58 Reasons to Love the SM58

Tough, reliable and always great sounding, the SM58 has won fans and admirers the world over. So we’ve collected 58 reasons why people love this audio icon so much.

From rap to rock and church sermons to presidential speeches, the SM58 is the Swiss Army knife of microphones. It can handle anything thrown its way – even getting thrown on stage!

Long considered the industry standard for live vocal applications, it still sounds as great as it did upon its introduction so many decades ago. This has inspired affection among musicians, engineers, producers, preachers and presidents. It might be someone’s first microphone, but it could also be their hundredth.

What makes it so special? Let us count the ways…

1. Less than $100? What an incredible value!

2. Mic drops never would have become famous without the nearly indestructible SM58.

3. It’s a karaoke legend... and who doesn’t love a little karaoke?

4. The 1,000,000th SM58 was sold in the early 1990s.

5. It always listens to me venting.

6. The SM58 played a key role in making rock ‘n’ rock popular.

7. And yet Ernie Seeler, the mic’s development engineer, didn’t even like rock music!

8. The grille is design to dent when dropped to absorb energy, like a crumple-zone on a car body.

9. One survived being underwater for weeks after a hurricane.

10. What other mic has its own day of celebration?

11. Add a meshed ball grille to the SM57 and you (almost) have an SM58.

12. Makes a great gift for an aspiring vocalist.

13. The sky’s the limit with customization by Colorware.

14. Do stocking stuffers get any better than this?

15. The internal acoustic design of the SM58 can be traced back to the Unidyne Model 55 introduced in 1939 and still going strong.

16. The length of the voice coil wire is nearly 40 feet long!

17. It has been used aboard the International Space Station.

18. While it might not be the ‘right’ mic for the job, it’s never the wrong one.

19. Make it personal and easily carry the mic with you in your purse!

20. Its dented grille can be “undented” by using the rounded wooden end of a broom handle.

21. The pneumatic shock mount allows for noiseless rock star clip grabs, making you look super cool without popping the PA.

22. It even makes a fantastic beer tap.

23. It can be used as a hammer.

24. No firmware updates required!

25. Even your teenager thinks it’s cool…

26. It’s reliable night after night, no matter what you put it through.

27. Go ahead and sing into it after eating a foot-long tuna sub with extra onions. It will never judge you.

28. When operating, the diaphragm moves only millionths of an inch.

29. It has a natural frequency response that is known to artists and engineers around the world.

30. The SM58 has been present as world history has been told.

31. Millions of famous words have been spoken through an SM58. 

32. Iconic ice cream cone shape, refreshing on hot summer days.

33. The best sounding coat hanger on the market.

34. When someone asks for a ‘mic,’ the SM58 is what they actually mean.

35. Great for applying your sticker collection.

36. This microphone paints passion.

37. Show me a more iconic mic!

38. It has been retrofitted as a shifter in a manual car.

39. Still worked after being slapped shot by professional hockey players.

40. Its colors go with anything I’m wearing.

41. So cool they made an emoji after it.

42. Well known as the industry standard.

43. The SM58 is the most widely used mic element for wireless mics.

44. It is nearly impossible to overload it with sound pressure levels.

45. Perfect vocal mic for grade school choirs to rock ‘n’ roll stages and everyone in between.

46. SM stands for Studio Microphone, which was the intended market when it was first released.

47. Chances are your favorite artists have all used an SM58.

48. Fits comfortably under your pillow.

49. Backed by award-winning customer service.

50. Uniform cardioid polar pattern leaves background noise behind.

51. The ‘Shure Voice’ frequency curve, known to bring out vocals in a live mix, all started with the SM58.

52. Some changes to the mic were necessary due to the mic outliving parts suppliers.

53. Shure teamed up with Supreme, an iconic streetwear brand, to produce a limited-red SM58 microphone.

54. It's good enough for Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen and Run-DMC!

55. Henry Rollins 'customized' his SM58 by crushing his thumbprints into the grille.

56. It just sounds natural.

57. The SM58 won a $35,000 microphone blind listening test for a Smashing Pumpkins session with Rick Rubin.

58. I got 58 reasons to stress but an SM58 ain't one.

Why do you love the SM58? Let us know online with the #SM58Day hashtag!