Strikes Thrice...

Lunch today..Chicken adobo



G & L topic...
Interested in y'all opinions regarding the more slicked up models today guys,namely the invader, 2HD etc.
How are they comparatively to the ibanez etc models of today in terms of meeting the modern players needs?
Time for another rudimentary exercise in critical thought. a poll methinks,up above. ^^
Try to be as objective as possible & answer in a BUSINESS sense.
Increasingly becoming a staple of the grinders arsenal a more progressive model 24 fretter of some description.

Non G & L topic...
We'll stay music related today.
Who here has a studio set up at home?
What do you have?
(Software,add ons,plug ins,rack gear,mics etc)
More importantly why do you have what you have?
What do you consider "must haves" for a run of the mill home studio within John J Citizens price range?
Feel free to take this tangent where ever you wish,I'm all eyes
Again many thanks for your contributions to date,you guys rawk!!!!

Last edited by The Black Page on Wed Feb 27, 2013 1:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well I don't have much to contribute, as I have not played any of the 'slicked up models' of guitars. I voted yes on the 2 octave guitar, but would only make it a limited run, or special order, knowing it would only be for the few people looking for something different to try.

My studio is quite small, Tascam 2488 Neo. Record, mix, master and burn all on the same unit. Small enough to go anywhere with me, big enough to have almost all the fixings like built in instrument effects (with multi effects processor), vocal mic effects, several compressor options, reverb options and enough inputs (8) to record a few live instruments/vocals, like a jam or practice, if need be. That's going to pale in comparison to most peoples studios, but it does the trick for my needs. I do have some rack stuff if I want to expand on the Tascam's capabilities like a roland digital delay, some 31 band EQ's... stuff I use live basically, that I can add to a recording session. There's nothing amazing about the Tascam, but price for performance, it is quite good. When I was 15 I remember using a tape deck, recording a rhythm track on it, playing it back, jamming to it and recording the playback and my live jamming on a 2nd machine... the Tascam is a wee bit better than that. As for 'must haves', I dunno... maybe creativity and an instrument that stays in tune?

G & L topic...
Interested in y'all opinions regarding the more slicked up models today guys,namely the invader, 2HD etc.
How are they comparatively to the ibanez etc models of today in terms of meeting the modern players needs?
Time for another rudimentary exercise in critical thought. a poll methinks,up above. ^^
Try to be as objective as possible & answer in a BUSINESS sense.
Increasingly becoming a staple of the grinders arsenal a 24 fretter of some description.

You mean kinda like this one?



Tribute model Fiorano™ GTS

a 2 octave guitar would be rather limited. mine is already 4 octaves almost. most ibanez are really horrible, so i think g&l way surpasses them meeting the modern players need.

yes on the studio set up. presonus interface, reaper, cubase, sonar, adobe audition, logic pro. 906 sennheiser, several large diaphragm condensers, genelec monitors, bayer dynamic cans, a 48 channel fully automated board for mixing, 16 mic ins at a time recording. i record guitars with mics only, no direct or simulators at all.

You mean kinda like this one?



Tribute model Fiorano™ GTS

was more alluding to a 2nd gen invader or similar Craig,but from a personal perspective exactly like that mate
Just cased it out summor on the web,shame there isn't a US model of similar dimensions.
I must have went past that a dozen times,it has coil splitters the lot for the price (which is a steal!) Man..

What about a 7 string model Craig,anything in the pipeline bud?
Many thanks for this boss,have edited my initial post some

for lunch it will a pizza the frozen home cooked kind
As far as modern guitars
I personally have enough problems trying to navigate 21 frets and 6 strings. but anything that would make quality G&L guitars appeal to more people could only be a good thing.
Yes I have a home recording studio started out way back with 4 track cassette. moved to a Roland EX 800 when they came out.I have collected alot of recording stuff mic' & processors mostly used whatever I could get at a reasonable price .I'm way behind the times.It's just anther way to play music. Recording music and making it sound professional is as much of a art as playing music. Maybe someday when the house don't need a new roof and the truck don't need a new transmission I'll upgrade to a computer and pro tools.

