Cheap Ribbon Mic's

[RKHIII]

I know this gets discussed ad nauseaum on the Tape-Op and Gearslutz forums but I thought I'd throw it out here. What have y'all had good luck with in the way of cheap ribbon mics? I've heard good things about the Shinybox mics and Cascade's Fat Head ribbon. Anyone have any luck with some of the cheap imported stuff that seems to be flooding the market?

[sinasl1]

I've just picked up a CAD Trion 7000.. blended with a 57, sounds awesome on my cab... I'm going to record some clips soon...

[bowlingballbaby]

I worked on a record this past summer produced by Mike Daly (formerly of Whiskeytown and Ryan Adams). He arrived at the studio with his own ShinyBox 46MX, which he brings to every session. I really liked it, and when the session ran out of money, I brought the basic tracks back home to finish the guitar overdubs at a home studio - so....I went and bought my own ShinyBox 46MX! For the money, it's a great mic. No, it's not a vintage RCA and it's not a Royer and it never will be. It's not perfect, and it needed a touch of EQ here and there. But...blending it with a 57 (or a Beta 57, which I like a little better) and EQ'ing it appropriately earned it two thumbs up in my book. I also got good pre-sale service (answering questions, shipping help, etc...) from John U. at ShinyBox. There are a lot of newer inexpensive ribbons out there now, and I can't say muvh about them because I haven't used them, but for this particular major label recording project, the ShinyBox worked great.

[bowlingballbaby]

PS...we used the ShinyBox on just about everything...vintage Fender Deluxe, Vibro Champ, Bandmaster, Princeton; vintage Matchless, Marshall; newer Vox AC30. Every vinatge guitar imaginable - Les Paul, ES-330, Tele, Strat, Gretsch Roc Jet, Epi Riviera, half a dozen others. All good....

[sinasl1]

ok I'm posting a clip in another thread called "my new iso cabinet".. the guitars that are panned hard L and R in the clip are a blend of 57 and Trion 7000 ribbon mic (favoring the 57 about 60/40)... strat through Emplexador into a bogner cube 1-12" with a G12H30..