Clever ways to buy more gear than you can afford.

AudioJunky · Post by **AudioJunky** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 2:09 am

A bit of a ridiculous topic- but I'm interested in anything anyone has to offer on the subject. Here I am saving up year by year to by maybe one to two pieces of gear- and I don't understand how some of you guys are able to build up such a collection.

Should I just stop buying gear until I can afford a down payment on a house.. and then roll it into the mortgage? heh

AudioHog · Post by **AudioHog** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 5:53 am

I hear ya. I'm actually just about to goto the bank for my equipment loan. And that's just for the first bout. $7000 is a tight budget but I've done miles of research on gear. What I've found is that there's alot of decent products out there that fit the bill for a "project studio". Neve will not have a home in our studio for a long time. Nor will UA, SSL, Royer, or AEA. But thanks to companies like ART, M-Audio (AVID), Presonus, Mackie, AT, MXL, JoeMeek, and other mid-end manufacturers I can throw together a pretty decent sounding rig within that budget. Research does involve the footwork of actually hearing and experiencing these products though. You can't go just off what they tell you in the Rec Rags. Sites like this one are awesome for such research as well.
Having a priority list has also helped. There are items that can wait for now. My "first things first" list comprises of Interface, "Gold" channel, 4 nicer preamp channels, lightpipe preamp interface for drums, power center, work surface, headphone amp and cans, nearfields, and of course a small mic cabinet. Thats what I can afford RIGHT NOW. Thats it. No more.
We already have the MAC, cabling, some stands, and a small collection of outboard toys. The studio is 90% done Pics and awaiting it's gear. Time to bite the bullet and do it. So hence the loan.

parlormusic · Post by **parlormusic** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:12 am

The first thing I did was save up to buy the "core" system of my studio - a Dell server, software and audio interface. After that, I bought a couple of ART small preamps, an SM57 and Rode NT1 mics to get started (they sound decent enough to most local bands). You can do this simply by using those "buy now, pay later" offers. Just be sure to pay it off before the end of the offer. I recomment sticking to only one of those offers so that you don't bury yourself in debt.

I recorded a couple of locals for free to get some practice and get the word out, but once the clients started rolling in, I invested the income into good key components each time - Mogami cables, decent preamps, mics etc. I rarely pocketed the cash for myself. I still don't pocket much if any.

The best advice I can give you is this: Avoid taking out a loan at all costs. Rolling the expense into your mortgage makes nos sense to me since you'll be paying for it for the life of your mortgage. Except for the one "buy now, pay later" offer to get you started, paying interest on a loan, credit cards etc just puts interest $$$ in someone else's pockets when you could be using that to buy more gear! I know, it's hard when you want it all NOW, but in the long run you'll have more invested in your studio that's paid for than if you got impatient and financed everything.

The other piece of advice is to do your best to buy once, not twice or more to get what you are after. Think about what you NEED in your setup and start researching and asking real users of their experience and recommendations. It almost never works out when you try to save some $$ by buying something because it has a lower price tag than the other brand. Ask around and you may find that many people have had problems with it or recomment that you avoid that brand alltogether. Skimping isn't the way to go.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:14 am

I never bought something I couldnt "afford" to buy. I had one DBX 160XT twelve years ago, and a few mics, and some stuff... you know... The good "cheap" stuff stays around, the rest gets broken, sold, or traded for better stuff. Repeat that as one of your top priorites in life again and again and "magically" you wind up with some cool stuff.

rolandk · Post by **rolandk** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:26 am

IMO if a person is starting a commercial studio then a loan is almost inevitable. I don't think getting a loan for a home studio is a good idea. Start with what you can afford, and work your way up.

??????? · Post by **???????** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:17 am

My secret has been knowing a lot about lots of different gear and always checking the classifieds. If I see something I don't need but I know is a killer price then i'll buy it and flip it. 67 Fender Deluxe for 800 bucks (like I got a few months ago?) Sure! I don't need it (already have a 65 deluxe actually) but i'll sure buy it and ebay it for a handsome profit and spend the money on gear of my own. Yes it's dirty and it keeps it out of the hands of some kid that couldn't otherwise affford it but I guess I fight dirty, and finders keepers! I guarantee that kid wouldn't leave it for me

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:54 am

Get in the habit of going to garage sales, thrift stores, etc. Finding great stuff is rare, but still happens.

Learn how to solder and do basic repairs - you'll save a bundle on cabling long term. Avoid fancy boutique cables, too. Buy solid basic stuff from Pro-Co or Audiopile.