Loving the vertigo-inducing lunch photos - looks like your table is on the ceiling

24 frets...naaaah. Its almost impossible not to pull a Wallace face when playing above the 17th fret.


Home recording studios: I love playing and listening to music but production technique and equipment has never held any allure for me. I'm more than happy using the Garageband software that came free with my computer, the cheapest, most basic audio interface I could find, and the Shure SM58 I use at gigs to record anything at home. Its not flash, nor does it sound fantastic, but for recording riff ideas it works just fine.

Feel free to take this tangent where ever you wish,I'm all eyes

I have a tangent! One of the other guys in my band has a recording setup, with software on his computer (Pro-tools I think) that lets you manipulate the tracks (timing, pitch etc) to the Nth degree. He abused this feature to the full extent on the last album (which was 99% recorded before I joined the band) and as a result is devoid of almost any feel and is absolutely and inexcusably terrible. While doing your own recording eliminates the possibility of wasting money by giving it to someone posing as a professional sound engineer just to have them ruin the songs, to ruin them yourself is, IMO, even worse.

most ibanez are really horrible...

+1. My dad has one of these. An Ibanez Maxxas from the early '90s. Its horrible.

I'm not a fan of 24 fret guitars. I've owned some nice ones and I sold every one of them. The neck position pickup is in the wrong place and they don't sound right.

Who here has a studio set up at home?

I don't have a studio and I'm not interested in having one.

I'm not a fan of 24 fret guitars. I've owned some nice ones and I sold every one of them. The neck position pickup is in the wrong place and they don't sound right.

Interesting. That would be a good reason to sound horrible.
24 frets. So we add the #D and E and move the neck pu farther away to sound nasty. Whooopie.

G&L won't do baritone, 7 string or 12 string. Gretch has a new 12 string. Just release months ago. I hear on the internet they have thin necks, and they are using HB. It is a no-go.

I have the mytek 196. Everyday I look at that thing and think. "Did I really needed that one?" It can only handle 8 channels, which is fine. My drummer is Superior Drummer 2.0. I don't know why Louis would record guitar with 16 mics.

Direct box suck. Save money, don't buy.
The cheapest route would be the DIY. I think there is a DAW you can get for $40. And buy used.
My near field monitors(madison sound), cables, guitar amplifier(london power) and fishfive pre-amp mic are DIY. Sorry, I don't think home studio is possible on the cheap.

I'm not a fan of 24 fret guitars. I've owned some nice ones and I sold every one of them. The neck position pickup is in the wrong place and they don't sound right.

Who here has a studio set up at home?

I don't have a studio and I'm not interested in having one.

Those are my exact thoughts too. Although I've never owned one, it's the opinion I have formed of them over time.

I don't need more frets. Odds of me becoming a shredder are less than slim. I was at the local GC for a minute today and the chugging never fails to amaze me. Their guitar tech is just outside of the open door to the drum room. I'll bet he hates drummers. As a side note, he was working on the neck of a classical guitar for a young gal. He was adjusting a couple of frets to get rid of the muting. Why use files when you have a hammer and a block????

I do have my own recording equipment and it is not cheap for a do it your selfer. I use Pro Tools with a Digi Rack 002 and mostly direct record except the vocals of course. I have a bunch of plug ins and use very few of them. I am on Pro Tools 7 and do not intend to upgrade. It works great for recording and I do not use di's but use a Vox Tonelab for my guitar and direct in the bass which has a preamp. We mic up the drums and mic up the guitar amp if it is dirty. Guys our age are mostly clean anyhow (pun). A CD I did 4 years ago had a singer that was always below pitch. I ran him through Melodyne Uno and he was ready for Hollywood. I'm sure that he didn't tell anyone that I had reinvented him with MU. I use a Mac and have some decent monitors with a sub and it works great for me. If I ever hit a million in cd sales I will upgrade to new software but it may be a while as in 4 years I am under 500 and the demand is dropping off. -- Darwin

I voted yes for the shred guitar, but would have no interest in owning one. My '86 Skyhawk is modern enough for me. Since I'm not much of a lead player, I very rarely end up above the 12th fret anyway. The exception is on bass guitar, where I like to play against open strings and will play melodies all the way up on the G string.

