GC blowing out Oktava

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard Monroe
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My MKL-2500 that came from GC has a pot in it that has some Rusian lettering on it. My SN ends in 92.

My 319 that I came from GC 1.5 - 2 years ago SN ends in 73.
 
Just came back from the GC in Rockville to get a 2500, but they are sold out.
 
I was told here in SF that the will have these in stock again next week. I am not sure how true that is.
 
Giganova said:
Just came back from the GC in Rockville to get a 2500, but they are sold out.
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Call 863-688-4590 and ask for Albert who works @ GC in Lakeland, FL. I talked with him a couple of hours ago and they had a couple of 2500's left. Give him a credit or debit card and you're good to go. Good luck.
 
i forgot to mention my local gutiar center (local meaning 60 miles away) gave me a call one morning to tell me about their labor day sales, and i asked the guy if he could look to see how many oktava mk012s were left. he typed some stuff for a few moments and then came up with "i don't really know, you'll have to come in and see what we have on the floor".... idiot
 
treymonfauntre said:
i forgot to mention my local gutiar center (local meaning 60 miles away) gave me a call one morning to tell me about their labor day sales, and i asked the guy if he could look to see how many oktava mk012s were left. he typed some stuff for a few moments and then came up with "i don't really know, you'll have to come in and see what we have on the floor".... idiot
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Sounds like my recent experience. I called ahead and moron number one tells me they have one 2500 left. I get there not more than 45 miutes later and it's all of a sudden been transfered to another store. Nevermind they had the power suppply sitting right on the counter between him and me. Thats when the bait and switch sales pitch began. Coincidentally that's when I walked out. I'm SO done with that place!
 
Yep, in general guitar center is full of idiots who don't know what they're talking about and don't know jack shit about their inventory. Things are often damaged, not in original condition or have missing pieced to boot. On labor day the mk319's were on sale for $60 so I thought I'd try one out. Supposedly there were only two left. Some lady next to me buys one, the gc dude hands it to here with some dinky mic clip that doesn't even fit on it but she takes it anyways because her husband offers to rig something for it. Then the last one doesn't even have a mic clip at all and I ask him if he can throw in a shock mount or discount it further since I don't even have a way to mount it. He told me they were on sale because they were missing the mic clips. Idiot, that's why all guitar centers have the same mic on sale for the same price, because they're all missing the mic clip? I doubt it. He tried jamming a regular mic clip on it and that's when I left. I came back the next day and met a really helpful guy. He orded one from another store and made sure it came with the mic clip. It was there 3 days later and all is well.
 
kidvybes said:
...it's simple...the US Sales Rep for Oktava was let go by the home office...he's been servicing the GC account for years...before anybody noticed his departure from the company, he went ahead and filled existing orders that were secured for GC prior to his parting with the company, by contracting product himself directly from China...GC gets delivery of the product at their main distribution center, unsuspecting of the origin of the product (but really, what's the difference to GC where the mics were made...Russia...China...I mean, it's entry-level priced goods...where do you think most of the other entry-level priced guitars, basses, amps, PA's, mixers, etc. are comin' from?...C-H-I-N-A)...the product gets distributed to all the local stores...easier to liquidate the inventory in a blowout sale, than reship all that product back to the distribution center and negotiate returning goods to a manufacturer, who now claims "they're not OUR goods!"...
...this kinda shit goes on all the time in major chain retail stores...I was a sales manager for a manufacturing company in NY for years...we supplied many of the big chain stores...you got a big order...you find a way to FILL the order...it's all about dollars...
...ever buy some BVD underwear in Walmart?...check the country of origin...Malaysia...Costa Rica...Honduras...El Salvador...you think Walmart cares who stitched that crap together?...if you don't buy it, some other poor slob will...
...if 30-40% of these conterfeit Oktavas get returned to GC, somebody else will gladly pony up the dough to take home a tube mic for under a $100...no sweat off GC's ass...none at all!...make any sense now?...
...point is, if you're happy with your purchase, that's great!...great value is a judgement by the buyer...I just wonder if these SAME exact mics were selling for these SAME exact prices, BUT they had the name "Nady" or "Behringer" on them instead of Oktava, would everybody be running out to grab one up?...
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So that's how they can stay in business even when there are 25 guys working there in a huge store, with no one buying anything for hours a day? b/c they kill on what they do sell? When I go during the day or on some weeknights Ash and CG are dead, I can stay there browsing for hours on guitars, sheet music, books, magazines, and see one little sale every 20 minutes and wonder how this works.
 
Hmmm...

I would hope Marik would supply us with any findings regarding this and potential mods.

Very interesting indeed. I built a Sony C-37 clone, which is a cathode follower and sounds nice except for some noise. I'm going to try moving the output transformer into the mic body instead of the power supply. This could be why this the2500 is so quiet. Going to have to check the heater voltage on the 2500. I may look for some better components as well.
 
The power supply on the Oktava tube looks very similar to the MXL tube mic power supply’s. Has anyone compared them?
 
I'm new here and didn't really read through this whole thing except for a few posts but basically I've got it down to that guitar center has a bunch of cheap octava mics made from either russia or china and everyone is saying all the super cheaps ones are from china? When I went to GC and got my 319 the guy told me it was a russian mic and i got it in the same cardboard tube with the russian manual. I wasn't sure how many they had but I didn't really go there with the intention of buying one so I just took the one they gave me and just now realized theres a dent in the screen. Ive had it for like a week now but I doubt that's from me. Heck either way I could care less I only paid 42 bucks for that thing and I think it sounds sweet so I'd say if you want a dirt cheap go for it there really doesn't seem to be a loss.
 
theelectrictape said:
I'm new here and didn't really read through this whole thing except for a few posts but basically I've got it down to that guitar center has a bunch of cheap octava mics made from either russia or china and everyone is saying all the super cheaps ones are from china? When I went to GC and got my 319 the guy told me it was a russian mic and i got it in the same cardboard tube with the russian manual. I wasn't sure how many they had but I didn't really go there with the intention of buying one so I just took the one they gave me and just now realized theres a dent in the screen. Ive had it for like a week now but I doubt that's from me. Heck either way I could care less I only paid 42 bucks for that thing and I think it sounds sweet so I'd say if you want a dirt cheap go for it there really doesn't seem to be a loss.
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Oop!! Got a dent in the screen! Mic's no good anymore! Yep. Its totally ruined!! I'll take that damaged mic off your hands for $25 since I feel sorry you got screwed that way!

That's a bona-fide offer!
 
Ha yeah right I love that mic plus i have no money to replace it/ wouldn;t want to.
 
OK I got two MK-319s now...

The first one I bought about 2 years ago has the letter "N" as the first part of the serial number and came in a leather zipper pouch with the Oktava bear symbol and model number in white on it and didn't come with any instructions or manual....

The MK-319 I bought today has no letters in the serial, came in the black cardboard cylinder and a Russian printed manual with parts hand written in it and on the last page what looks to be a frequency response chart that has been glued in the manual...

The mic I bought today seems a little heavier than the mic I bought before and the lettering on the mic seems smaller than the previous...

I'm guessing I got one russian and one chinese mic...
 
Yo Bigwillz- From what I do know, I think both of yours are Russian mics.-Richie
 
I just bought a 319. I went to GC to look for a 2500, but it's not easy to find anymore. They have tons of 319 left.
So far it's an OK mic. $50+ tax, not so bad. Can't return it.

I wonder how better is the MKL2500. I might be able to find one after they repair the defective one (power supply).
 
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