Message Board

Hello my fellow recordists!
I recently decided to sell my LOMO 19A9 mic, I put it on ebay and BANG - no bids... Notice, I put a very modest starting bid of $999, I saw these going anywhere between $1700 and $2200... And this particular mic is in ALOT better condition than those...
What do you think?
Is there something I'm missing?
My description sounds funny or something?
Please chime in.
I need your opinion on this.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... SU:US:1123

Anyhow, mic is still for sale, I would part with it for $1500 OBO.
Would consider (partial) trades.
I'm looking for Kurzweil Rumour, Aphex Dominator and some old analog synth, especially in bad condition (cheap). Octave cat?

I don't know if this is it or not - and the mic may be perfect - but from your description, buyers may feel that it was "back-doored" from the LOMO plant and kluged together by a former tech in his kitchen. Provenance on mics like this is pretty important to some folks and it sounds like you've got a bastard child.

I think it's great that you're honest, but it probably diminishes the value of the mic.

I have one of these, I have never seen a black one, only blue ones.

If you want an honest opinion about why it didn't sell, it probably because of the power supply. Aside from the fact that it looks totally home-made, the PSUs on those things were crucial because they house the output transformer for the mics and that's a HUGE part of the the sound.

Mine is a gem of a mic and I paid less than $600 for it. It seems like a really great factory example of one of those things might sell for around $1100 these days (and I do watch those auctions), so one with a different PSU probably wouldn't get near $1500. That would be my guess, but I'm constantly amazed at what people pay for stuff on ebay. I'm not trying to undermine your sales or anything, but you asked, so I'm giving you my opinion as a Lomo owner and enthusiast. Those 19a9s are really fantastic mics, though, when you find a good one.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Well I'm sure the output transformer that is in the PSU is original.Though PSU does look home made of course.
Thanks everyone for your input!

Ebay is all about timing, so I'd just wait a few weeks and put it back up. If you can be patient you'll probably eventually get what you want for it.
But you'll probably have a hard time finding someone to give you $1500 for it on here right now if it didn't make the 999 opening bid last week.

Well, there's always an option of keeping it.
It is certainly a coolest mic.
I just wanted to see what kinda offers I could get on it.
I'm not using it because I'm not recording anything and there are things I could use like, portraits of dead presidents or an old analog synth....

I just re-read your auction. "The only thing I really liked to record with this mic is violin. " might sound a bit... unattractive? What's the use of a mic that is stated to be good only to record strings? Most people looking in this price range would rather buy a proclaimed * Highly versatile though colored * mic I guess.

Just my two cents.

A mount of some sort wold help too. Its not like that mick can go into once of those hinged things...

I'm trying to remember what the auction looked like when you were running it... it was just a standard eBay auction, right? Maybe you could put it up for bid with one of those "Buy It Now or Best Offer" auctions, to get a feel for what people will actually pay. Then either take the best offer, or tell 'em all to get lost and start looking for work recording music with elaborate string sections.

I have to say, I sorta cringed when I read the "I didn't like it for much but strings" bit... I thought "that's probably a really great mic, but that one line'll scare everyone off."

Well, that was my whole point, that it's a special mic. Uncommon.
If you want to record something, you just run to Guitar Center and grab a chinese condenser and track away. But when your locker if full of Neumanns and AKG and whatnot, and a pile of Audio-Technica and Shure is collecting dust in the corner, but you just cannot get the right sound, that's when you have to buy a LOMO.
I think I read this article when Marilyn Manson was tracking guitars and didn't like the sound, and he spent days experimenting with different mics, and I would imagine he has access to some good ones too, and then, finally, somebody pulled out a LOMO and he was like yeah, that's the sh*t!

I'm using a 19A9 on upright today, it is awesome!

jackies wrote:...it's a special mic. Uncommon.
If you want to record something, you just run to Guitar Center and grab a chinese condenser and track away. But when your locker if full of Neumanns and AKG and whatnot, and a pile of Audio-Technica and Shure is collecting dust in the corner, but you just cannot get the right sound, that's when you have to buy a LOMO.

And that is what you put in the eBay ad!

Bear in mind that something as specialized as a $1000 mic won't move very fast... you may have to run the auction a few times.

Maybe you could attach some audio clips of what the thing sounds like.

i don't think owning Neumanns or AKGs is a prerequisite for Lomo ownership. i also think your 19a9 is *worth* $750-1100, but note that *worth* can become quite distorted in ebayland. to get the most money, provide a LOT of huge, detailed photos, high quality sound samples, etc. and don't say stuff like "meh, its ok on strings" because that translates to "crap mic that might have something wrong with it because 19a9s should sound really fantastic on a LOT of things." i'm not saying to LIE, but if you're looking to get 2 grand, then spend a little time recording common things (acoustic gtr, drum OH, voice) and link to the samples in the auction.


(love my lomo 19a4, would like to have a dozen more of them)