[Harp-L] Shure 545....

["Tom Ellis" <tellis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The wonderful 545:  My favorite mic.  Here's some more history.  In the
mid-late sixties Shure outfitted a number of bands with 545s, including both
Butter's, the Electric Flag, and even Chicago.  Promo ads and pics verify
this.  Butter undoubtedly used the pistol grip because of the on/off;  he
had a similar on/off switch on the EV he used to record the "Lost Elektra
Sessions" set;  that mic was stolen not long afterwards. Little Walter was
photographed with a stick version around that time and that may have been
what drew him to them, but I bet it was that they sounded so different from
the ubiquitous bullets. They also have much greater range-Butter could play
one right off the mic stand, which a bullet won't allow (see photos of the
live album-all the stage mics are 545s).   Tonally, I would disagree with
what has been said about the difference between the PE54 and 545.  Although
there are some 545s that sound as good as PE54s, my 40 years of experience
with these mics is that the PE version sounds fatter/thicker, with much
stronger bass response and a bit less treble on the high end than the 545.
Like most of the vintage Shure mics that were high impedance only, the
overall sound quality tends to be better than those that were dual (or tri-)
impedance.   Years ago, when I got a chance to look into the kit Butter had
at his death, there were two PEs, two very old-style cables (the thick,'70s
style versions) about 20 feet long, and a crazy assemblage of harps-mostly
Marine Bands, a few MeisterKlasses, even some Blues Harps. I have also found
the PE54 matches up better with more of the amps that have run through my
life.  But both versions are great mics, and should be part of every
player's mic quiver. TOM