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Salvage a Shure Beta 52?

hrodbert696

hrodbert696

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Jan 15, 2010
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pelicanseyeblog.wordpress.com
#1
Hi Everyone, hope this is a good place to put this question. I recently picked up a box of miscellaneous junk from a CL seller, and included in it was a Shure Beta 52 bass drum/amp mic (it's a 52, not 52A - not sure what the difference is). I'm hoping this was a score, but I'll have to salvage it first, because instead of an XLR jack, I've got three white wires coming out the bottom. I have a soldering iron, not real good with it but willing to try. Any guidance on how to get it working? Can I just pick up an XLR jack at Radio Shack or something, solder the wires on and be good to go? Or is it a lost cause?

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#2
should be different colors, likely someone has already been in it.

That said, so long as the coils are good you have nothing to lose. Don't try to assemble, just wire a plug to it in different combinations until you get the right sound. You should be able to measure with an ohm meter to confirm the main leads and common.

You can probably pull the top off as well and get the pin designations.
original colors:
Pin 1 - Black and spring clip
Pin 2 - Blue
Pin 3 - Red
 
#3
Garyth said:
should be different colors, likely someone has already been in it.

That said, so long as the coils are good you have nothing to lose. Don't try to assemble, just wire a plug to it in different combinations until you get the right sound. You should be able to measure with an ohm meter to confirm the main leads and common.

You can probably pull the top off as well and get the pin designations.
original colors:
Pin 1 - Black and spring clip
Pin 2 - Blue
Pin 3 - Red
Click to expand...

A ha! You're right, someone has. I disassembled the base from the head and pulled the wires free; the red, black and white wires are all there, spliced to the three white wires with duct tape (! - seriously, not even electrical tape - duct tape). The one attached to the black broke free while I was pulling them out and I can't imagine the connections are too good on the remaining 2. The colored wires aren't long enough to reach down through the base, clearly - would it be worth trying to put new ones in (not sure how to disassemble the head of the mic?), or redo the splicing, or maybe have them loose outside the casing of the base with an XLR plug right there?
 
#6
Some wire and an XLR jack would get it usable, albeit a bit fragile. It could be coddled along till you can spring for the rebuild which would give you the most robust result and put you back into the hammer and stage defense weapon mode Shure is known for. Also would tell you if cartridge works. If mike element is FUBAR, the 77 dollars is cheapest fix.
 
#7
hrodbert696 said:
A ha! You're right, someone has. I disassembled the base from the head and pulled the wires free; the red, black and white wires are all there, spliced to the three white wires with duct tape (! - seriously, not even electrical tape - duct tape). The one attached to the black broke free while I was pulling them out and I can't imagine the connections are too good on the remaining 2. The colored wires aren't long enough to reach down through the base, clearly - would it be worth trying to put new ones in (not sure how to disassemble the head of the mic?), or redo the splicing, or maybe have them loose outside the casing of the base with an XLR plug right there?
Click to expand...
I'd solder on new extension wires, heatshrink the extension joints and add XLR. Cost next to nothing to hopefully have a functional mic. I would make more enquiry as to the pin code though.

From where I sit 77 bucks to get it back like new is a steal too.
 
#9
Downunderwonder said:
I'd solder on new extension wires, heatshrink the extension joints and add XLR. Cost next to nothing to hopefully have a functional mic. I would make more enquiry as to the pin code though.

From where I sit 77 bucks to get it back like new is a steal too.
Click to expand...

Soldering on color coded wires and covering the solder joints with heat-shrink tubing is a trivial exercise to anyone who can solder. I'd do that, extend the wires, connect them to an XLR jack, then connect and test the mic. If no function, then consider having Shure service it and provide an estimate on repairs. If it needs a new capsule, the cost might be more than $77.
 

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