I had an MXL Guitar Cube go bad and they are offering to replace it with a MXL 860 RIBBON.
 
Anyone know about this? I have no ribbon mics at all as yet and I am a guitar player. I record a lot of guitar players. I'm kinda thinking it would be a good thing to add to the kit.
 
I found this page of suggestions for Ribbon Care
http://www.royerlabs.com/phantompower.html
 
What are your thoughts?

If you do electric guitars even the cheapest ribbon mic is a great tool.  And you can still use a 57 up close if you want (tho I put an MXL 44 about 18" from the center which sounds very smooth).
 
I can't imagine offering a customer a mic for a amp.  And a Roland Cube ought to be worth more than the ribbon - or at least I know you can get one.  I'd be afeard that was a close out mic you will find on a stupid deal of the day next week.  Tell them you want both - my ribbon on the guitarist's guitar cube sounds pretty sweet.
 
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I must be fracking psychic.   It is no longer available at most places although I did see a price of $199.  They are trying to get rid of back stock.  Tell them to give you a cube and you'll throw in $50 for the mic.

AT,
 
Thanks for responding.
 
The problematic thing is this mic... the silver one.
 
The Mic they are offering costs more.
 
I was thinking I might try to buy my way up to this one instead...
http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/R77/
SOS Article
http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/R77/reviews/MXL-R77PQ.pdf
 
 

Well, then, never mind.  Yea, I don't know about such a cheap condenser - even for drums.  Dynamics are traditional.  I just did a drum overhead using my mxl ribbon - the cheapest of the cheap, and it sounded good in an old-fashioned way (ie. no highs).  Worked for the blues song and may try it w/ "brighter" pzms for stereo.
 
Shorter ribbons are better for instruments and longer (@ 2 inches or so) better for vox - or so I've heard.  Couldn't find the length of the R77 ribbon.  But it should work.  Me, I like ribbons.
 
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Thanks @. I'm taking the bait and getting my first ribbon!

What is a PZM?

Pressure zone mic, or boundary mic.  One of those flat pads with a small diaphragm hooked over it.  You'll see them used for conference tables usually.  The sound is reflected off the pad to the small diaphragm so you get a very phase coherent sound in an Omni pattern.
 
Back last century after I bought an analog 8 track and they sold me two mid-level Crowns cheap since they were being discontinued.  Great deal tho I had no idea how to use them.  They are very very clean but will pick up plenty of bass if you put them on a flat surface which extends the wave length (ie. bass) that is reflected back to the diaphragm.  Here at home I use 3-4 mics for drums - stereo overheads (sometimes I'll use the pzms on stands instead of my SDCs) or I'll use one pzm on the wood floor in front of the kick equidistant from the overheads to balance it all out.  You get nice, clean bass extension that way, with a hint of woody flavor (oak ;-)).  But you have to have a nice one -  $50 "soundgrabbers" are fine for VO conferences but not for music.
 
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Ok ty