needed on my bass. The proximity effect on the Beta bumps up around 200Hz, where the SM is affected lower down.

The other advantage of the beta is the tighter supercardioid pattern. Shure dealer prices on new Betas in Australia have dropped significantly in recent times - mine cost the same as my fake SM57 did a couple of years ago.

You might find that cheaper imitators of the Shure mics are not as immune to handling noise. Both the SM and Beta 57 seemed really good in this respect.

You will almost certainly be ahead buying the real thing if you take resale value into account. I gave my fake SM57 away to a local small venue (with appropriate warning) because it was too late to complain on ebay or track down the seller - 100% depreciation

I hope these observations help

Steve

[SeayBass]

was your fake SM57 a GLS Audio ES57 microphone?

[steve_n_his_urb]

No Seaybass, the fake probably came from one of those cheap chinese 6-packs, it was dressed up to cosmetically imitate the Shure. I am not saying the model you are considering will have the same limitations.

To cut a long story short, I would try to test whatever you are going to buy, rather than going on price and online reviews. SM57s can usually be borrowed during a sound check if you ask, betas perhaps less so. If the es is somewhere between the SM and beta 57 it might work well for you.

My journey to the Beta involved a Takstar PCM 6100 condensor which almost fit the bill, but had a little too much bottom still. It is a very cheap mic yet it performed fairly well with a bit of eq on a couple of gigs.
Steve

[SeayBass]

I have an sm57. It's not ideal for live bass micing. I have heard the beta57's are better for bass mic. I have heard that these knock offs are like the betas... so I thought I'd ask around the bass communitiy if anyone has tried them.
hey- they're cheap enough to try out. I mean $30 for a decent mic is a good price.

thanks for the help-