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A Jew's harp, for when only that will do? A drawer full of harmonicas? A random assortment of bongos and djembes picked up from garage sales? Fifteen guitars, selected for that specific sound that might, one day, be needed?

The only time I was in a Real Studio, I confess I was a little disappointed in the instrument selection. There were a couple of guitars,a MusicMan bass, and, of course, a drum kit. We (the band) had what we had, which was enough, I suppose. But I wonder about what other people have in their rooms, for the times when inspiration strikes (or when the bass player's bored and wonders if a J-bass would sound better than whatever else he's got).

Do you have a lot of instruments, or do you think it's the musicians' job to bring in what they think they need?

I'm not looking for any guidance, I'm just curious.

Comments

jg49 Thu, 06/25/2009 - 03:25

I have a simple home project studio which I use for arrangement and song demo recording. If we are trying to do CD quality recording there are two different pro studios I use. At home I have my own guitar collection Les, couple of Schecters, Guild T100, Strat, for acoustics there is a Guild, two Takamines, Taylor 414 CE, I have two solid state amps,and a Deluxe reverb, and an old Traynor (sorta Twin style.) A bunch of different pedals. My brothers Korg Triton is here most of the time. I have a collection of small rhythm stuff marimbas, eggs, tamborine, rain stick, bells etc. No bass, no drums.
The other studios I use don't really have much in the way of instruments. I can have drum sets if it was requested (one engineer is a drummer) at the other there is his guitar and amp collection.
For the most part when I am recording someone they have their equipment prepared for the sound they want. So yes, its their job to bring what it is they want. If during the sessions they are unable to achieve the sound they are looking for we will make some suggestions and try and have something there for them next time. When recording guitarists I will often add another amp from the ones available and track it seperately to see if they like it usually for blending.

Davedog Thu, 06/25/2009 - 07:26

I have the usual guitar assortment, a couple of Strats one single coil and one with humbuckers, several acoustics, lots of basses, an unright grand piano, a Hammond M3, a drumset, various shakers,rainstick,things to bang on,tamborine, little stuff like eggs and other small percussion.

Anything I need I have through friends.

Link555 Thu, 06/25/2009 - 08:51

I have Fender HM strat, 4 String SR500 Bass, Yamaha Digital CLP330 piano, Tinker custom hand made 6 string acoustic guitar,A & L 6 string acoustic, Fender Bass, Tabla drums, assorted shakers and rainsticks, Line 6 GTR Amp, Roland Jazz Chorus, Mann Tube bass amp. And some stuff I can't think off....

BobRogers Thu, 06/25/2009 - 09:23

Well, here is as much as I remember. Those marked with a * will be for sale soon.

Basses (lefty)
Fender P
Fender J
Fender J fretless
Christopher Upright
Rickenbacker 4001 *
Rogue knock-off Hofner

Basses (righty)
Fender J

Acoustic guitars (lefty)
Martin D-18
Taylor 414CE

Acoustic guitars (righty)
Taylor 810CE
Taylor 612CE *
Alvarez Jumbo
Taylor Baby

Electric guitars (lefty)
Fender American Standard Tele w/ b & g bender
Fender MIJ Tele
DIY Tele

Electric guitars (righty)
Fender Tele 52 RI
Fender MIM 60's strat (custom paint, Callaham bridge)
Rickenbacker/360 12v64
DIY Tele
Epiphone LP studio

Guitar Amps
Matchless Hurricane
Fender Blues Jr.
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe *

Keyboards
Steinway A Grand (okay, it's upstairs, not in the studio)
Yamaha P80
Nord Electro 73
Alesis Ion*

Percussion
Mapex M Birch Fusion set
Jamaican double second steel pans
Congas
Bongos
3 Djembes
Shakers, tambourines, wood blocks, cow bell, gong, vibra-slap, etc.

Saxophones
Selmer Paris SA-80 Alto *
Keilwerth SX-90 Alto
Keilwerth SX-90 Tenor
Keilwerth sx-90 Bari

French Horn
Yamaha YHR-668ND*

Misc.
Bradley 5-string Banjo
Oscar Schmidt Uke
Silvertone Autoharp
Marine Band Harmonicas (C, D)

BDM Thu, 06/25/2009 - 23:24

nice list Bob! are you the righty?

strings:
1957 Les Paul jr.
1987 Ibanez Roadstar ll PRO540S Saber
1985 Gibson Epiphone PR-650 Acoustic
Takamine EG 530C Acoustic
La Patrie Concert classical
Ibanez SG 400 Bass
Custom built travel acoustic
Bolivian Churango
Syrian Oud
Stradivarius COPY Violin from the 1940's

Amps:
Mesa Boogie Studio .22 and custom 1x12 cab
Fender The Twin
Fender Acoustasonic Jr.
1957 Magnavox Melodier

Drums/Percussion:
Roland V-Kit with TD 8 Brain triggering SD2
Djembes
Bongos
Assorted Burundian and Kenyan Drums
Rwandan 'Maracas'
Tambourine, cow bell, egg shaker

Keys:
Alesis QS 6 and not enough virtual instruments...

and all the ghosts of drum kits and guitars i should have never ever sold...

