how bout something like a korg triton or some kind of midi controller. or you can buy some nice intruments/amps like a nice drum set and maybe a fender reverb amp and a marshall jcm 800 halfstack. i would guess most indie bands don't have a whole lotta money for nice gear, so if they don't have the nicest amp or drum set, they can use yours. how about acoustics? could you put the money towards making the room sound better?

thanks for the suggestions. the room is treated with 703 acoustic panels, and i also have an m-audio midi controller. i definitely have been considering purchasing some instruments and amps. would it be better to have a head/cab or would a combo amp be better? is it possible to get the same tones and sounds from a marshall tube combo as a stack?

I am a novice as far as almost everything goes, but, I do know bass gear.
Get a good bass preamp.
Avalon U5, Sadowsky, Aguilar DB680, Demeter VTB-201S,
All are good choices, and I've heard them all. I really like the sadowsky and the Demeter personally, the demeter has similar parts as the original fender amps and has a nice fat, warm sound, but the sadowsky is exceptionally cheap in comparison to the others at around 250 dollars and sounds just as good with less control options. It will be my dedicated DI purchase. I have no Idea how the Brick sounds, I've seen leland sklar's endorsement ad's in bassplayer. Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

also, thought I'd add this link. The above preamps I've demo'd, or know friends who have, and have tried in person. This site below is a compedium of bass review clips with different gear. The mp3 quality is decent, but nothing compares to holding something in front of you in my opinion. Anyways,
http://www.basstasters.com/

Bassmutant,

Thanks for the sadowski preamp/DI tip.

DJ FADE wrote: thanks for the suggestions. the room is treated with 703 acoustic panels, and i also have an m-audio midi controller. i definitely have been considering purchasing some instruments and amps. would it be better to have a head/cab or would a combo amp be better? is it possible to get the same tones and sounds from a marshall tube combo as a stack?

well, you could get a marshall combo and run it through a cab to get a stack sound.... but i would say get a nice fender combo and a marshall halfstack. together it'd be like $4000 max. if you buy used, even less. and a nice drumset is like $1000-2000. i'd say don't buy guitars to use though. how bout a nice piano or organ?

A $25k line of credit? Don't be a sucker and buy ANYTHING on credit unless you absolutely have to. Pay for it with cash or check (or visa check card) if you can, whenever you can. Any by all means, don't blow the whole line of credit - leave something for emergencies and unforeseen trouble. (leaky roofs, hurricane season, broken AC, etc.)

If the bank or cerdit card owns it, you'll never be free and clear till the balance is paid off, and you'll always be dealing from a hole in the ground, instead of the top of a hill.

I'm not sure I'd buy any amps or instruments, though; your regular client traffic will already tip you off on that area. If it's a matter of closing a sale and getting a client, you can always rent the gear instead of owning something. Most guitarists and bassists have their own preferences anyway.

Your stuff looks pretty good already. Why not pay for things (with cash/check) as you go along, instead of blowing all that dough on stuff that might be outdated long before the note is paid for?

Whatever you end up with, buy stuff that will hold its longterm value, not the flavor of the month. Go to Ebay and see what's selling, and for how much. Check the "Completed sales" button on the lower left to give you an idea of what's sold recently, how many bids it got, and what it went for. You might be shocked at what holds its value, and what's worthless junk right now..... The worthless stuff goes for extremely cheap, often not even meeting its minimum bid, and the good stuff will always hold its value.

Good luck whatever you buy, and check the interest rate on that line of credit!

good tips, thank you. the line would basically be a business loan to take the studio to the next level in the professional domain. sometimes in business it takes money to make money, and if there are equipment upgrades that could be made to justify an increase in rates, credibility, and traffic to the studio, then they would be worthwhile to pay back over a period of time.

DJ FADE wrote: good tips, thank you. the line would basically be a business loan to take the studio to the next level in the professional domain. sometimes in business it takes money to make money, and if there are equipment upgrades that could be made to justify an increase in rates, credibility, and traffic to the studio, then they would be worthwhile to pay back over a period of time.

i would get a mac running protools. alot of people, especially musicians who don't know much about recording, pick studios because they have protools (atleast thats what i see among my friends and kids around me....)

stickers wrote: Bassmutant,

Thanks for the sadowski preamp/DI tip.

Np.

Yay, shopping is fun! (Although I think you mean "budget < $25,000")
Here are some ideas in no particular order:
Distressor, LA2A, Alesis AI-3 for more inputs into your Digi002, small analog console, fancier pair of SDC's, AKG 414's, MD421's, RE20, Audix D6, SM7b, Soundelux U195, Royer 121, Beyer M201, fancier monitors (Dynaudio BM15's or Adam S3a's or something), headphones/distribution amp?, lava lamps, might be nice to have a Mesa Boogie or a decent Marshall for the kids that drag in the crap-sounding amps, new computer if needed?

Not that you will be able to get all of that, but picking and choosing from this list would make for a fun shopping spree.

thats a great list! thank you very much for the reply. i didn't know the alesis ai-3 existed - i've been wishing for a piece like that for a long time.

thanks for your help!