riversruns
New member
Hi Everyone,
I’m new to the forum here and just want to post a respectful word of caution.
Those (most) of us who like to use Reverb for gear shopping are always on the lookout for good deals and classic items. There is a seller on Reverb based in the Netherlands, who posts cool vintage Sennheiser, AKG, and other OEM branded mics for cheaper prices than anywhere else typically. They have almost full 5-star feedback and nearly 1500 transactions at time of this post. Seems trustworthy.
I bought a total of 3 mics over about the course of a year, and had a very bad experience that soured my trust in not only him, but the whole online experience. As it stands only 2 of those mics might be original. I’ll try to keep it brief but poignant.
I bought in late June 2021 what was advertised as a vintage AKG D12 (sn. 32230) that was working perfectly, tested, with “full, awesome sound”. I dropped about $635 in total with fees and taxes. I got the mic in the mail, but I’ll admit my own fault, didn’t put it in front of a drumkit for a couple months. I wasn’t in a studio with drums, and was quite busy with other projects and life. And, unfortunately, I trusted I had what I paid for and what was advertised.
In mid November, finally back at a studio with drums and with a super high-profile client on the set-I excitedly put by D12 on the kick and walked into the control room-turned on the channel-and my heart sank to my stomach. What I heard was the crappiest, most mid-rangey, no guts, bottom or top end sound that you’d ever imagine. I (luckily) work in studios with D12’s and knew I had a big problem.
I sent them mic the very next day to a respected name/tech in Nashville-hoping that it was only a tune up that was needed. The day he got it in the mail, he messaged me saying that he’d been working on these a while and had many of them in the shop and “never seen anything like this” before. Someone had taken out the original AKG D12 capsule and replaced it with a cheap Philip’s capsule from a stereo mic which can be had for $100 or less online. He said it made sense that it would come from the Netherlands as Philips are from there and plenty of cheap capsules could be at hand.
When I got this information, I messaged Henry-and to keep it short-he has been nothing short of a jerk. Rude, short, tough-luck, that’s your problem not mine-it’s been over 90 days, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want or need to attitude. No trade, no refund, exchange, nothing. I asked respectfully, over and over. He would respond saying “oh the mic sounded great, perfect, I can’t open and inspect every mic”. It never did, and never could-it was crap and that’s the way it came. Then at last he finally accused me of breaking the mic and that’s why it sounded so bad, or being so audacious to suggest that I was the one who swapped out the insides and wanted to rip HIM off. Let that one sink in…
So here’s my warning I guess. Out of 1,500 people-I might have the worst luck in the world, or…take a guess.
I will say, there’s no way EVERY mic could be a fake or tampered with-and Henry is not a restorer or an engineer. He’s just a DEALER-a middleman. His “test” for “full/awesome bass sound” is a farce-my mic is the proof. Im sure he just turns it on to see if it works. But somewhere out there-one of his “sources” for his seemingly unending stock-pulled one over on this guy, got away with it and will do it again, and therefore will eventually pull one on YOU.
I was astonished at how obtuse Henry responded to my polite and respectful outreach to resolve the issue. I don’t know why ANYONE would want to keep a cheap/fake imposter product on the market that would tarnish their reputation. He was a real jerk-I kind of believe he would have accused me of the same shenanigans had I tried to return the mic WITHIN 90 days.
That’s all, folks. I could upload screenshots of our convo but I realize it’s just getting truth out at this point and that’s all that matters. $630 dollars to me won’t break the bank, but it sure isn’t cheap-it’s not worth all the trouble it’s caused me-but it might be for YOU.
So, please exercise caution with Henry’s Gear Depot-follow your gut, get pictures of capsules, do tests yourself-follow your gut and your ears.
You might get what you pay for.
All the best,
David
I’m new to the forum here and just want to post a respectful word of caution.
Those (most) of us who like to use Reverb for gear shopping are always on the lookout for good deals and classic items. There is a seller on Reverb based in the Netherlands, who posts cool vintage Sennheiser, AKG, and other OEM branded mics for cheaper prices than anywhere else typically. They have almost full 5-star feedback and nearly 1500 transactions at time of this post. Seems trustworthy.
I bought a total of 3 mics over about the course of a year, and had a very bad experience that soured my trust in not only him, but the whole online experience. As it stands only 2 of those mics might be original. I’ll try to keep it brief but poignant.
I bought in late June 2021 what was advertised as a vintage AKG D12 (sn. 32230) that was working perfectly, tested, with “full, awesome sound”. I dropped about $635 in total with fees and taxes. I got the mic in the mail, but I’ll admit my own fault, didn’t put it in front of a drumkit for a couple months. I wasn’t in a studio with drums, and was quite busy with other projects and life. And, unfortunately, I trusted I had what I paid for and what was advertised.
In mid November, finally back at a studio with drums and with a super high-profile client on the set-I excitedly put by D12 on the kick and walked into the control room-turned on the channel-and my heart sank to my stomach. What I heard was the crappiest, most mid-rangey, no guts, bottom or top end sound that you’d ever imagine. I (luckily) work in studios with D12’s and knew I had a big problem.
I sent them mic the very next day to a respected name/tech in Nashville-hoping that it was only a tune up that was needed. The day he got it in the mail, he messaged me saying that he’d been working on these a while and had many of them in the shop and “never seen anything like this” before. Someone had taken out the original AKG D12 capsule and replaced it with a cheap Philip’s capsule from a stereo mic which can be had for $100 or less online. He said it made sense that it would come from the Netherlands as Philips are from there and plenty of cheap capsules could be at hand.
When I got this information, I messaged Henry-and to keep it short-he has been nothing short of a jerk. Rude, short, tough-luck, that’s your problem not mine-it’s been over 90 days, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want or need to attitude. No trade, no refund, exchange, nothing. I asked respectfully, over and over. He would respond saying “oh the mic sounded great, perfect, I can’t open and inspect every mic”. It never did, and never could-it was crap and that’s the way it came. Then at last he finally accused me of breaking the mic and that’s why it sounded so bad, or being so audacious to suggest that I was the one who swapped out the insides and wanted to rip HIM off. Let that one sink in…
So here’s my warning I guess. Out of 1,500 people-I might have the worst luck in the world, or…take a guess.
I will say, there’s no way EVERY mic could be a fake or tampered with-and Henry is not a restorer or an engineer. He’s just a DEALER-a middleman. His “test” for “full/awesome bass sound” is a farce-my mic is the proof. Im sure he just turns it on to see if it works. But somewhere out there-one of his “sources” for his seemingly unending stock-pulled one over on this guy, got away with it and will do it again, and therefore will eventually pull one on YOU.
I was astonished at how obtuse Henry responded to my polite and respectful outreach to resolve the issue. I don’t know why ANYONE would want to keep a cheap/fake imposter product on the market that would tarnish their reputation. He was a real jerk-I kind of believe he would have accused me of the same shenanigans had I tried to return the mic WITHIN 90 days.
That’s all, folks. I could upload screenshots of our convo but I realize it’s just getting truth out at this point and that’s all that matters. $630 dollars to me won’t break the bank, but it sure isn’t cheap-it’s not worth all the trouble it’s caused me-but it might be for YOU.
So, please exercise caution with Henry’s Gear Depot-follow your gut, get pictures of capsules, do tests yourself-follow your gut and your ears.
You might get what you pay for.
All the best,
David
