Hi there,
I recently started getting into home recording, after years of using Garageband and the like to produce demos. I got tired of the endlessly automated nature of using computers, and while I'm aware they're an important choice for any serious producer, they aren't where my interest lies. I prefer using analog, and that Louie Louie/early Velvet Underground sound appeals greatly.

So, I bought a modest Tascam four-track and a cheap but robust dynamic mic (I'm using a guitar amp as a pre because I don't think the Tascam has them built in) and started recording immediately. I'm enjoying it very much, and I'm producing great (if rough-sounding) demos that I build up track by track on my own, only using one input at a time (guitars, pianos, drums, etc.). But the set-up is very simple right now, a microphone going into an amp going into a four-track, which mixes down the final master onto a TEAC tape deck I also have. And the Tascam itself has very limited controls as far as EQ goes, so I have little control of the final product sound-wise, and as charming as it sounds it in unpolished state, I would like to have a more involved set-up.

So, the question I ask is what I should look to purchase as I "expand" my tiny studio, from compressors, to further microphones, to preamps and so on; real essential pieces of gear that no studio should be without, no matter how makeshift. My budget is tiny but I'll buy hardware slowly, and I'm only a beginner but I'm eager to learn, so any advice would be appreciated greatly. Many thanks.