I don't have much in the way of recording gear. A couple of years ago I got a Tascam USB interface and Ableton Live Intro, but I rarely use it. I have plenty of ideas for material I'd like to record - mainly ambient stuff - but I hardly ever have the time or energy in the evenings to get any good with it. Aside from the Tascam box, I really am not into any sort of digital processing. The only digital effects I own are a couple of DOD delays and and an Alesis reverb unit, and when I use them it's not for their intended purposes. I also have an Alesis drum machine, but somehow it feels like cheating to record any patterns that came pre-loaded. I prefer my old analog Roland 606, even though the sound and flexibility are very limited.

One of my goals for the year is to have part of the garage walled off to make a man cave. It was my wife's idea, since she wants to reclaim the upstairs room where I keep my G&Ls. When that's all pulled together, I will probably get a decent microphone so I can start getting some good recordings. Where my equipment is now, I can't work at a decent volume and also have bleed-over from the kids and pets.

Ken

I'm not a fan of 24 fret guitars. I've owned some nice ones and I sold every one of them. The neck position pickup is in the wrong place and they don't sound right.

Interesting. That would be a good reason to sound horrible.
24 frets. So we add the #D and E and move the neck pu farther away to sound nasty. Whooopie.

G&L won't do baritone, 7 string or 12 string. Gretch has a new 12 string. Just release months ago. I hear on the internet they have thin necks, and they are using HB. It is a no-go.

I have the mytek 196. Everyday I look at that thing and think. "Did I really needed that one?" It can only handle 8 channels, which is fine. My drummer is Superior Drummer 2.0. I don't know why Louis would record guitar with 16 mics.

Direct box suck. Save money, don't buy.
The cheapest route would be the DIY. I think there is a DAW you can get for $40. And buy used.
My near field monitors(madison sound), cables, guitar amplifier(london power) and fishfive pre-amp mic are DIY. Sorry, I don't think home studio is possible on the cheap.

the board has that capability. i usually use 2, one close mic and one 4-6 feet away.

I'm enjoying your week from afar, alas. Yum. Last week looked delicious as well.

I have one 24 fret guitar - a Les Paul DC Studio, which Gibson made for about two years in the late '90's.
It's light due to the chambering - which has really caught on. Still only use the first dozen or so frets, alas, but I bought the guitar new, it's appreciated in price, it's a nice change of pace and gives me occasional pleasure. It does need a better (read: compensated) wrap-around bridge, and better tuners. But for me, it's a cheap and comfortable Les Paul. The stock 490R/498T pickups are just okay (funny, I used to like the bridge and hate the neck, but now I really just want to find a better bridge pickup - someday. Maybe an Anderson H2 or a Virtual PAF....

I've had a bunch of recording equipment over the years, starting with a Tascam that put eight tracks down on a cassette tape. Then it was a (Roland?) machine that recorded to a zip-drive (huh?). Bottom line is that I'm a crappy player who needs to concentrate so much on playing that the whole recording thing was over my head. Could not multi-task this, no matter how hard I tried.

Oh, you had asked the other day about taking two G&Ls (only) for versitility, gigging, etc. I've given this some thought. I'd take a Legacy HB and either an ASAT Classic Custom or a Bluesboy (very tough choice here). Great job this week. I'm not worthy..... - ed

ed, anderson h2 by far. even better, a set of alleycats from dallen.

