Originally Posted by lukpac ➡️

The 544 was specifically designed for gooseneck use:

https://pubs.shure.com/view/guide/544/en-US.pdf

Shure has a long history of producing very similar variants of the same mic side by side. 545 (handheld) and 545S (integrated stand mount and switch) for example. Later on the 545SD (handheld, switch, XLR) and 545SH (integrated stand mount, switch, XLR).

I think there may be more differences depending on the source, although some of that might just be variations from mic to mic. My Made in USA/Unidyne III SM 56 sounds more like my Made in Mexico SM 57s than any of my older 545s/546s, although 1) the differences aren't huge and 2) the differences are probably more apparent on vocals or snare than a guitar amp.

Originally Posted by raketenmann ➡️

I saw this documentation once as well, but somehow this doesn't match with my 544, cause there is a simple XLR Out just like on a modern 57, no thread for a gooseneck....

Interesting. In my personal experience a cranked guitar amp is such a complex and dense audio signal so I will hear differences in different microphones very well, where for example a close miced snare sounds pretty similar on a lot of microphones or at least its hard to judge what is the jump in quality. But this is my semi-professional experience...