Ribbon mics : DIY or purchase ?

[Whoops]

My memory is not as good as it was, I think I've posted this here but I'm not sure.
If you would like to listen these mics used in recordings here are some examples:

I recorded the Piano on these songs with a spaced pair of TBone RB500, I also recorded a pair of Neumann U67, but Júlio the pianist choose only the RB500 in the final mix, so the U67 tracks were not used in the mix:






In this record from Cristina Branco called "Mãe",
the Piano sound is a mix from the pair of U67 and the pair of RB500, volume relation between the too would change depending on the song.
The Portuguese Guitar was recorded with a pair of Schoeps CMC5 close and a Tbone RM700 further away to give some space (distance and Fig8) and also some body (because it's much darker and has more low mids than the Schoeps), volume relation between the schoeps and RM700 would change depending on the song:

 

[jeremynothman]

RB500 is a pretty good mic on horns! I've also use my cheap TNC ribbons (royer style) on horns, piano and electric guitar. You have to watch out more that the player stays on axis than that the mic does a good job (and because of that, sometimes the combination of a cardioid SDC with a big ribbon is not a bad combo at all).
Sure, neither is an RCA or Melodium (better on vocals), a 4038 (better on overheads or cello), nor a real 121 (better on electric guitar), but both do just fine for 100euros.

If I didn't have these ribbons, I'd probably consider NoHypes or Bumblebeez, which both have the advantage of looking good.

 

[Whoops]

 

[Whoops]

 

[ElSmurf]

Found some comparison videos for the RB770. I really like how it makes the lows and low mids sing. Sounds very musical to my ears.

 

[Emmathom]

Hi guys, thank you for sharing these videos. Very interesting.

Post #21 @Whoops : nice job. I like the sound of the piano (and I like the music too !). RB500 is fine on these recordings. On the guitar, the RM700 (guitar ambiance) is nice too.

Post #23 @Whoops : of course there's difference between the t.bone / AEA / Coles but the RB500 is not ridiculous (but you really need to drop down lows and low mids). In this example I prefer is the AEA over the Coles by a small amount...

Post #24 @Whoops : RM700 does the job on the whole set indeed... and so on the blues acoustic guitar alone.

Post #25 @ElSmurf : on the first video I'm ok with the guy. I like the RM700 over the RB770 (and the SCT800 over the two others) but I like the RB100 too ! On classical guitar the RB770 alone is too boomy and thick. I like the combination with the Lewitt (which I like alone too). On the third example (guy with glasses) I'm not fan of the RB770 sound neither the way he played and recorded...

So my conclusion : t.bone makes amazing mics for the price (and not only !) You can use them straight from factory but they're also a very good base for DIY. I had been convinced of this for a while already.

About t.bone ribbon, I would not choose RB770 as my only one ribbon. RB500, RM700 and RB100 are really nice mics (got to buy the three of them ?).
Final choice I would go on RB500 at first purchase (which seems to be a recreation of APEX 210 http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Apex-Electronics/210)