Oktava MK012 Back At GC

[GY]

I stopped by a GC store yesterday and saw that they had 5 Oktava MK012 mics. They haven't been on-line or in the catalog since they blew 'em out a while back for $50. Now, they go for $99. Anyone else seen them at their local GC? Wonder if they'll be blowin' 'em out again?

[offramp]

Careful that they're not the Chinese knockoffs. There've been a few threads in a number of forums about that...one has lots of pictures to help you identify them.

[spokenward]

http://www.guitarcenter.com/products/dispDeals.cfm?sel=6

 

They have the 319 as well.

[Phil O'Keefe]

But are those Russian or Chinese?

 

At $69 each, I'll probably pick a few more up as spares - assuming they're Russian built.

[rog951]

The MC012 in the pic bears the mark of the Chinese knock-offs. However, all the pics have a diclaimer about not being guaranteed an accurate depiction, etc, etc. I'm not aware of any copies of the 319 though. That's a great price for that mic; I might grab a second one myself. I think I paid $150 for my 319 several years back. It's a surprisingly good mic...

[AudioMaverick]

There's already a thread regarding the knock-offs vs the Russian mades over on the Recording forum -- Click Here .

 

I included a couple of links to help determine which they are. This was running around the M.P. forums for a while.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I think one of the things that makes identification more difficult is that the authentic Russian models have featured different subtle variations over the years. For example, IIRC, none of mine have any serial numbers, but I have had them all for several years. IIRC, two of them don't have the ATM marking but one does. All have the metal clip and -10 dB inline pad. Two have the smaller plastic Russian styled / shaped boxes (although they're black and not grey / white plastic), and one has the birchwood box. None of them came with the frequency response printout, but my M3 LOMO head (purchased at the same time as one of the MC012's, directly from Russia) did.

 

The contacts are, again, IIRC, silver plated and dimpled. I'll double check all the details again and get back to you on that. Just as soon as the bees disperse.

[GY]

Even though the picture on the GC site looks like the Chinese knock-offs, I kinda doubt they would be selling them. Ebay's where I've seen a bunch of those. It would be interesting to know who supplies them to GC.

 

I've found the 012s with the omni capsules to be very useful.

[InvalidInk]

Oktava has done nothing short of amaze me. I own the MC012 (3 of em) the 319 (2 of them) and the ML-52 ribbon mic. All of them are great mics. It is always exciting to find good mics that are inexpensive. The MC 012 is great on drums, the 319 is great on vocals (and on piano from what I hear) and the ML-52 is really good for guitar and drums (I often use it for a room mic for both).

[temnov]

I emailed Craig privately to see if it would be okay to post this, and he said yes.

 

I was selling Oktava mikes while I was working in Russia and I had several in my studio. Like those a lot.

 

After reading this thread I called back to my partnes in Russia and found out that they're still selling them.

 

While it's not exactly my business anymore - I'm doing export from US to Russia, - there is a possibility for those who are really interested in Oktava to get brand new mikes directly from the plant.

 

Please let me know if you guys have more questions, will be glad to answer.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Outstanding! What can you get us? Only Oktava stuff? Can you get LOMO lollipops (such as the M1 / M3) for the Oktava preamps / bodies? Can you get the Oktava ribbon mics?

 

Next question - how much?

[temnov]

Phil, we can get everything you find at their web-site. See below, please:

 

What exactly I can do.

 

I can place an order in Moscow (Tula to be precise). It's better to be several mikes, different kinds. The ideal case is when several people place on order.

 

My partner in Moscow will send the shipment over here. They will check out everything before they ship.

 

Their expense will include Custom fee, Customs Declaration and paperwork fee - about ($ 500.00 per shipment) and shipping avia freight cost (around $10.00 per kg), plus they will charge $10.00 per kg. Their service fee or markup - 20%.

 

Now, it's still will be cheaper and it will be brand new directly from the factory.

 

Again, it's not a business for me. I think it's just one time deal. I'll probably just order ribbon and tube mikes for me.

 

How to find your mike:

 

Go to the Tula-Oktava web-site, copy and paste the link to mike you want and send me a link. For example:

 

http://oktava.tula.net/mics/ml52.htm

 

you can start there http://oktava.tula.net

 

I'd recommend for you not to go the English part of the site for the pricing, go to the Russian part and choose your mike over there (using tech info from English part).

 

http://oktava.tula.net/shop/idx1.htm

 

 

Use exchange rate from this site:

 

http://conv.rbc.ru/

it's safe to use 29 rubles =1 USD

 

I don't need any payment in advance, I need your commitment to buy. When mikes are here I'll send you a message.

 

Of course it could take two-three weeks to get those mikes over here. If you don't want this hassle just use their links. They have a lot.

 

As you can understand the more preliminary requests I got - cheaper it will be for all of us.

 

Also I think it's better to send request to my personal e-mail:

ptemnov@yahoo.com

 

 

What I'll do in a week starting tomorrow, I'll inform you on this thread how many mikes are requested and how much will be the estimated price for each.

 

Let

[GY]

Originally posted by GY on 08-23-2005 06:40 PM

[temnov]

OK, just send me the link and let me know what you want, exactly.