old USA sm57 transformer options

I was going to start with the Crimson 😎
If the guys at TAB Funken work are still making theirs it would be my second choice. Prettiest equal to the Crimson.
Third would be the transformer less mod just to be different.
Last choice on a USA would be a modern Shure transformer, they say nothing changed when the moved production to Mexico, but put a USA next to a made in Mexico and it just sounds cheaper.

And I should have a huge modern Shure bias modern Shure mics paid my rent for years.

First of all welcome to RGO, I can’t recall the what color was in the mic I demoed, just that it put a modern 57 closer to the rolls Royce of the 57 heritage the ugly 548 unidyne IV. I was interested because I was very impressed with a Crimson based splitter system. Always thought if I was going to do one of the transformer upgrades I would go full Franken57 and go with the Grinelli 90 degree body as well.

I wish they would have used the same threads on the beta and SM57, original Beta headbasket reminds me of the 548

Update -
I went from having one stock sm57 and one transformerless 57 to 5 sm57 options:
Stock mexi 57
Stock mexi 545 unidyne 3
Mexi 57 with Crimson orange transformer
2x USA 57 unidyne 3 with cinemag cm-19427

I got the new cm-19427 trasformers - one for my original broken U3 57 and a second for a U3 capsule i snagged on reverb. david at cinemag described these as having extended low end, so i'm curious to hear them on a bass cab.

I did a quick guitar reamp to compare the five. I think i might hear bigger differences on other instruments with wider bandwidth, but i don't use 57s for much else so heavy guitars was the test.

the 545 is the brightest, with maybe slighty less low end. this is my favorite snare mic and i've never loved it on cabs, but in this test it sounds pretty great, and probably the best of the lot in solo.

my usa 57 (that had the dead transformer that started me on this journey) is the most different sounding of the lot. it has tighter low end, more mids, less fizz. it sounds "worse" than the other 57s in solo but it sits in a mix perfectly and requires less EQ. can be made to sound much like the others with a ~2db cut around 1.5k.

my new-to-me USA/cinemag 57 is closest to the 545. very slightly darker up top, smoother, with a cool low mid character - low mids sounds slightly "woody" and very real. more cab resonance or something compared to the others. this was probably my favorite and might dethrone my original U3 57


Stock 57 and crimson orange are very close. crimson orange is a little more scooped sounding with a less colored top, but we're splitting hairs here. compared the the 545 and the U3/cinemag, these are both less bright and a little boring sounding.

the three upgraded transformer mics have a smoother/less crunchy top end compared to the stock mics.

I can't tell much of a difference between the 545, stock, and crimson orange in a dense metal mix. the more "normal" sounding USA 57 has that low mid thing that is very cool, but is still difficult to pick out in a dense mix. could be very cool in a sparse mix. the different sounding USA 57 has this nasally quality that works super well in a dense mix, but would probably suck in a sparse mix. this was the only one that, in the mix, i could pick out every time.

in short, they all sound like 57s, at least on a guitar cab.