Hey Louis. Never actually tried an H2, though I LOVE the H3. I just think the H3 would overpower the 490R - a pickup that I have over time come to appreciate, much to my surprise. But the 498T leaves me cold now....

Ever try the Dimarzio Virtual PAF humbucker set? I had these in a wonderful Grosh, and they really just blew me away - especially for the price. Great crunch and clarity, and they split better than ANY humbucker I have tried (not that many, actually). I have no experience with the Alleycats that you favor. Is there a demo vid that you think does them some justice? I'll check them out. Thanks - ed

ed, i think the h3 would be a good match for the 490r. i have that, as well as the 498t. also have burstbucker pros. i have the andersons as well. i think the h2+ or h3 is a better match for the 490r. i like the bridge pup to be hotter than the neck, as that allows you to drop the bridge pup a little farther from the strings. i have tried the virtual paf, it was ok. the dallen alleycats are not particularly hot, more along vintage paf, but sound incredible. for splitting i like the fralin unbuckers the best. maybe i'll take te alleycats to play tomorrow and i can post the vid.

My Gibby is on the Right (duh!) with my Hamer Special P-90 on the right:



This was my Anderson - a 1990 Grand Am Lam (which had the original "lawsuit" headstock and later became the "Hollow T." model). It had an H3 in the bridge and an H1 in the neck position. I sold it because I honestly could never do it justice. It helped that I was able to buy two nice vintage G&Ls with what I got for it. The top was one of the nicest pieces of ash I have ever seen - no pun intended.





- ed

that's a great looking anderson.

My Gibby is on the Right (duh!) with my Hamer Special P-90 on the right:



- ed

These models interest me. I wonder how the Ascari GT-90 stack up against these two.

Never tried one. That is really beautiful, though. Thanks for posting those G&L images! - ed

g&l royally essed up the volume pot location on the ascari. basically unusable from playing position. what were they thinking?

Your pinkie doesn't do that? ;+) - ed

(I wouldn't be bothered by this, though)

My studio is quite small, Tascam 2488 Neo. Record, mix, master and burn all on the same unit. Small enough to go anywhere with me, big enough to have almost all the fixings like built in instrument effects (with multi effects processor), vocal mic effects, several compressor options, reverb options and enough inputs (8) to record a few live instruments/vocals, like a jam or practice, if need be. That's going to pale in comparison to most peoples studios, but it does the trick for my needs. I do have some rack stuff if I want to expand on the Tascam's capabilities like a roland digital delay, some 31 band EQ's... stuff I use live basically, that I can add to a recording session. There's nothing amazing about the Tascam, but price for performance, it is quite good. When I was 15 I remember using a tape deck, recording a rhythm track on it, playing it back, jamming to it and recording the playback and my live jamming on a 2nd machine... the Tascam is a wee bit better than that. As for 'must haves', I dunno... maybe creativity and an instrument that stays in tune?

I was only looking at one of them earlier in the day bro,not bad! They're down to like 50% of the release price as well,so value for money look real hard to beat.
Excuse my ignorance here ribeye,but say is it possible to use the tascam as a mobile recording studio/mixing desk & then bounce tracks from that individually into a computer running protools or logic to access better sounds/effects etc?
Cheers mate.

a 2 octave guitar would be rather limited. mine is already 4 octaves almost. most ibanez are really horrible, so i think g&l way surpasses them meeting the modern players need.

yes on the studio set up. presonus interface, reaper, cubase, sonar, adobe audition, logic pro. 906 sennheiser, several large diaphragm condensers, genelec monitors, bayer dynamic cans, a 48 channel fully automated board for mixing, 16 mic ins at a time recording. i record guitars with mics only, no direct or simulators at all.