Genereaux Wed, 07/01/2009 - 15:14

Not much, really.
There's around 30 electric guitars. The most notable are probly;
'06 Gibson Firebird Studio (AWESOME guitar. More versatile than you'd think. Get one)
'78 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe w/Floyd Rose (don't ask, that's how I bought it)
Ibanez Frank Gambale sig series
4 or 5 mid-late 80s Kramers
2 Hohner LP copies (a great LP knock off if you run across one)
A Danelectro 6/12 double neck.
A Washburn Idol 64 deluxe
And a BUNCH of 'mutt' guitars I've re-built over the years.

For Bass, there's 2
A '74 Fender Mustang
And an 80's Ibanez Roadstar (maybe?) style

Only 4 acoustics
An old Lyle nylon string
A generic Ibanez
An old (80's maybe) Epiphone
An old ('61) Gibson Country Western Jumbo

A banjo

A Yamaha version of a Casio keyboard

A litany of shaker eggs, a shaker pear, a shaker

A tambourine

A drumset I call "The Liberty Kit" (bring forth your tired, poor and rejected percussion so that they may drum freely) featuring;
A 24" Camco LA kick-White
A 14" Ludwig rack tom-Red
A 16" Pearl Export Floor tom-Blue
A no name 14X51/2 metal snare
A Camber top/Zildjan bottom Hi Hat on a Pearl stand
20" Sabian Dry Ride
A Zildjian 16" med thin crash w/a crack in it
and a couple home made "splash" cymbals, cut down from broken Zildjian and Sabian crashs

A little Bonham style "chim ring" to go on the hi hat

An accordian

And there WAS a kazoo around here somewhere...,

Amps are;
Peavey 5150
Peavey Classic 100
B-52 AT 100
'67 Vox Viscount

And a pile of guitar bodies/necks/bits/pieces begging to be turned back into 'real' guitars

sean

Straydogg Fri, 07/03/2009 - 10:21

Roland JV-1080, an old Hammond organ with a bunch of sticking/broken keys and a broken volume pedal. $10 dollars at an auction. Nice bench though. Five guitars for various uses and sounds. One old bass guitar. Percussion type things in a box, couple of harmonicas. Three guitar amps and one for bass. Two digital 8 track recorders and one old 8 track tape recorder. Various mics and a couple pre-amps....Roland drums....Kramer...Fender....Ibanez.....Boss.........Roland....Digitech.....Vox......Boy I have a lot of junk around here....better get to Ebay soon. LOL :lol:

moonbaby Sun, 07/05/2009 - 10:59

GUITARS
Strat made up from vintage parts ('65 body, '73 neck, etc,).
Reissue '72 Tele Thinline
1962 Melody Maker
1963 Gibson Firebird I
1978 Les Paul Custom
1985 Aria Pro II TA-70 (semi-hollow)
PRS Corvette
1992 Hamer (USA) Artist GT
(2) Carvin Bolt kit guitars, 1 /w GK-2
pick-up
Epiphone Alleykat
1964 Gibson C1 classical
Yamaha classical
1970's Yamaha FG300 acoustic
1970's Yamaha FG-312 12-string
1950's Gibson lap steel
1960s Kay mandolin
1960's Harmony Roy Shmeck 5-string banjo
A no-name bouzouki
A homemade dulcimer

