TOMB group buy ribbbon mic: Who still has/uses thiers??

[DokorderFreq]

OK...Saw one of these Tape Op ribbon mics slip through the Bay recently, and before then I never knew of them. Apparently there was a group buy for these Chinese ribbon mics back in '05. The subject threads within the TOMB get wacky after a few pages, and there never seems to be any confirmed closure to the deal. I'm assuming about 400 of these things got distributed thru the group buy (they were supposedly sold in pairs, thus 200 participants). However, not one member boasts/bitches about receiving theirs...the threads die abruptly. I do however believe that Dr.MJ received at least one pair, and the Bay seller appears to have been an original participant. Other than those two individuals it's anyone's guess!

So, in a qwest to figure out how many were presented to the group, I'd like for all TapeOp members that participated in that group buy back in '05 to come forward and state if they received them, still have them, still use them and how much they enjoy them. Also, if you've modded them to your liking, please explain to what extent. Additionally, if you no longer have them, please state why, be it because they sucked, sold them for food, lost them in a cross country move, etc.

I realize this qwest comes down really late to the party, and many of these participants may no longer frequent the TOMB anymore. But I think it'd still be cool to discover how many of these things are being dusted off for duty, thrown in a time capsule for future civilisations to wince over or cannibalised for other projects by first, second, or even fifth time owners.

Anyone here have testimony to add?? Thanks in advance

[Snarl 12/8]

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... =group+buy

[DokorderFreq]

Thanks, Snarf! That's a thread that even Google didn't drum up, but still...it's 6 years old and only about six posts long. I recognize one of those posters, so I'll try PM'g him for some personal insight. It's a start

Thanks again!!

[shedshrine]

*Brighter sound around back IIRC
*Only stock cable would fit into mic's XLR socket.
*Never did transformer upgrade, but EQ'd okay stock. (in my humble usage)

[DokorderFreq]

Wow - A real photo of the kit...cool!! So, being as that XLR socket was 'non-standard', did the factory supply XLR cables in the bundle or did you have you buy them outright from PPA? And I guess a logo was never agreed upon, eh? Nice looking pieces I have to say.

Thanks, shedshrine! Who else is out there??

[joel77]

I bought a pair. Haven't had them out in years. I should give them another go. Kinda woolly sounding as I recall. I remember lots of talk about modding these mics. The one I recall off the top of my head was screen removal.

Joel, Studio 52

[joelpatterson]

Used mine for drum overheads with great fanfare on an album in '09, and they still sit in their monstrous "medieval guillotine" shockmounts I made for them...



I did the Michael Joly mods (tore out the screening and added little puffs of weatherstripping here & there) but since then, I've been using my pair of CAD E100S's for drum overheads, so I guess I have to report they stand against the wall, all forlorn and bereft, dreaming of the old days like a couple of blue turtles.

[b3groover]

Sold mine long ago to some local guys. I put Cinemags in them and stuffed the body full of insulation to try an minimize the awful metallic ring. Never really liked them.

The cheap Royer knock-offs I bought in the TNC groupbuy a few years later, however... I still use those all the time and they are stock. Damn things sound good!

[norton]

Bought a pair, still have them and use them. Paine have a picky xlr jack as well. Maybe a little dark sounding but they've worked well on drums, vox and they love electric guitars.

[darjama]

Still use mine regularly. Stripped out a lot of the screening inside and dampened the bodies with some foam on mine. Great for vocals and acoustic guitars.

[DokorderFreq]

Nice input, guys! Those shockmounts are wicked, Joel!! Talk about adding vibe to the space...I'm impressed. Good to see some of you are still flexing them from time to time, and so far it seems many took on the headbasket mods to open up their responsiveness & tame the ringing. I wonder if China ever took notice of these mods & tweaked their designs accordingly by now.

Has anyone purchased a like model from say, Nady, Apex or Shinybox and compared their qualities, or has that been considered moot? Of those brands I assume the Shinybox would present the biggest difference.

[The Scum]

I still use mine. Stereo drum overheads routinely, or the occasional vocal...though I picked up an RCA 74 that sounds better on my voice.

I haven't modded them at all. But I kinda like "wooly."

I wonder if China ever took notice of these mods & tweaked their designs accordingly by now.

My guess is that part of those "features" are intended to protect the mic from wind blasts, reducing the number of DOA mics that get killed as the user opens the box for the first time. It's a manufacturer precaution against warranty returns.

I bought a couple of MXL ribbon carcasses on Craigslist for a few bucks because the owner was going to mod them by taking all of those screens out, and while they were open, the strong magnets picked the headbasket screws up off his bench, and pulled them through the ribbon.

Has anyone purchased a like model from say, Nady, Apex or Shinybox and compared their qualities, or has that been considered moot? Of those brands I assume the Shinybox would present the biggest difference.

Back when they were new, they were compared, and the differences were minimal. The biggest difference is that Shinybox have someone who is more actively involved with the process, managing quality and handling warranty work.

[DokorderFreq]

"bought a couple of MXL ribbon carcasses on Craigslist for a few bucks because the owner was going to mod them by taking all of those screens out, and while they were open, the strong magnets picked the headbasket screws up off his bench, and pulled them through the ribbon."

Boy, I hate when that happens! (A Billy Crystal SNL quote). Live & learn, right? That's happened to me too, but it was on an old Amperite whose ribbon was toast anyways. That beast requires a new transformer for it to do anything remotely musical.

Thanks for the input, Scum!

[drumsound]

I bought a pair and they still get used a fair amount. I really like it on fiddle. Being a darker mic it takes away some of the undesirable sounds from the bow. I've also used them a lot on drum room, and when right, on vocals. Percussion sometimes is really good with them. Recently I added tambourine, vibraslap and a railroad track played with a hammer and used the TOMB ribbon and it sounded perfect. The artists (who mostly records at home these days) was quite intrigued by the mic.

[Scodiddly]

I bought one from the original Shinybox group buy, which went on about the same time. Haven't used in quite a while, but then I'm a live sound guy and it's a rather big ugly mic for most stages.

I did remove a fair bit of the mesh and screening inside, though I left the rectangular box w/ silk. To me it sounded better than way, and my theory was that the less regular shape (not a cylinder) didn't have as much problem with internal reflections.