New WireWorld construction

[New]

Originally Posted by mwagener

Now if i could only figure out how to get those big racks all the way back into the corner. There is just too much cable behind it to fit, oh well...

How did you manage the cable to get the rack back?

Originally Posted by mwagener

3) guitars are up

What kind of 12string ac guitar do you have there?



- Michael why don't you post the mS pics here... The one where you're sitting in front of the MC is awesome... I love how the basstraps come across. Very nice...

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by grushmore

How did you manage the cable to get the rack back?

Bungee cords, lot of 'em

Originally Posted by grushmore

What kind of 12string ac guitar do you have there?

Washburn Equis II

Originally Posted by grushmore

- Michael why don't you post the mS pics here... The one where you're sitting in front of the MC is awesome... I love how the basstraps come across. Very nice...

Here ya go

[Trev@Circle]

Wow! Good haircut!

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by rimskidog

Wow! Good haircut!

It's summer...

[New]

Originally Posted by mwagener

Here ya go

Pic of the year!




...and now the most important question!

Where are all the lava lamps?

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by grushmore

Pic of the year!




...and now the most important question!

Where are all the lava lamps?

Didn't find a good place for them yet, but they will be installed sooner or later

[mwagener]

The WALL of DOOM, part 1 and 2

[dkatz42]

Originally Posted by mwagener

The WALL of DOOM, part 1 and 2

Awesome!

I see you got the floor in the tracking room. I kind of liked the ambiance of the concrete, but the wood looks a lot nicer.

Just don't change a thing in the lounge--the piles of cases and cables are my kind of decoration.

[New]

- Please keep the live room pics coming! Love it... thumbsup

Originally Posted by mwagener

WoD2.jpg

- How about weedblock on the door as well?


- Was that cab used on your 1st Accept tour or what?

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by dkatz42

...
Just don't change a thing in the lounge--the piles of cases and cables are my kind of decoration.

Too late, had to make space for the client

BTW: network is working like a charm, thank you!

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by grushmore

- Please keep the live room pics coming! Love it... thumbsup




- How about weedblock on the door as well?

The doors will be stained Cherry like the rest of the wood. Just got the 10x16 glass panes for the main door (one 1/2" one 3/4"), but I have to wait until after the sessions to put them in (probably October )

Originally Posted by grushmore

- Was that cab used on your 1st Accept tour or what?

It's a 69 and I bought it right before the second SkidRow album. Weird speaker combo: top two are 25W Greenbacks, bottom right is an original G12H (30W) and the bottom left is an Altec (model?) Sounds great for bluesy solo stuff.

[smoore98]

It's the cab underneath it that I like.

[pan60]

sweet!!!!!

[smoore98]

Perhaps I should add why I said that earlier. That's Jake E. Lee's touring cab he used with his JCM 800 on tour with Ozzy. I imagine if every cab in that room could talk, it would have some interesting stories to tell.

S

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by smoore98

...I imagine if every cab in that room could talk, it would have some interesting stories to tell.

S

I really wouldn't want that to happen

[New]

Originally Posted by mwagener

The doors will be stained Cherry like the rest of the wood.

I see... That's even better!
It was just the bright maple or beech that popped out too much.
Cherry will look tasty.

[G-Spot]

Hi Michael!
Congrats on the new place!

I see that you have a Speakon patchbay, certainly for your (amazing) multiple amps & cabs combinations...
I was just wondering... when you switch a cab, how do you ensure that the amp heads have always load during the switch? Do you put the amps on standby?
And how long are the speaker cables running into the recording room? What kind of cables/gadgets did you use to avoid losses?
Thanks in advance

[mwagener]

amps are on standby or off when speakers get switched.

The speaker cables are 50' long from the amp to the cabinet, no gadgets, just 12/2 Belden speaker wire

Photo: today's recording of the clean electric guitar (DeArmond) with the STRAMP 4120. I built this amp in 1975 and I found it on eBay 34 years later, still works like a charm. Sounds like a Fender Twin on steroids, it just won't distort

[Jaques Beraques]

Looks like "Deutsche Wertarbeit"!