AMPS
1968 Fender Bandmaster Reverb amp /w. modded vertical cab
1970 Fender Dual Showman Reverb amp /w. a single 15" JBL D130
1948 Fender Deluxe TV front/w. Rola Greenback 12"
1965 Valco Supro 1624T amp/w 12" Jensen gold label
1965 Kalamazoo II
1969 Kustom 100/w 2x12 cab (Blue sparkle)
Roland JC77 2x10
(2) Tech 21 Trademark 60 amps
Rivera Pubster 25-watt
Marshall 1x12" cab /w. 12" Hellatone 60
Marshall 1x10 micro cab /w. Hemptone
Avatar traditional 2x12" cab /w. GT75's
Sunn Solarus head
1970 Sunn 200S bass head
Avatar 4x10 bass cab
1970 Kustom 2x15 bass cab /w Altec 421's
KEYS
Rhodes Chroma Polaris II
Yamaha CS20M analog synth
Yamaha DX7II
Yamaha Motif E-6
Roland D50
Roland JV1080
Roland JX-8P
Alesis QuadraSynth Plus
Hammond M3/w. butchered Leslie
Viscount organ MIDI module
E-mu Proteus
1969 Kustom 100 PA head
Roland RE-555 Space Echo/Chorus (TAPE!!!)
Carvin 3-way PA cab
Various pedals, stomp boxes, DI's
All sorts of hand percussion (tamourines, ching rings, chimes, thumb pianos, shakers, bongoes, tabla, LP stuff)

moonbaby Sun, 07/05/2009 - 14:52

BobRogers wrote: Tip from Steve Earl: When going through airport security, always refer to your bouzouki as a baritone mandolin.

I will have to remember that, love that Steve Earle! I want to thank another Steve-Steve Howe- for making me "have" to have one of those. And guess what, it's come in handy for the occasional gig where an ethnic dance band wanted to cut a demo!

And to BDM:
No, you don't want to live in my studio. Right now it's an air conditioned storage unit I visit once a week just so that I can crank up the Hammond and the Supro, IMO the sweetest-sounding amp God put on tthe face of the earth. And with the heat index here being 105-110 in the shade (!), that is a 30-minute session, tops, even with the AC going full tilt. Now where did I put that Gatorade/Bacardi punch thermos?

ouzo77 Wed, 07/08/2009 - 02:17

except for my harley-benton 5-string bass and epiphone les paul special II virtually all of my instruments are virtual. though i'm not sure in which category to put the line6 variax 700, because it's a real guitar with virtual sounds...
i wouldn't know where to store so many guitars, so i decided to get all of them in one.
oh, i forgot my sonor force 2000 drums and the dixon piccolo snare, but they are not in my studio.

anonymous Wed, 07/08/2009 - 05:18

calling my sleeping room as "studio" is a big thing, anyway it's crammed with stuff. Yamaha P-85S, Access VIRUS Rack Classic, Roland JV-1080 with orchestral expansions 1&2, Korg M1R, M-AUDIO Keystation 61ES, Telefunken A-50 (amplifier), Jackson SL-1 (two of them), Crate G80XL, Laney 4x10 HH Loaded, two column 3-way speakers (built), 2 computers (one laptop) and a cheap classical guitar.

anonymous Tue, 07/14/2009 - 13:43

What's lying around your studio?

Moonbaby,
Is your '63 Firebird a reverse? And if so, what color?

Guitars:

94 Fender Custom Shop Diamond Dealer Edition Strat, #51 of 150, (My Baby!).
05 Gibson Firebird V
07 Fender Stratocustic
08 Fender Acoustisonic Strat
70's Roland GR700/707 Synth Guitar w/PG-200 Programmer, (Factory Candy Apple RED!!)
70's B.C. Rich Warlock with an 'oops' factory Ironbird trussrod cover
92 Oscar Schmitt Blues King, (335 copy).
60's Fender FrankenStang
70's Ovation 12-String
90's Fender Fretless Jazz Bass

Amps:
Marshall 1959SLPX 100watt ½ Stack
Gorilla 30watt practice amp
Mini-Marshall ½watt desktop amp

A bunch of misc. stomp-boxes

Recording Gear:
BOSS BR-864 Port-a-Studio

I think that's it..... Can't remember everything...

moonbaby Wed, 07/15/2009 - 12:59

Moonbaby,
Is your '63 Firebird a reverse? And if so, what color?

I bought it from George Gruhn back in '75, I think that I paid him $400.00 for it.. It is the reverse body (the "wing" points downward), brown with a white pickguard, single mini-humbucker. Stephen Stills had posed with one of these on the cover of Rolling Stone shortly before I acquired mine.

