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[soundian]

From the Shure website:
"The Shure SM58 and SM57 have been fabricated in Shure's Mexican facilities since circa 1985. "

I think if your 57 claims to have been made in America and it's less than 20 years old they must be referring to the package that was made in USA and not the mic. (i.e. it was shipped from Mexico, put in it's box and the cable added-tadaa:made in america).
Anyway, juvenile squabbling (or accuracy, depends how you look at it) aside, a thought has occurred to me, Mr Ascension thinks that 57's cost £30 and they're shit, maybe he's been the victim of these poor chinese copies?

[Doc Ascension]

well fair enough you can get the odd 2nd hand one going for 30 quid but i'll resign to the fact that they are in the region of 80 quid brand new and genuine....

mine is genuine and 2nd hand though...

[Stupot]

Originally Posted by soundian

From the Shure website:
"The Shure SM58 and SM57 have been fabricated in Shure's Mexican facilities since circa 1985. "

I think if your 57 claims to have been made in America and it's less than 20 years old they must be referring to the package that was made in USA and not the mic. (i.e. it was shipped from Mexico, put in it's box and the cable added-tadaa:made in america).
Anyway, juvenile squabbling (or accuracy, depends how you look at it) aside, a thought has occurred to me, Mr Ascension thinks that 57's cost £30 and they're shit, maybe he's been the victim of these poor chinese copies?

You appear to be right re the shure website. I bought 8 of the things when my studio opened in 2000 and looking at the paperwork they claim to be manufactured in the USA. No mention of Mexico. It would seem to be a bit chicanery regarding the packaging and cable as you suggest. I shall stand corrected and disgruntled at shure, although the mics have performed and continue to perform well.
Thomann do a version of the 57 at about £25. I ordered one for a band that then split up and didn't want it. I've since used it and it's surprisingly fine. The output is not as high a genuine shure but it's not too shoddy.
You can find chinese 57s on e bay from £10 upwards. I've repaired one for somebody and it's a piece of crap. Weighs about half of a shure and the electronics are nasty.
I expect the thomann version is also chinese made but is of higher quality.