[G-Spot]

Originally Posted by mwagener

amps are on standby or off when speakers get switched.

The speaker cables are 50' long from the amp to the cabinet, no gadgets, just 12/2 Belden speaker wire

Thanks for letting us know... amazing how you keep track of the guitar speaker cable gauge after building a complete studio!

Originally Posted by mwagener

Photo: today's recording of the clean electric guitar (DeArmond) with the STRAMP 4120. I built this amp in 1975 and I found it on eBay 34 years later, still works like a charm. Sounds like a Fender Twin on steroids, it just won't distort

You build this particular one, or were you involved in the process of building the 4120 series in general? I know that John Entwistle (The Who) used two 4120's in his live setup... never had the pleasure to hear it in person . But is it then a Bass or a Guitar amp? (...anyway, an amp is an amp, if it sounds good, who cares, right?... there's only one rule: there are no rules )

[StayNuts]

Originally Posted by rushmo

Oh yes of course it was the MC-5 Faders/Speck combination...

- The SSL seems to be a good decision since computer stuff like the MC-5 probably don't keep it's value. The SSL still rocks in 15 years and you don't need a bailout!

Is this also valid for the consoles of DigiDesign with ProTools...???
I am building a new studio for my wife and seeking for a good mixer. The MC-5 of Euphonix has nice features but I don't like the fact it is running of buggy Windows XP. They promise me it works but I am to scared to blue screens during a session... Simply dont trust that Windows stuff to much...

So I was thinking of a SSL with ProTools but the digidesign can be serious candidate too maybe... have still to see both consoles...

thanks for the pictures, always great to learn from someone else...

[Clueless]

Originally Posted by StayNuts

Is this also valid for the consoles of DigiDesign with ProTools...???
I am building a new studio for my wife and seeking for a good mixer. The MC-5 of Euphonix has nice features but I don't like the fact it is running of buggy Windows XP. They promise me it works but I am to scared to blue screens during a session... Simply dont trust that Windows stuff to much...

I don't blame you! For a real alternative to dead-end proprietary DSP (aka Digi) and the vortex of Microsoft's monopoly, check out the Harrison Trion. Running Linux on native, commodity 64-bit processors, it's a digital platform that can be upgraded as technologies advance.

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by G-Spot

You build this particular one, or were you involved in the process of building the 4120 series in general? I know that John Entwistle (The Who) used two 4120's in his live setup... never had the pleasure to hear it in person . But is it then a Bass or a Guitar amp? (...anyway, an amp is an amp, if it sounds good, who cares, right?... there's only one rule: there are no rules )

Yes, I built this particular one. Stramp was a very small company only 4 people total, so whatever left the building I had my hands on it. When we opened this one up at Creation Audio Labs, my signature was inside.

A funny story about the delivery of 8 4120 tops to the Who: we made a special version of the 4120 preamp section for John Entwhistle. They were built in to a "lecturn" kind of setup with 3200W in poweramps in the bottom. John bought 8 of them, because they had 4 major rehearsal studios around the world and he didn't like to set up, so each studio got 2 of them (one for spare). That kept us in bread for a few month back then. There were two preamps in each top and you could blend between them with a standard $50 volume pedal. When we delivered the amps to the London rehearsal space we forgot to bring the volume pedal. John said it was no problem, they would send a Roadie to buy one. The next day I asked about the roadie with the volume pedal, and they said that he should be on the next flight, because they buy at Manny's in New York. Now THAT is loyalty to a dealer.

You can use it for bass or guitar. It's very clean and won't distort without a pedal, but it has tons of clean punch. And it has that 9 band graphic EQ (in 1975 !)

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by StayNuts

Is this also valid for the consoles of DigiDesign with ProTools...???
I am building a new studio for my wife and seeking for a good mixer. The MC-5 of Euphonix has nice features but I don't like the fact it is running of buggy Windows XP. They promise me it works but I am to scared to blue screens during a session... Simply dont trust that Windows stuff to much...