If you need a fancy mic/console/FX for a specific project, see if you can rent it. Over time you'll have a much better knowledge of the fancy stuff, so that when you do have money you'll really know what gear you want.

curtiswyant · Post by **curtiswyant** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:55 am

Beg, borrow, and steal from friends!

??????? · Post by **???????** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:08 am

and like they say 90% of success is showing up.... showing up to thrift stores, showing up to pawn shops every time you spot one, showing up in front of your computer to look at craigslist every time you check your email (okay that last one was a stretch!)

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:47 pm

1) Be really old. I've been building my "collection" for over twenty-five years now. And while few of the pieces were purchased way back when, at least I got the SM57s out of the way. Plus a Wurlitzer 200 could be had for $99 new in the mid-70s when my family bought it!

2) Buy second-hand stuff in that awkward in-between stage where it's no longer new and not yet vintage.

3) Don't spend your money on anything but gear. No vacations, no $10/day cigarette habit, no DVD collection.

4) Anytime you're in a small town, find the pawnshops.

effector · Post by **effector** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:09 am

have you considered stealing? it's free, you know.

kdownes · Post by **kdownes** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:20 am

you might call me crazy, but for the last three years i have gotten a 0% interest credit card in january and dumped a bunch of gear on it. i keep my fingers crossed that it will work out, then everypenny i make in the studio goes to pay it off. if i have a balance left over at the end of the year, i just transfer it to another 0% interest card. it has worked so far!
oh, i also have a decent day job to cover the rest of my expenses. that helps!

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:38 am

you know... every rule has it's exceptions... but, I've found that impatience typically leads to bad business decisions and shitty sounding recordings.

there's no reason that you should ever NEED to take out a loan to buy gear. You may WANT to. I've purchased gear one piece at a time. And, you'd be amazed at how the timing all works itself out if you've got a little patience.

buy used and really LEARN to get the most of what you have while you're saving for something else. if you have to take out a loan to get a bunch of stuff at once, chances are, you're not experienced enough to really know what to do with that gear anyway.

hang around some recording forums. gearslutz is a good one for this... you'll quickly discover that there are hundreds of people out there investing thousands of dollars in gear that they really don't even know what to do with. I'd rather earn my gear and the experience necessary to get the most out of it.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:27 am

Money is math with a little faith and karma thrown in.

You can read all the personal finance articles and get rich quick pitches you want, but it still boils down to increasing income and/or cutting costs, and doing it without destroying your cash flow in the process.

I was getting caught up on a daily digest (http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/), and I was struck about how many famous authors had bonafide day job careers. Yeah, there were the odd job types, but some of the authors were professors, computer programmers, business owners, etc. Another article (on http://money.cnn.com) advised keeping the day job while starting up a new business, partly to fund it, partly to network, partly to keep honest.

I know it's romantic to go "all in" (maybe that's why Texas Hold Em is so popular), but maybe the boring way isn't so bad either. Pick 2 or 3 activities (jobs, interests), and do them well. Having a couple of paths can balance each other out- you don't have time to obsess- you have to do the job and then go home or to your other gig. My temp gigs turned into a career of database work, which has been way more lucrative than my college major or my theater gigs.

Another thing: for costs, I believe in sweating the big stuff. Personal finance people rag on cappucino habits, and on the other side of the mouth they tell you to go buy a house you can't afford. For 90% of people, the top personal expenses are, in order: (1) housing (2) education loans (if you have them); and (3) transportation (including traveling). I can guarantee if you get these 3 items scaled down, you can afford plenty of gear.

To give you my example: I lived in a $400/month studio apt for 7+ years, didn't own a car, and didn't go to graduate school. In St Paul, that translates to roughly $600-$900 per month savings over most people's expenses. That's a decent equipment budget.

Even more than audio gear, when it comes to finances, YMMV. The important thing is to take a good hard look at what you got going, prioritizing them, and sticking with the plan.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:11 am

I have only one thing to say, IMHO, "Avoid credit cards at all costs!!!" I did the credit card thing when I was younger and in a band. Now, years later I am finally seeing my way to being debt free. Anyway, now I do everything cash. I do same as cash sometimes for big purchases but unless you have the ultimate will power and control you probably shouldn't use credit cards. AND if you have that kind of will power and control, you would probably wait till you could afford it anyway.

Just think about how much gear you could have bought with all the interest you will be losing paying on a high interest rate credit card.

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Clever ways to buy more gear than you can afford.

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