A four octave guitar big guy,who'd you get you get that off,ull Roth? name,rank & serial number please bud!
Again excuse my ignorance here but at face value that set up reads like you're majoring in band recording mate is that right? No mention of a sequencer of any description? Audition would be the only software I've used this millennium just to trim mp3's & equalise volume,nice little prog..

As far as modern guitars I personally have enough problems trying to navigate 21 frets and 6 strings. but anything that would make quality G&L guitars appeal to more people could only be a good thing.
Yes I have a home recording studio started out way back with 4 track cassette. moved to a Roland EX 800 when they came out.I have collected alot of recording stuff mic' & processors mostly used whatever I could get at a reasonable price .I'm way behind the times.It's just anther way to play music. Recording music and making it sound professional is as much of a art as playing music. Maybe someday when the house don't need a new roof and the truck don't need a new transmission I'll upgrade to a computer and pro tools.

Bit surprised you'd think you would wrestle with a 24 fretter cuz,especially given your knowledge of the 80's grind scene bud.
As for "way back" in the days of 4 tracks mate I STILL have a tascam 424 to this day! hoping to remedy that sometime in the next year though with the assistance of you fine gents..

g&l royally essed up the volume pot location on the ascari. basically unusable from playing position. what were they thinking?

I agree. That looks to me like an incredibly cramped, fiddly spot to put it. Why not just put it in the same position as on the ASAT Jr, which I find very accessible. I reckon that switch looks like its in just about the perfect spot to be knocked accidentally all the time too.

Loving the vertigo-inducing lunch photos - looks like your table is on the ceiling

24 frets...naaaah. Its almost impossible not to pull a Wallace face when playing above the 17th fret.


Home recording studios: I love playing and listening to music but production technique and equipment has never held any allure for me. I'm more than happy using the Garageband software that came free with my computer, the cheapest, most basic audio interface I could find, and the Shure SM58 I use at gigs to record anything at home. Its not flash, nor does it sound fantastic, but for recording riff ideas it works just fine.

Feel free to take this tangent where ever you wish,I'm all eyes

I have a tangent! One of the other guys in my band has a recording setup, with software on his computer (Pro-tools I think) that lets you manipulate the tracks (timing, pitch etc) to the Nth degree. He abused this feature to the full extent on the last album (which was 99% recorded before I joined the band) and as a result is devoid of almost any feel and is absolutely and inexcusably terrible. While doing your own recording eliminates the possibility of wasting money by giving it to someone posing as a professional sound engineer just to have them ruin the songs, to ruin them yourself is, IMO, even worse.

most ibanez are really horrible...

+1. My dad has one of these. An Ibanez Maxxas from the early '90s. Its horrible.

G'day mate & cheers.my lack of photography skills I think are pretty self evident so you must be inferring my wife's choice in doona covers Lmao at that Wallace photo,that's a bottler..
Ive got GarageBand on this ipad of mine but haven't used it yet,so it's not a bad prog to mess around with you think blarg?
As far as the era of auto tune goes Nuff said...
& finally that pic of the maxxas is gross dude!
Had an ibanez blazer in the early 80's for a bit.the body was like a chopping block but didnt mind it strangely enough.good pound for pound plank for its day..

g&l royally essed up the volume pot location on the ascari. basically unusable from playing position. what were they thinking?

I agree. That looks to me like an incredibly cramped, fiddly spot to put it. Why not just put it in the same position as on the ASAT Jr, which I find very accessible. I reckon that switch looks like its in just about the perfect spot to be knocked accidentally all the time too.

Perhaps if they pull enough volume and get enough feedback, they will change the layout. Using the layout similar to Jr. II would make me buyer.

I'm not a fan of 24 fret guitars. I've owned some nice ones and I sold every one of them. The neck position pickup is in the wrong place and they don't sound right .

Hey splinter & thanks for stopping by.
The only "keeper" I got on hand at the moment is the HAM 90.the sound is fine she screams but using the arm in conjunction with playing(I use the firkins style a bit on a swinging bridge to ape slide ) the 2nd & 3rd fingers of my right hand are now resting on the neck when I hybrid pick will have to change technique because of this as I've spent nearly all my days on 22 fret boards as well..

