So what will you get if you buy a Counterfeit Shure Microphone.

I bought 2 from an eBay auction in March 2007.

On the outside of the glossy box is a silver label marked
SM58 Legendary Vocal Microphone, Unidirectional, Dynamic, On/Off Switch, Break resistant mic clip, Mic bag.
The Model No should be SM58S when a switch is fitted.

Inside the Glossy box there was:
A microphone, marked SHURE SM58, with a switch.
A threaded microphone holder. This works fine.
A Black "pencil case" microphone holder. This is 8.5 inches long, the inside is white, no tag, and the embossed Shure logo cannot be seen on the inside
An orange 2 year warranty notice, in various languages.
A white Purchase Registration Card and Customer Survey. The return address is Denver, USA. If I complete the Purchase Registration Card and Customer Survey and return it to Denver, I could win a Shure SM58-LC microphone. Except the competition ended Dec 2000.
A glossy advert for Shure Microphones with a blue border.
An SM58 User Guide in 6 Languages. It is dated (c)2000. The current one on the Shure website is dated (c)2006. It is for the SM58, and the wiring diagram does not show the switch.
No SHURE sticker. Now I do feel cheated.

The microphone has the words SHURE SM58 printed around the neck, and not on a sticker as has been reported before on fake ones.
Inside the XLR connector, the three pins are marked 1, 2 & 3, but no sign of the word Shure.
The weight is the same as a real one.
The dimensions are similar to a real one.
The impedance is quoted as 150 Ohms (300 Ohms Actual), but is nearer to 600 Ohms when measured by a meter after being re-wired.

When the grille is removed, the foamy bit on the top of the cartridge is black. It also one has a sticker that reads TA -CAUTION- DO NOT TO OPEN OR TURN - WARRANTY WILL BE VOIDED. ASSEMBLED BY SHURE IN MEXICO.

The biggest give-away was the fact that they did not work. Checking the impedance with a meter at the pins revealed that all pins were shorted together and also shorted to the case.
I removed all the wiring (it was a mess), and wired the microphone cartridge directly to the pins, bypassing the switch, and now they both work.

The quality is not good, but they are being used by my son's band (mspforthewin on myspace.com) and as they play and "sing" heavy metal with a sore throat sort of stuff, the poor quality probably helps!

My advice is to buy real ones, and to make sure that you can inspect it first.