the t.bone RB 100

Hi!

I am a FOH engineer, bought this mic because I wanted a ribbon mic for a guitar amp, but didn`t want to spend fortune. It turned out, I didnt`t have to. This mic is amazing. I understand that a "real" Royer would be much better, but for 66€ that I spent, it does a great job.
I use the mic on a guitar amp, it dilivers a smooth warm sound I was looking for. Used on a fender 5e3 tweed and Orange tiny terror, the crisp mids we wanted to cut out became soft and warm, lots of low end and smooth highs.

Definitely buying another one, to have a set for two guitar amps.

I also tried it on bass amp, great natural overdrive, but you have to be carefull, not to put it to close to the speaker...about 10cm from the grillcloth was ok.

Again, in my oppinion, great mic, especially for the price.

I had recently decided to expand my mic locker and one of the things on my shopping list was a ribbon microphone. Ribbon microphones are an old concept, but it seems they have been out of fashion until a couple of years ago, and I too got curious on how they perform.

I did not want to spend too much right off the bat, so I did my research on what brands and models in the lower price range are worth a shot. A lot of people told me to check out T.bone, and in the meantime a friend of mine bought a Rb100 of his own, so I got to try it before buying mine.
Despite the low price, this is a great microphone. I have a couple of older T.bone mics and they're pretty much all duds, but this one delivers what it promises. It comes in a nice wooden box and a very aesthetic velvet-like pouch.
Being a ribbon mic, it does have that nice, rich low end and it really excels on punchy and deep sound sources, such as drums, classical guitars and bass cabinets.
The mids are a little bit boxy to my ears, but nothing a good EQ won't filter out. Did i mention it takes EQ very well? That's my favorite part as it can take some excessive EQ'ing like a champ and you have to push it really hard to make it sound unnatural. It does lack a bit of top end detail, but EQ in some of that top sparkle and brilliance and it works like a charm.
I've been using it on a lot of things but I think these mics excel on drums. The figure 8 pattern is really useful for MS techniques and room mics. I really like them as drum overheads, but keep in mind they will not give you the same detailed response as small or some large condensers. If you are like me and prefer warm and punchy drum overheads, this will do the trick.
However, this brings me to the only real downside I've come to find: consistency. As said above, I've been using a pair on drums (along with the one my friend owns) and there is quite a difference between the two. I know that expensive microphones come in matched pairs and cost a metric ton of money, but I own quite a lot of cheaper pairs (or quads) of microphones that do sound very close... There is a noticeable difference in gain needed and one does sound slightly more "muffled". The difference is not worrying me and I still get great results. I would encourage you to buy yourself one of these (or maybe two). Worth mentioning: both of the mics have a bit of flimsy bodies, as the top cap keeps turning a bit loose, but they both feel sturdy otherwise. Also, keep in mind that these mics need a LOT of gain and some cheaper pre-amps on some interfaces might not deliver... Works well with some of the rigs, but my home unit, which is one of those small, portable interfaces, gets too noisy at required gain.

Anyway, it's a great mic for the money and it is certainly something to have in your "arsenal". Have to try some of the other models in the future!

I bought this mic primarely for guitar cabs. It holds high volume well and sounds nice and warm, as ribbon mic should. I recorded old marshall superleads, and you know how ungodly lound those thigs are, but it held well. I used it for overhead mix, for drum room mix, even on kick drum. It worked awsome on everything. It's a bit on a bass side, so it's great for low insturments. I recorded bass amp with it also. I didn't really like it on vocals though.
It comes in a nice box and velvet kinda bag. It's built to last, nice metal housing, and good enought connectors. Not the best, but good. Especially for the price. The whole mic is unbeateble for the money, really. It's useful on wide variety of instruments, it responds to eq well and nicely sits in a mix. I love it on guitar cabs paired with a nice 57. I use it for contrast to wide diafragm condensor, one guitar with ribbon, one with condensor.
It needs a good preamp though. It uses quite a lot of gain, it has weak signal, as most of ribbons do.
But as said, for the price, can't get any better.