Shure SM-58S (1984–Present)
The most familiar vocal mic in the world, with one extra click that nobody asked for and plenty of engineers quietly resent.
Overview
The Shure SM-58S is the switched version of the SM58. It is a dynamic vocal microphone with an on/off toggle built into the body. Shure's European retail channels sell it as the "S-version with switch," and one reseller describes it plainly as the most widely-used handheld vocal microphone ever produced, with a switch added to mute it between numbers. That is the whole pitch. There is no new capsule, no revised tuning, no cosmetic overhaul. It is the mic every sound engineer already knows, plus a mechanical interruption in the signal path.
Whether that interruption is a feature or a liability depends on who's holding the mic. The switch lets a performer mute between announcements or songs without reaching for a mixer or footswitch. That is useful for a frontperson working a corporate gig, a wedding, or a club set with long gaps between songs. But the mic is built to survive the road, and the switch adds a point of failure. That is the trade every owner makes when they buy the S instead of the plain SM58.
The capsule underneath is the SM58 platform. That means a cardioid dynamic element with a frequency response given as 50 to 15,000 Hz, an output impedance of 150 ohms, and a weight of 298 g. Those figures come from the shared SM58 platform, not from SM-58S-specific documentation. The 50-15,000 Hz figure also appears on Shure's BLX24/SM58 wireless system page describing the SM58 capsule, so treat them as platform-level specs, not a dedicated SM-58S data sheet. Retailers describe it consistently: the response is optimised for vocal use, with bright mids and a controlled bass reduction, tuned for clean yet warm vocal reproduction. At 298 g it feels like a tool rather than a toy. The cardioid pattern is the familiar one - wide enough to work a mic closely without falling off-axis, tight enough to keep a wedge monitor from howling.
The SM-58S is not a collector's object. It is a working microphone that happens to carry a switch, and the market treats it that way.
Key Features
On/Off Toggle Switch on the Body
The switch is the entire reason the SM-58S exists. It sits on the microphone body and mutes the mic when not in use. No mixer channel to reach for, no footswitch, no unplugging. For a performer who talks between songs, that is the difference between a clean stage and a live mic picking up a conversation with the front row. The catch is that any switch in a signal path is a mechanical contact, and mechanical contacts get dirty. Owners who run into scratchy or intermittent operation often find a technician familiar with Shure's construction can clean or replace the switch. If it fails entirely, the microphone can still be used in continuous-on mode by taping or wiring it in the "on" position. That's not elegant, but it keeps a working mic working.
Cardioid Dynamic Capsule, 50 Hz to 15,000 Hz
The capsule is the SM58 element: dynamic, cardioid, rated 50 to 15,000 Hz with 150 ohms output impedance. Those numbers are shared-platform attribution rather than SM-58S-specific measurement, but they describe the mic accurately enough. The response is shaped for voices, with the midrange pushed forward and the low end trimmed so a close-miked vocal doesn't turn to mud. Retailers describe the tuning as bright in the mids with controlled bass suppression, the same character that made the SM58 the default vocal mic on stages of every size. The cardioid pattern rejects the monitor wedge and the drums behind the singer, while still letting the performer move a few inches off-axis without the tone collapsing.
298 g Body with Steel Grille and Pop Filter
At 298 g the mic has real heft, the sort of weight that makes a handheld feel planted. The platform features attributed to the SM58 are a pneumatic shock-mount, a spherical wind and pop filter, and a rugged steel grille. They are inferred from the well-documented SM58 rather than confirmed for the SM-58S specifically, but they are the reason the mic survives being dropped, thrown, and sung into at close range night after night. The spherical grille also makes the mic instantly recognizable in a press photo. The SM58 has become the benchmark against which other mics are measured, and retailers themselves note that engineers ask "is this mic as durable as an SM57? How does the off-axis rejection compare to an SM58?" The SM-58S inherits that benchmark status and adds a switch to it.
Historical Context
The SM58 debuted in 1966, and switched versions typically followed soon after in Shure's lineup. The specific introduction year for the SM-58S has not been pinned down in available records. One low-authority source, a Pinterest pin, dates the SM-58S to "1984 - Present," which would put it nearly two decades after the SM58 itself. That date is single-source and should be treated as unconfirmed rather than established. What is documented is that the SM-58S was still a current catalog variant in October 2012, when a Mix (October 2012, p.9) promotion listed the SM58S alongside the SM58-LC and SM58-CN as part of a rebate offer. That listing confirms the switched variant stayed in production and distribution well into the 2010s, whatever its original launch date.
Retailers describe the SM58 as at home in classical, hip-hop, country, and metal alike, proven across every field over the years. The SM-58S is the same mic with a mute switch, aimed at the performer who needs one.
Collectibility & Value
There is no collector premium here worth chasing. Many used units appear on the resale market indistinguishable from standard SM58s save for the switch and model marking. Prices tend to track the standard SM58 closely, with no significant premium for the switched variant unless it's a particularly clean early example. Current retail listings put the SM-58S around €119 in European channels, with other listings showing 499 zł and a handful of unclear price codes. Those are retail figures, not original MSRP, and no original price for the SM-58S has surfaced in the available documentation.
Buying advice is straightforward: collectors looking for an SM-58S should verify that the switch is original and functioning. A replacement switch is not the end of the world, since a technician can clean or swap it, but a mic sold as an SM-58S with a dead or non-original switch is just an SM58 with a hole in the body. No exact Shure SM-58S listings were live at the time of research, so the market picture comes from retail and resale observation rather than dated sales.
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