delimma/question

[kristopher612]

would anyone here be willing to take out a loan to be able to buy a big chunk of their gear a lot quicker than by just saving up what you can and buying peice by peice?

[cbcmusic]

NO!!!

I would love to have money for gear, but I am trying to get out of debt myself, some from self inflicted, impulse gear purchases. One thing I've come to realize is, I don't want to run a studio in the long run, I would much rather be doing freelance work and going from studio to studio rather than trying to maintain all the gear I have and have all the greatest tools and crap. Leave all that worry to the studios and you just go and rent it out and use their gear.

Now I do have a bit of a studio at home, I may get some mic pres and mics and some other small things on occassion, but I don't plan on buying any more BIG gear as in a bigger board or tape machine. It is fun to have a bunch of gear, but are you 125% sure this is absolutely what you wanna do or are you gonna be regretting you ever thought of getting a loan to buy a bunch of gear you hardly use anyway? Hard question to answer since the time hasn't come yet. I would give this a long hard thought.

What are you planning on getting and exactly what would your purpose be, to record yourself, to record others, to rent it out, to launder money?

Keep us updated and we'll take you thru the 12 step program of gear lust and all it's evils.

[Rick Hunter]

I really wouldn't do it. I took out a loan a few years ago and it was WAY more hassle than its worth. Save yourself the trouble and start small. And even if you did buy all the dream gear you want, you would still have to get over that learning curve. And then you'd be that guy that has the fresh set up that dosent know how to use it. Thats what I was for a while...untill I found Tape op.


Good luck

Jstn

[deadair]

i would tend to advise against it as well. when i first bought a decent amount of gear to get started is definately when i overpaid the most, and most regretted some of my purchases, just because i hadnt looked into things enough, shopped around, etc, etc....... getting things at a slower even pace helps you realize what you really need as well, instead of what you think you'll need. the learning curve someone else mentioned is a good reason to. or i guess, i'd say if you do get a loan to get even a skeleton of a set-up, maybe that'd be ok gearwise, but i wouldnt go crazy in one shot. also, debt does suck.

[jajjguy]

Only if it's a sound business move, like if your studio is booked for a certain period and you know you can cover the cost of the gear, or if you know that prospective clients will want that piece of gear and be willing to pay for it. For your own project studio that does not generate income, i'd say no way.

And right-on to the folks who said that learning is more important when you're getting started.

[soundguy]

owning great gear will not make you a great recording engineer and it will not necessarily make your work sound any better. Dont fall into the that mentality. If you have some kind of big job coming up and you can pay off your loan in 3-4 months, go for it. But if you are just getting the gear on the general and ambiguous position of improving your signal chain, a loan is not what you want to do. Not unless you can afford it, which it seems like if you need a loan, you probably cant.

Instead of getting a loan, maybe it might be smarter to intern at a studio that will let you use the place after hours, if they have after hours. Maybe thats not smarter, but just a suggestion.

dave

[kristopher612]

the gear would only be for me/my band. the thing is, 100 bucks a month doesn't seem like enough to buy my guitar setup and all the recording gear i want. but lemme ask you something. this may take off quite a bit of the gear list. if you are going to run your tracks individually into a computer, would you want outboard EQs both parametric and graphic, or would you just deal with that before you mix. and would you want gates and compressors if the ones you're wanting to buy are transparent, as will be the ones in your DAW? i think you're all right though. a loan could be a bad move. very bad. by the by, how much should i pay for an otari mx5050 that's in reasonably good shape, with a test reel. and where should i buy my tape at?

[soundguy]

If YOU dont know what gear to buy, then chances are you dont NEED it. Outboard EQ's are nice, but if you really NEEDED it, you'd know what to get, right? If you are on a budget, and you have a DAW, just stick to plugins and all that, it will be worlds cheaper, if not in some cases, free. Most outboard gear worth owning costs serious dough.

dave

[kristopher612]

well i want all the stuff we all drool over, but since i don't plan on recording other people often, i don't really think of it as a need unless i start making enough money eventually. i mean i'd love to and would really enjoy printing to tape, but i think it would work either way. i dunno. i know exactly what i want, but i want it all now. so i can learn it while i've got some time on my hands, instead of when i need to be familiar with it so i can use it easily. i want the compressors, gates, and EQs, but i think i can do it with just some good pres, mics, reel machine, and DAW.

[jajjguy]

start small, with the most basic and minimal thing you need to get sounds recorded. in my day, that meant a tascam porta03 cassette 4-track. nowadays it probably means a DAW of some kind. add things only as you see a real pressing need and have the money on hand. this will force you to get the most out of your setup, and learn the basics well. what are the basics? mic placement and gain staging. that's it, but that's most of the game, at every level.

[Randy]

jajguy is right. Compressors, gates, eqs, reverb units, etc. are things that let you be lazy. If you mic something right, you won't need to compress it, eq it or whatever (unless you want that super-tweaked sound that you probably should go to a studio for anyway)

Debt -- very bad, unless it's a house or something that appreciates at a greater rate than the loan.


US$0.02
Randy

[soundguy]

I wouldnt agree with that statement at all. Compressors and gates and EQ's are tools that allow you to create a certain sound which has no relevancy to laziness. A "properly" mic'd drum kit will never sound like a Tchad Blake drum kit unless you have compressors and gates. This is not because someone is lazy or not lazy, its because these boxes make a sound, and there is no way to get that sound, in many cases, without that box.

When you cant make the sounds that you want with your setup, you'll know what to get and when.

dave

[@?,*???&?]

I worked in several 'Guerilla' studio set-ups. One was in Lake Tahoe and they were able to lease an SSL J-Series console for a Whitesnake mix. David Coverdale wanted to stay close to home for the mix. In a case like that, which came first, the gig or the equipment? The console was only up there for that mix and was pulled out right after. It was leased from Ocean Way in Nashville. Ask yourself what your steady monthly income as an engineer or studio is before you take on payments. I've seen more than one guy squirm when the boys come to get the gear- and these were big studios! Most of us are cursed too because we freelance- how long does it take YOU to get paid by a record company? If you have some magic formula let me know, because I haven't been able to do it in less than 45 days...

[Randy]

I wouldnt agree with that statement at all. Compressors and gates and EQ's are tools that allow you to create a certain sound which has no relevancy to laziness. A "properly" mic'd drum kit will never sound like a Tchad Blake drum kit unless you have compressors and gates. This is not because someone is lazy or not lazy, its because these boxes make a sound, and there is no way to get that sound, in many cases, without that box.

When you cant make the sounds that you want with your setup, you'll know what to get and when.

dave

Sorry Dave, I was being extreme there. I have a few little and big boxes and love what they do. In the interest of time I find myself using them to fix problems instead of re-mic'ing, which is where I get the lazyness thing. I guess it's my own preference, but I tend toward clean sounds without much processing. (for instance, it bugs me that Ringo's drums are so squished at times...)

What I really mean to say is going into debt is not such a good idea unless you have a good idea of how you are going to get out of it. If you need to get a lot of sounds that only equipment will deliver, maybe going to an inexpensive studio will help. Your money will probably go further that way.