I am so freakin' MADDD!!! Can't the Chinese find legit ways to make money? Every time you turn around some Chinaman is selling fake goods on eBay. And their counterfeits are very hard to disinguish from the real deal unless you know what to look for. They manufacturer and sell a LOT of musical oriented items. Microhones, guitars, and amplifiers are constantly counterfeited. I should have known better than to buy a mic off eBay. Some items you should just stay away from! As you can see, externally this mic looks just like any other SM-57.
But if you open it up you'll see that the wires are the wrong colors inside. They should be yellow and green. This one has blue and green.
Also, the counterfeiters use the same serial number on every box. (Every mic should have its own unique number.) Have a look at the serial number here. Then look at the picture below it. It comes from another post I found on the interweb from some guy who bought three of these counterfeit mics. All three have the same serial#, and mine is the same as his. The only difference between his boxes and mine is that his says Made in Mexico and mine says Made in China. (Shure probably has offices in both locations.)
I should be able to get my money back, but it may take Months while the case is in dispute. According to the retail sales page for the mic, this guy/gal has already sold 42 of them at $85 each. Here are some more pics of my microphone just so you can see how much it looks like a real SM-57. Once they get the wiring colors down, it's going to be next to imposible to tell the difference between the real ones and the fakes. And beneath the pictures of the mic I'll post a screen capture of my conversation with the Shure rep who confirmed my mic is a fake.