Interesting. That would be a good reason to sound horrible.
24 frets. So we add the #D and E and move the neck pu farther away to sound nasty. Whooopie.

Direct box suck. Save money, don't buy.
The cheapest route would be the DIY. I think there is a DAW you can get for $40. And buy used.
My near field monitors(madison sound), cables, guitar amplifier(london power) and fishfive pre-amp mic are DIY. Sorry, I don't think home studio is possible on the cheap.

If you consider the sublime use of the upper register in this track nasty & horrible meow we are cut from different cloth I'm afraid mate..

[youtube]aTifQ30-gwg[/youtube]


Tend to agree with the no cheap out for a DIY home studio though,lookin at around 5k on my guesstamation to fire something out of the chamber that's gonna stick.

I don't need more frets. Odds of me becoming a shredder are less than slim. I was at the local GC for a minute today and the chugging never fails to amaze me. Their guitar tech is just outside of the open door to the drum room. I'll bet he hates drummers. As a side note, he was working on the neck of a classical guitar for a young gal. He was adjusting a couple of frets to get rid of the muting. Why use files when you have a hammer and a block????

I do have my own recording equipment and it is not cheap for a do it your selfer. I use Pro Tools with a Digi Rack 002 and mostly direct record except the vocals of course. I have a bunch of plug ins and use very few of them. I am on Pro Tools 7 and do not intend to upgrade. It works great for recording and I do not use di's but use a Vox Tonelab for my guitar and direct in the bass which has a preamp. We mic up the drums and mic up the guitar amp if it is dirty. Guys our age are mostly clean anyhow (pun). A CD I did 4 years ago had a singer that was always below pitch. I ran him through Melodyne Uno and he was ready for Hollywood. I'm sure that he didn't tell anyone that I had reinvented him with MU. I use a Mac and have some decent monitors with a sub and it works great for me. If I ever hit a million in cd sales I will upgrade to new software but it may be a while as in 4 years I am under 500 and the demand is dropping off. -- Darwin

Have just started buying some tools to get into the basics of repair & set up.will defineatly probe further into this down the track as well if all goes to plan.
What about sequencing gear for your own amusement Darwin have you got any modules,synth,drum machine etc that you chip away on occasionally ? Lmao at your "blockbuster" production btw mate,sold 490 more copies than anything I played on! fantastic..

you don't need 5k. get a decent interface, 300 or so, reaper, unlimited free trial, 39 bucks if you want to buy. get a sennheiser 906 mic if you want to mic the guitar. get some mbox bx5 monitors used, around 100 bucks a pair. make sure your computer has thenderbolt, esata and usb 3 ports.

I voted yes for the shred guitar, but would have no interest in owning one. My '86 Skyhawk is modern enough for me. Since I'm not much of a lead player, I very rarely end up above the 12th fret anyway. The exception is on bass guitar, where I like to play against open strings and will play melodies all the way up on the G string.

I don't have much in the way of recording gear. A couple of years ago I got a Tascam USB interface and Ableton Live Intro, but I rarely use it. I have plenty of ideas for material I'd like to record - mainly ambient stuff - but I hardly ever have the time or energy in the evenings to get any good with it. Aside from the Tascam box, I really am not into any sort of digital processing. The only digital effects I own are a couple of DOD delays and and an Alesis reverb unit, and when I use them it's not for their intended purposes. I also have an Alesis drum machine, but somehow it feels like cheating to record any patterns that came pre-loaded. I prefer my old analog Roland 606, even though the sound and flexibility are very limited.

One of my goals for the year is to have part of the garage walled off to make a man cave. It was my wife's idea, since she wants to reclaim the upstairs room where I keep my G&Ls. When that's all pulled together, I will probably get a decent microphone so I can start getting some good recordings. Where my equipment is now, I can't work at a decent volume and also have bleed-over from the kids and pets.

