For what its worth - I just picked up an Oktava 52 ribbon microphone for $199. at Guitar Center ($100. off sale).
I recorded my son playing trumpet using 4 microphones simultaneously:
Studio Projects C1 (Large diaphram condensor - more colored)
Studio Projects B1 (Large diaphram condensor - more neutral)
Marshall 603 (medium diaphram condensor - neutral)
Oktava 52 (ribbon, figure 8 pattern)
I ran all the microphones through my Aardvark Direct Pro 24/96 preamps/interfaces. I used channels 1-3 of the first one for the condensors with phantom power on, and channel 1 of the second one with phantom power off for the ribbon. The ribbon needed a bit more gain than the others, but that was expected. None of the microphones had audible noise.
The differences were fairly subtle to my poor ears, but the ribbon definitely won. It was a bit smoother and more accurate than the others. The 603 was noticably brighter - almost too bright. The B1 was more neutral - probably my second choice after the ribbon. Its hard to describe the C1 - it added its own tone to the trumpet -- not bad, but not as clean/accurate. To be fair, the C1 was never meant for this kind of use!
None of the sounds was "bad" such that I couldn't salvage it in a mix -- however, the ribbon microphone sounded best to my ears with no eq or compression applied. I always think that the best non-processed sound is the best starting point for working into a mix.
-lee-