the t.bone RB 100

This mic works well for me. I had few expectations, considering the price, but I wanted to 'get into' ribbons.
Overall, the sound is on the dark/mellow side, but it was an advantage with a guitar combo, that ended up sounding wonderful and grungy. When close-micing a quiet male voice it also performed surprisingly well, sibliance and breath was well under control - and the mic responds very well to EQ. It's figure 8, of course, so placement needs to be be carefully considered, and some form of damping of the rear may be helpful.
This mic requires good pre-amps, because the output is quite low and the gain needs to be raised accordingly.
The RB 100 may not be the most open, crisp mic in the world, but to my mind it - and other ribbons, I suppose - brings a welcome alternative to the super crisp large diaphragm condensers.
Build quality is absolutely ok, the shock mount works well (just too bad that it doesn't fit in the box). I like the retro styling, and that it is not overdone.

These really shine as drum room mics. Ribbons mics in general convey the punch of the drums better than dynamics or condensors in my opinion. I feel for the best drum sound a mix of all three is preferable. These are not "HiFi" mics they will not convey the souce in pristine clarity, they will impart their own sonic footprint onto any recorded material. Whether this is a good or bad thing is entirely dependant on the source and production values sought. They can sound slightly tubby and muddy due to their reduced high end response but clean up well with EQ. I have used them on vocals where they were serviceable but I prefer LDC's here anyway. They are amazingly well built and solid, they come with some serious wooden cases and velvet bags. I love this in the application I use them in.

Since I can't compare this microphone to high-end products from the likes of Royer etc., I'll just take a look at it and judge it on its own merits.
Like most ribbon mics (so I've heard), this one needs a lot of gain, so like others already might have pointed it out, it needs a quiet preamp with lots of gain. I've only tried it with a Behringer XR18, recording a classical guitar, vocals and an amped (clean and distortion) electric guitar. I think the mic did well on all these sources, but the amped electric guitar sounded great right out of the box. I'd rather use a LDC on vocals and classical/acoustic guitar though, although I loved the low frequency response on the classical guitar. It's smooth, takes eq well and sounds natural. The same goes for the high frequencies which are not as prevalent, but can be tweaked with eq without added harshness.
I'm still planning on testing this as a drum overhead and kick mic and might purchase a second one if I'm satisfied with the results.
So in short, at this price, the mic is a good purchase if used on the right source, with the right technique (distance, direction ..)

This is used in semi pro studio; already have numbers of ribbons eg R88, R92, NTR etc. Long time lover of ribbons. Purchased on impulse but specifically to use as an MS mic along with other dynamics because of body shape. Purchased it with an Millenium IP 3 which I will review separately.
WARNING: Passive ribbon mics have a secret; they love high impedance. Dont expect to plug it into a tube pre with 600 ohm loading and have it perform well...it will be dark, dull and just awful. To use this mic it needs at least 10k loading
BUT
The secret is to use an adapter and plug it into a line in with ideally at least 500k (best is 1m) and suddenly its magic. It is far less noisy, is articulate (for a ribbon) and is beyond belief for the price.

It does have a design issue, the slots are very obstructive and create a bit of resonance in the chamber. When I get time, Im going to remove 60% percent of the slots which should fix the problem...but I could hear it as soon as I plugged in the mic...pity as it would be an easy fix but my suggestion to Thomann was not really followed up with zeal.

PROS: Great value, solid build. Great sound with the right setup, as short as possible for cable length; ideally a low capacitance cable like Van Damme lo cap. Heavier loading is fine for high spl/guitar cabs etc but the above applies for anything else...you can even get a decent vocal sound out of it.

CONS: Design flaws creates resonance/comb filtering which is negligible for eg cabs etc but for anything articulate...placement is more critical than normal. As per the notes above, you get what you pay for in terms of learning time. Its not a 121 but its very decent in its own right; just dont compare it and you will be happy. Usual issue with dynamics ie decent quiet gain needed but its about the same sensitivity as an sm57 to give you an idea.

Hope that helps

Have used this in recording sessions and would recommend it for:

Drum room: dark and warm, responds well to EQ
Percussion: Tames transients and adds a nice sheen to tambourine, shakers etc
Brass: Particularly useful where sax/trumpet are played hard as it softens the attck without losing clarity. Watch out for wind blasts.
Banjo/mandolin/baritone guitar: Ribbon mics are particularly well suited to harsh, midrange heavy sound sources. Again, mellows out the sound efficiently.
Electric guitar amps: Ribbons are back in a big way on electric guitar because of their flattering of the mids. Try especially on more cutting toppy sounding amps.

Conclusion: cheap, versatile and suited to a wide range of instruments. Not as fat and warm as the more pricey ribbons but a handy little tool all the same.

I was looking to expand my microphone repertoire and decided to go for a ribbon microphone. I spent a long time trying to settle on one and, due to budget restrictions, ended up buying the RB 100.

It?s not a very versatile mic even for a ribbon one; the highs are quite attenuated and the mid-lows are quite accentuated. This frequency response makes it nicely suitable for recording guitar cabinets, especially those that sound harsh in the higher frequency range, the mic naturally smoothens out the highs but adds a nice warm punch in the lower mids. This also sounds really good if you use it as a drum ambience mic; it gives the drums that extra ?Unf!? without the deafening frequencies of the cymbals in the way, especially when placed near to the ground in front of the set facing between the snare-drum and the kick.

The figure eight polar pattern can be problematic for full band live recording situations, as it will capture anything behind it. On the other hand, if used for overdubbing or isolated instruments it can give them a nice colour and organic feel, unobtrusively capturing the size and sound of the room, but unless you are clear on the sound you?re looking for, I?d only use this mic along with others and use the RB 100 to add colour and room to the mix.

The mic comes presented in a sturdy well-padded wooden box and a very decent shock mount that I?d be tempted to buy separately for other narrow mics.

If you?re looking for a clean versatile ribbon microphone this isn?t the one for you, but if you?re looking for a microphone with a lot of character, warmth and punch to give your mix that little extra push, this is what you want. Good mic at a good price.