Fake beta57: thumbs up to JANDS

[chris p]

I bought a Shure Beta57 of evilbay, and noticed it sounded tinny and thin. Sure enough, checking a few other details against a genuine Shure beta57 in the cupboard, it had a lot wrong with it.

Anyway, the point of all this is not evilbay, who after all are now getting my money back for me off a recalcitrant seller, but to say a big thank you to Michael Meissner and the service staff at JANDS - the Oz Shure distributors. Check the JANDS site and you find they will do a free appraisal report if you suspect you've bought a fake. I took the mic in, and 1/2 hr later left with a typed report. Fantastic service. My 58s, 57s and "real" beta57 have all been bought new from dealers, and now I'm even off the grey marketers - JANDS deserves my support.

Thanks too to Howard Jones for pointing me in the right direction to start off.

[Kurt]

I bought a 58 off evilbay, it was cheap and definately sounds it! It's tinny, distorts much more easliy than a real one and is much lighter, maybe 2/3rds the weight of a real 58.

Without a real one to compare it too I guess many home studio/hobby PA types would never know.

[Kris]

There's a guy on ebay Australia who sells legit shure product. His name is Alan Chan (i think) He used to be a lot cheaper, selling for the Shure MAP (minimum advertised price) but he has put his prices up lately, maybe so he's not confused with the counterfeiters. May be worth checking him out. He's in Epping.

[chris p]

Yeah Kurt, I'm giving my seller the benefit of the doubt and putting him/her in the "didn't know the difference" category. One lesson for me is the next time I hear someone bag a Shure mic as having crappy sound is to quiz them on where they bought it. I'm not saying they are the absolute best mic around, but they do what they do well.

Kris, I've never dealt with Alan Chan, but my understanding is that he gets his mics from a Shure distributor in Singapore. So yes, they are genuine but he is a grey marketer (which is entirely legal) rather than an authorised Oz distributor. The difference is if something goes wrong, JANDS are entitled to tell you to send the mic to Singapore for repairs! Whether that risk is countered by his discount price is up to you! Like I said, JANDS has earned my loyalty through service, even if that comes at a price.

[Kris]

Fair point about the service. A shure mic is about as hardy as they come though.... If it actually gets to the point where it isn't working, well, it must have been hammered pretty bad.

[Ausrock]

I purchased 3 57s off Alan Chan a couple of years ago and can only give the guy the "thumbs up". Until reading the above posts I had no idea where he sourced the mics from.

I also have an unbranded 57 copy which was bought s/hand (cheap) and there is little noticable sonic difference and only subtle visual differences between it and any genuine Shure. The question is, whether it will last as long as a genuine 57.

ChrisO

[Peter Knight]

Yep, I've bought from Alan Chan myself. No problems whatsoever.

[Sheer Noise]

Alan Chan... nice bloke too... apparently a decent pianist as well as dirt-cheap mic importer! I got 4 e604's from him last year, hassle free, great mic's, great price!

Dave

[Roy]

Ditto... I too have bought from him- nice bloke, great price.

[Aearth]

Me too, looks like he's suppling Sydney.

Nick

[Trent]

here is the guys ebay site

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Alans-Microphone

i just bought some 57s from him

[alanchan1024]

Greetings,

It's nice to see people mentioning my name in a good way. And I appreciate someone purchased on 31/03/03 for a SM57 would still remember me (just to name an example). Two things I would like to clearify: 1) My price has been going down not up (e.g. that SM57 was sold for $149 + $14 shipping) 2) My Shure mics are not made / imported from Asia.

For those who have seen me in person, or anyone interested, have a look at this video to confirm I am the genuine Alan (as genuine as my Shure products ;-) )

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8483969342

I am currently working in the Commonwealth Bank, teaching in International School of Music (ISM) Landsvale, and selling on eBay.

Regards
Alan

[Kurt]

Well, I know where to buy next time someone knocks off my vocal mics!