Ken

Regarding the votes on a 2 octave up market model it's so far 8 yes-3 no,but the general hue of the thread is against so I'm assuming most of the regs haven't voted which even it up pretty well.
I'm a big fan of Alesis drum sounds ken & would defineatly arm myself with a Dm5,I'm guessing you have an sr-16 mate is that right?
Drums are the most glaring aspect of a guitarists home recordings IMO & while nothing comes within a galaxy of the real thing I found them the best of a bad bunch back when I was tooling around.roland seem to make a fair account of themselves with most other samples.my head space is a decade old though I'm sure theres sounds about now leagues ahead

I'm enjoying your week from afar, alas. Yum. Last week looked delicious as well.

I have one 24 fret guitar - a Les Paul DC Studio, which Gibson made for about two years in the late '90's.
It's light due to the chambering - which has really caught on. Still only use the first dozen or so frets, alas, but I bought the guitar new, it's appreciated in price, it's a nice change of pace and gives me occasional pleasure. It does need a better (read: compensated) wrap-around bridge, and better tuners. But for me, it's a cheap and comfortable Les Paul. The stock 490R/498T pickups are just okay (funny, I used to like the bridge and hate the neck, but now I really just want to find a better bridge pickup - someday. Maybe an Anderson H2 or a Virtual PAF....

I've had a bunch of recording equipment over the years, starting with a Tascam that put eight tracks down on a cassette tape. Then it was a (Roland?) machine that recorded to a zip-drive (huh?). Bottom line is that I'm a crappy player who needs to concentrate so much on playing that the whole recording thing was over my head. Could not multi-task this, no matter how hard I tried.

Oh, you had asked the other day about taking two G&Ls (only) for versitility, gigging, etc. I've given this some thought. I'd take a Legacy HB and either an ASAT Classic Custom or a Bluesboy (very tough choice here). Great job this week. I'm not worthy..... - ed

Hey Ed & thanks,much appreciated.i hope you understand why I take the not worthy comment with a grain of salt given the planks you've posted mate again I had no idea that Gibson had released a 2 octave model & that tele looks absolutely gorgeous
Regarding taking 2 G & L's for all weather grinding I'm not sure how I'd play it ed.maybe 2 custom s500's with rosewood & maple decks but realistically with the occupational hazards of the job maybe settle on fiorana & WR tribbies.which are basically what you've said as well bud.cheers..

g&l royally essed up the volume pot location on the ascari. basically unusable from playing position. what were they thinking?

I agree. That looks to me like an incredibly cramped, fiddly spot to put it. Why not just put it in the same position as on the ASAT Jr, which I find very accessible. I reckon that switch looks like its in just about the perfect spot to be knocked accidentally all the time too.

X2 on that switch blarg,oi ya

you don't need 5k. get a decent interface, 300 or so, reaper, unlimited free trial, 39 bucks if you want to buy. get a sennheiser 906 mic if you want to mic the guitar. get some mbox bx5 monitors used, around 100 bucks a pair. make sure your computer has thenderbolt, esata and usb 3 ports.

starting from the ground up though mate,talking comp,the lot.
Apple seems the standard so you're not getting out under 1k there.this is where it gets murky for me sorry as I've only ever done 4 track analog solo but from the comp you've got to have some form of DA converter,a preamp,external sound card,mixing desk.if a guitarist plans to do all instruments we're talking sound module(s) as well.then you've got at least 2 mics plus stands(a 57 & a condenser for vocals & acoustic).protools & logic seem to be the most universal recording software so you'd also wanna be there somwhere to talk shop & swap files with like minded folk world wide.studio monitors,cables etc.wouldnt be far away once you tally it all up I think bud.then again I know squat compared to most you boys in this field.
Converesly though as a soon to be proud owner of a US G & L sig model with all the trimmings i wouldnt be real keen plugging into an Atari with an old korg slaved up!

