Reprise – Shure Apps Tech Tip #140R: Durability of a Super 55 Unidyne
Each month features an updated reprise of a Tech Tip from ten years ago because many past Tech Tips are well worth review. Also, some will benefit from updating. Enjoy the thirty-fifth monthly Tech Tip reprise.
Shattered, Shattered
Photo by Stuart Van Dorn
Email from a musician in California:
After rehearsal, I started loading up gear. I was distracted with arms full of equipment and placed the Shure Super 55 on the hood of my truck near the windshield wipers. Got it all together (so I thought) and hit the road. I made it about a mile, stopped at two red lights, and the mic didn’t slide off. Made two right turns and the mic didn’t slide off. I usually drive fast but the weight of the Super 55 kept it on the hood. Got to the freeway onramp that has a hard right turn and at that crucial moment, when I can’t slow down or go back, I noticed something flying off the hood.
“Did you leave that mic out there, idiot?” I said aloud. This onramp is a busy one. I thought the mic was toast but had to go back just in case. My wife had purchased it for me to encourage my singing and it is a constant source of inspiration. It shows the audience what were about before we even play a note with its looks. It works well for the clear crisp vocals I try to put out in our rockabilly/swing trio. So, maybe baby, the mic is somehow OK.
I pull over and park, grab a flashlight and look like a loon out there at night promising myself I won’t get killed over a mic. Then I spot the chrome grill sitting on the center line, but a Chevy Tahoe with nice rims gets it with both wheels before I can safely grab it. (Cue sad trombone…wah, wah, waaahhh.) Next day for a laugh, I plugged it in and it worked!
Not only does this Super 55 operate, but it meets the published specifications for output level and for on-axis frequency response, though the polar patterns are catawampus. Having survived mechanical modification by a Sports Utility Vehicle, the microphone now resides in our archive along with numerous other damaged, distressed, dilapidated, and discarded transducers that took a licking and keep on ticking.
Related information: Timeline of the Unidyne
https://service.shure.com/s/article/upgrading-cartridge-of-old-55s-or-55sh?language=en_US
https://service.shure.com/s/article/How-does-the-Super-55-differ-to-the-55SH?language=en_US
https://service.shure.com/s/article/super-55-why-no-on-off-switch?language=en_US
https://service.shure.com/s/article/super-55-foam-color?language=en_US
Timex – takes a licking and keep on ticking
Arcana – mysterious or specialized knowledge
In the courtyard outside the Royal Academy of Arts, London, a new sculpture by the artist Tavares Strachan (born 1979) was installed from February 3 to April 28. Entitled The First Supper, the work envisions a meeting between notable Black activists, artists, and scientists from the past. It expresses the visibility and invisibility of individuals and communities whose stories are overlooked or forgotten. Fabrication of the sculpture took four years. Thanks to John Ellis of Shure UK for the photos, the background, and for noticing the Shure Unidyne on the table.
The First Supper
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Shure Unidyne, and Harriet Tubman