So I was thinking of a SSL with ProTools but the digidesign can be serious candidate too maybe... have still to see both consoles...

thanks for the pictures, always great to learn from someone else...

For what it's worth, I run the MC-pro, which is the center part of a 5-MC setup (just without the faders) and it has been running (on windows) for years without a single problem, never crashed once. The 5MC is a great system if you are mixing in the box, I just wanted the analog option as well, so I added the AWS to the existing MCpro setup. The digital control section on the AWS is much better with ProTools than with Nuendo. On the AWS PT runs in HUI control and Nuendo runs in Mackie Control, which is a bit limited, but I just need the faders and basic stuff like AUX sends to control from the AWS in Nuendo. And even though it's possible on the AWS, everything else, like editing, plugins etc. is done on the MC pro. The Eucon protocol is amazing for editing and controlling your DAW, especially Nuendo. It was a difficult decission, but with my current setup and all the workshops, an analog console was the better way to go for me, and I am very happy with my choice so far, best of both worlds and everything is living in harmony and working fine together. IMHO a hybrid setup (analog sound/summing - digtal control) is the way to go.

[StayNuts]

Originally Posted by mwagener

For what it's worth, I run the MC-pro, which is the center part of a 5-MC setup (just without the faders) and it has been running (on windows) for years without a single problem, never crashed once. The 5MC is a great system if you are mixing in the box, I just wanted the analog option as well, so I added the AWS to the existing MCpro setup. The digital control section on the AWS is much better with ProTools than with Nuendo. On the AWS PT runs in HUI control and Nuendo runs in Mackie Control, which is a bit limited, but I just need the faders and basic stuff like AUX sends to control from the AWS in Nuendo. And even though it's possible on the AWS, everything else, like editing, plugins etc. is done on the MC pro. The Eucon protocol is amazing for editing and controlling your DAW, especially Nuendo. It was a difficult decission, but with my current setup and all the workshops, an analog console was the better way to go for me, and I am very happy with my choice so far, best of both worlds and everything is living in harmony and working fine together. IMHO a hybrid setup (analog sound/summing - digtal control) is the way to go.

Thanks for you reply. To be honest your setup made me thinking to combine both worlds. We do record mostly Jazz, Blues, Soul and Pop stuff and especially with Jazz can be a warm analog sound more then welcome. Still thinking what to do....

Our main studio will be mainly a personal work studio for my wife, she is a singer/pianist/songwriter and composer. It will have a grand piano and will be about 60m2. She will work in this studio, using it to teach and prepare for her new album. It is cheaper to build our own studio then to rent an existing studio for 3 months. Or we will use our studios for the actual recording, we don't know yet. Recording in a top studio can be a way too. Our second studio (36m2) will be used as public studio

Still don't know what to do but your thread has give me better insight what we can do... thx!

[mwagener]

Well, I guess it's as finished as it will be for a while. Still little things to do, but they will be done over the next 2 years (like the table for the consoles...)

I am really happy with the way it came out, especially the sound of it, tracking and mixing. We just got done mixing a whole album in there and it is much easier to get tones than the old place, so I guess it was all worth it. On top of that, the price of gas from the last time I filled up my tank was under 2 bucks, the next time it was $2.35 a gallon, meaning I don't drive that much anymore

Given that I have time, if any of you are in the Nashville area, drop me a line and come on by, check it out.

These are the latest pictures and I guess the end of the studio building thread Thanx for hanging in there with me.


PS: ... and I promise this time I WILL label the patchbay

[pan60]

a work of art!
are you mixing in surround sound?

[mwagener]

It's set up for surround tracking and mixing, not doing much of that though.

[pan60]

Originally Posted by mwagener

It's set up for surround tracking and mixing, not doing much of that though.

at times i think i would like to but still not committed?

[Trev@Circle]

Looks awesome Michael! Hearty congrats. I'll be in Nashville next month. Will give you a call for the tour (not to mention the sushi!)