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Since my "studio space" is actually just the main room in our tiny apartment, my goal is to create the most compact home studio that I can, built
around what I've got. Nuthin' fancy, just some kit to let me make some music.
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Macintosh G4 iBook
In some ways, my home studio revolves around the iBook. At the very least, I can use the excellent Doggiebox drum machine to control the VS-1680, or I can just crank out a quick demo in GarageBand. Speaking of drums, the iBook is also home to the astounding ns_kit7 drum sample library (there's a free version, too) which has more drum sounds than one can ... well, shake a stick at!
Roland VS-1680
Sketching out arrangements quick'n'dirty in GarageBand or Cubase works very well, but the VS-1680 remains my "power" recording equipment. It sounds great and has got pretty much everything you need right there inside it. What's not to like? :)
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Gibson Les Paul Standard (Ebony, 1992, Serial No. 90932420)
Made on 03 April 1992 (Production No. 120) in Nashville, TN, USA, I got it second-hand from Mr. Music in Allston, MA in 1994. In early 2006 I hot-rodded it with new Bare Knuckle pickups (Crawlers) and a push-pull pot that coil taps both pickups (installed by the Machinehead guitar shop in Hitchin, UK. I string it with GHS TNT Boomers. One of the tuners (non-original vintage-style Klusons added by a previous owner) seems to be going wonky, so I'm thinking of replacing all the tuners with something more robust.
Rickenbacker 4001 (Cherry-Glo, 1976, Serial No. PD2427)
Made in April 1976, I got this second-hand in 1995 for like 500 bucks and it rules. There's a cut-out switch (installed by the previous owner) to bypass the capacitor on the bridge pick-up (a Bartolini) for more low end. A new bridge pickup (actually a bastardized Seymour Duncan Quarter-Pounder Telecaster guitar pick-up!) was put in by the justly legendary Jim Mouradian (a totally cool luthier in Porter Square, Cambridge, MA). I string it with Dean Markley (Blue Steel) medium lights.
Martin Backpacker Mandolin
I picked this up one year at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and can sort of play it ... a bit! I haven't found a song to use it on yet, or figured out how best to record it (mic'd? acoustic pickup?), but I will, eventually. It sounds a bit different compared to a "normal" mandolin, but I kind of dig that. And it's very compact :)
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