I have been away for a few days and haven't checked newsgroups.

Thanks to all for the very valuable suggestions.

I had checked all the famous and funky sony switches before posting so
i am hoping it is one of the simpler repairs mentioned by a few
others, a cap or something. Just to clarify, indeed the C-38B has the
funky mechanical pattern selector mounted behind the capsule, and the
multi switch located at the base of the mic, plus the two switches
"under the hood".

Just out of curiosity, has anyone tried the reissues? do they rate?
they certainly are pricey at $2200 although I guess they figure they
are competing against the U87.

BTW for those that are interested I think this is a fairly accurate
history of the mic from a recent review of the reissue by Barry
Rudolph:

"...the genesis for this mic goes back to 1965 with the original
C-38FET, the world's first Field Effect Transistor microphone and the
successor to the famed C-37A tube mic. The C-38 was then updated in
1969 (C-38A) with a windscreen design change, and again in 1971
(C-38B) with phantom powering (9-volt internal battery or external DC
24V to 48V). The mic was 'reintroduced' to the US market at the 2003
AES Show even though there are over 65,000 in use today."

kind regards and thanks again to all the rec.audio.pro gurus for all
the advice.
james