I recently picked up a fairly modern Invader, 22 frets though. The flat radius, thin/wide neck (with a thick ebony board) takes some getting used to. The electronics (two Gotoh blades, SD HB in the bridge w/coil tapping) need replacing. I'd just as soon not have the Floyd Rose/locking nut system. It has taken a while to get used to this guitar, but it is beautiful, different to play, and YES, it surpasses Ibanez equivalents of a bandmate. All-in-all, I love this guitar and G&L did a great job with it. Have never owned a 24.

Have always benefited from others' studios. Would love to have one but don't have enough time.

starting from the ground up though mate,talking comp,the lot.
Apple seems the standard so you're not getting out under 1k there.this is where it gets murky for me sorry as I've only ever done 4 track analog solo but from the comp you've got to have some form of DA converter,a preamp,external sound card,mixing desk.if a guitarist plans to do all instruments we're talking sound module(s) as well.then you've got at least 2 mics plus stands(a 57 & a condenser for vocals & acoustic).protools & logic seem to be the most universal recording software so you'd also wanna be there somwhere to talk shop & swap files with like minded folk world wide.studio monitors,cables etc.wouldnt be far away once you tally it all up I think bud.then again I know squat compared to most you boys in this field.
Converesly though as a soon to be proud owner of a US G & L sig model with all the trimmings i wouldnt be real keen plugging into an Atari with an old korg slaved up!

Apple THE standard? You can get everything done off Intel/Windows. Twice the power, half the price. Though, I do believe Logic is the best out there for DAW today. Get a good DA converter, mic preamp. The DA converter should take care of the external sound card. Mixing desk, don't need that. Yep, it gets expensive quick.

starting from the ground up though mate,talking comp,the lot.
Apple seems the standard so you're not getting out under 1k there.this is where it gets murky for me sorry as I've only ever done 4 track analog solo but from the comp you've got to have some form of DA converter,a preamp,external sound card,mixing desk.if a guitarist plans to do all instruments we're talking sound module(s) as well.then you've got at least 2 mics plus stands(a 57 & a condenser for vocals & acoustic).protools & logic seem to be the most universal recording software so you'd also wanna be there somwhere to talk shop & swap files with like minded folk world wide.studio monitors,cables etc.wouldnt be far away once you tally it all up I think bud.then again I know squat compared to most you boys in this field.
Converesly though as a soon to be proud owner of a US G & L sig model with all the trimmings i wouldnt be real keen plugging into an Atari with an old korg slaved up!

Apple THE standard? You can get everything done off Intel/Windows. Twice the power, half the price. Though, I do believe Logic is the best out there for DAW today. Get a good DA converter, mic preamp. The DA converter should take care of the external sound card. Mixing desk, don't need that. Yep, it gets expensive quick.

logic is the worst. reaper is the best i have used, and i have used them all. and you absolutely don't need apple. to start, you can get a good i/o interface that has good mic pre and a good a/d converter. don't need the mixing desk or the sound modules. protools is the second worse, locks you into proprietary peripherals. you can swap files with any daw, it is just sound files. reaper has a great forum support as well.

I'm a big fan of Alesis drum sounds ken & would defineatly arm myself with a Dm5,I'm guessing you have an sr-16 mate is that right?

It's an SR-18. I found it used at my local guitar shop, and the price was great so I bought it without any prior research. It seems to perform its intended job pretty well.

What I'd really like to find is an analog drum machine with separate outputs for each voice, so that I could run them through effects. I could mod my old Roland TR-606 and get exactly what I want, but I just can't bring myself to take apart vintage gear. The shop where I found the SR-18 had a boutique 606 clone last year with separate outputs, but it was going for $1000 used. If I had had that money laying around, I would have been out shopping for a G&L...

Ken