Space Wed, 07/15/2009 - 19:41

moonbaby wrote: GUITARS
Strat made up from vintage parts ('65 body, '73 neck, etc,).
Reissue '72 Tele Thinline
1962 Melody Maker
1963 Gibson Firebird I
1978 Les Paul Custom
1985 Aria Pro II TA-70 (semi-hollow)
PRS Corvette
1992 Hamer (USA) Artist GT
(2) Carvin Bolt kit guitars, 1 /w GK-2
pick-up
Epiphone Alleykat
1964 Gibson C1 classical
Yamaha classical
1970's Yamaha FG300 acoustic
1970's Yamaha FG-312 12-string
1950's Gibson lap steel
1960s Kay mandolin
1960's Harmony Roy Shmeck 5-string banjo
A no-name bouzouki
A homemade dulcimer

AMPS
1968 Fender Bandmaster Reverb amp /w. modded vertical cab
1970 Fender Dual Showman Reverb amp /w. a single 15" JBL D130
1948 Fender Deluxe TV front/w. Rola Greenback 12"
1965 Valco Supro 1624T amp/w 12" Jensen gold label
1965 Kalamazoo II
1969 Kustom 100/w 2x12 cab (Blue sparkle)
Roland JC77 2x10
(2) Tech 21 Trademark 60 amps
Rivera Pubster 25-watt
Marshall 1x12" cab /w. 12" Hellatone 60
Marshall 1x10 micro cab /w. Hemptone
Avatar traditional 2x12" cab /w. GT75's
Sunn Solarus head
1970 Sunn 200S bass head
Avatar 4x10 bass cab
1970 Kustom 2x15 bass cab /w Altec 421's
KEYS
Rhodes Chroma Polaris II
Yamaha CS20M analog synth
Yamaha DX7II
Yamaha Motif E-6
Roland D50
Roland JV1080
Roland JX-8P
Alesis QuadraSynth Plus
Hammond M3/w. butchered Leslie
Viscount organ MIDI module
E-mu Proteus
1969 Kustom 100 PA head
Roland RE-555 Space Echo/Chorus (TAPE!!!)
Carvin 3-way PA cab
Various pedals, stomp boxes, DI's
All sorts of hand percussion (tamourines, ching rings, chimes, thumb pianos, shakers, bongoes, tabla, LP stuff)

Whats the matter Moon, can't afford any new gear?

moonbaby Thu, 07/16/2009 - 08:19

Well, I bought a new Carvin bass kit last month, does that qualify?
My stuff's nothin'...a friend of mine just sold a 1959 Les Paul Custom to a collector downstate for enough $$$ to put down 30% on a house!! I'm waiting to see how much he gets for his 1959 pre-SG-style Gibson doubleneck (resembles a 335)...Maybe he'll be able to add a pool to the new home!

Davedog Thu, 07/16/2009 - 09:59

moonbaby wrote: Well, I bought a new Carvin bass kit last month, does that qualify?
My stuff's nothin'...a friend of mine just sold a 1959 Les Paul Custom to a collector downstate for enough $$$ to put down 30% on a house!! I'm waiting to see how much he gets for his 1959 pre-SG-style Gibson doubleneck (resembles a 335)...Maybe he'll be able to add a pool to the new home!

Ya'll know ther might be less than 100 of them there gitfiddles around.....dontcha?

A pool? Hell more like a pool with a sauna and a hot tub.

This double-neck wouldnt happen to be a six/mando would it? Or is it 12/6? The other model that has only appeared once or twice is the 6/bass. The semi-hollow...?? Y/N?

moonbaby Thu, 07/16/2009 - 10:35

6/12, hollowbody, no F-holes. It's had some repairs done, the market on collectable geetars, as a whole, isn't real strong in this economy. He was asking for $100K for the pair (LP and 6/12), but will probably see "only" 60K or so. Still, it was a good investment when he bought these how many moons ago for less than $5k total...Must be nice.

song4gabriel Tue, 08/04/2009 - 22:58

without mentioning any junkers or beaters. These are what I use to record with:

Electric
'62 Vintage Resiisue Fender Strat
'07 G & L Asat Classic (an amazing guitar)
'97 Gibson Les Paul Custom Classic
'62 Gibson es 125
'03 Gibson es 335
'00 Gretsch 6120

Acoustic
'75 Guild D-25
'07 Martin D-18VS Custom Vintage
'89 Yamaha 12 String
'96 Ovation Custom Legend
'04 Gibson Mandolin
An Oud from Syria

and my favourite...
Bass
'07 Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass (IMO Fender reached total perfection with this instrument)

Keys
Korg Triton Pro X
Korg X2
Hohner Melodica (like the Hooters used to play)
A dozen or so harmonicas

i actually consider my instrument collection complete. I have one of each colour in my sonic pallete. I use my strat more than anything else (except my bass). i love all of them like they are my children. I am so lucky to have so many fine instruments!

great topic! i had fun looking around my house!