24th May 2010
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#1 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter  | Highland Audio - Small Studio Big Renovation
This renovation has been going on for a month now and it's finally finished. It's not like some of you heavy hitters building from the ground up, so I think a recap of the whole process is appropriate.
Enjoy!
The room after all the gear was moved out... Ugly carpets, sterile walls, bad blinds, and the god awful fluorescents. 
Ripping up the carpet was surprisingly easy. 
Time for paint. 
The tracking room was storage for a bit. 
More gear! 
The biggest part of this rebuild was to install a window between the two rooms. Here's the beginning of that process. It's an inch thick piece of insulated glass. 36"x30". We built a frame around it and it came out pretty nice. 
Almost framed completely. 
My pop enthusiastic about the final product... 
Starting on the tracking room. 
Carpet is up...  | 
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24th May 2010
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#2 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter |
Painting. Going for a slate gray and black theme, which you'll see eventually. 
Walls painted up. 
Half of a hole. 
We have visual! 
My dad's buddy Ray helped out big time. Couldn't have done it without him! 
All shimmed up. 
Window is framed, ready for paint! 
I needed a rack and wasn't ready to spend 600 bucks on an Argosy, so we built one... Starting to come together. 
Naked rack.   | |
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24th May 2010
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#3 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter |
Some details... 
Painted with rails installed. Two 14 spaces. 
Black trim on the window. 
Starting the floors. 
One room done. 
Some black moldings. 
Finally, Behringer made a quality product! It keeps moldings tight against walls!  | |
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24th May 2010
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#4 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter | | |
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24th May 2010
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#5 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter |
And the final product. 
New sofa with guitars and Fantom X8. 
Another. 
Drums in the tracking space. 
The window works! 
Simple guitar rig. 
This all took about a month... It was fairly casual, nights and weekends. But I'm really happy with the outcome. I think it has a decent vibe and it feels great that it was DIY! Comments are welcome!
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24th May 2010
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#6 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2006 Location: Slovakia
Posts: 927
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Awesome  it's looking really good like the colours and the vibe of it.
david
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24th May 2010
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#7 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2009 Location: Cardiff, UK
Posts: 1,597
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thumbsupthumbsup That's the sort of studio I'd love to have when I've got enough experience/money - cosy  | |
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24th May 2010
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#8 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2009 Location: Redondo Beach, CA
Posts: 2,056
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Nice makeover! what's the green preamp?
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24th May 2010
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#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2007 Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 2,298
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Getting ready to buy a bunch of laminate flooring for my new studio. What did you use? It looks pretty good.
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24th May 2010
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#10 | | Lives for gear
Joined: May 2009 Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 819
| Quote:
Originally Posted by zephonic  Nice makeover! what's the green preamp? | Looks like the Daking Mic pre IV. The dakings are especially nasty on kick & snare thumbsup TransAudio Group - Mic Pre IV
Your place looks sick by the way!
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24th May 2010
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#11 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter |
Thanks for the comments, I couldn't be happier. The drums in that room actually sound decent too. Before I couldn't get drums to open up at all, but those floors made such a difference. Same thing for guitars. As for the Daking, that just might be my new favorite pre. Sounds phenomenal. I have my first session tonight, so we'll see how things go. Quote: |
Getting ready to buy a bunch of laminate flooring for my new studio. What did you use? It looks pretty good.
| I went to a building supplies surplus joint and bought it for $0.96/sq ft. It's called "red oak"... But then I found a lumber liquidators that just opened and i think they have it for like $0.64/sq ft. Crazy cheap. The floors ran me about 400 bucks with the padding and all that. Really easy to install, the doors got a little tricky, considering the door was too much of a pain to take off. But overall it came out good. Lighting and floors can add so much to a place. It feels so warm when I walk in, and I don't mean the Aurora16 acting as a heater. | |
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24th May 2010
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#12 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2006 Location: Lelystad
Posts: 729
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Nice to see that more people are using simple materials to create a great vibe.
I am in the middle of a same kind of thing.
Last weekI hung up new curtains too.
And this week I will have a meeting with several wood makers that are able to cover my new Argosy spire 9143 rack.
I bought an innerrack to cover it with the same material used in my studio table and new closset.
As said in an other thread I will post some pictures when ready.
Wish you guys great luck and nice recordings.
greetz,
Paul
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24th May 2010
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#13 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter |
Funny you mention the curtains, they were more expensive than the floors! Oh well, they look nice and I wasn't sure about the full length at first, but I think it makes the room look taller.
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25th May 2010
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#14 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2007 Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 2,298
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Akoppenheffer
I went to a building supplies surplus joint and bought it for $0.96/sq ft. It's called "red oak"... But then I found a lumber liquidators that just opened and i think they have it for like $0.64/sq ft. Crazy cheap. The floors ran me about 400 bucks with the padding and all that. Really easy to install, the doors got a little tricky, considering the door was too much of a pain to take off. But overall it came out good. Lighting and floors can add so much to a place. It feels so warm when I walk in, and I don't mean the Aurora16 acting as a heater. | Wow, that's a pretty low $/sqft. Do you remember what brand?
How did you ponder the whole price vs. durability thing?
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25th May 2010
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#15 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by chris carter Wow, that's a pretty low $/sqft. Do you remember what brand?
How did you ponder the whole price vs. durability thing? | I'd have to look at the boxes. Brand didn't really occur to me, really. I just picked the nicest one in the lowest price bracket. I've found them to be pretty durable, I had a bass drum spur grind across it last night and it held up OK. Not a scratch, but a mark. So that's cool by me! It's pretty good stuff. I'm definitely happy with it. Check out these guys. Lumber Liquidators: Hardwood Floors for Less! And look for a store in your area. Lowe's is fairly cheap too.
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25th May 2010
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#16 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2008 Location: Midwest
Posts: 4,743
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That "simple" guitar rig may just be the sexiest thing I've ever seen.
Cheers on a great job!
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25th May 2010
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#17 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by dykstraster@gmai That "simple" guitar rig may just be the sexiest thing I've ever seen.
Cheers on a great job! | Haha, it does sound fantastic. That guitar into the Blues Deluxe and then the Royer into an MA5 or TG2 is just butter.
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26th May 2010
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#18 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2007 Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 2,298
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Akoppenheffer I'd have to look at the boxes. Brand didn't really occur to me, really. I just picked the nicest one in the lowest price bracket. I've found them to be pretty durable, I had a bass drum spur grind across it last night and it held up OK. Not a scratch, but a mark. So that's cool by me! It's pretty good stuff. I'm definitely happy with it. Check out these guys. Lumber Liquidators: Hardwood Floors for Less! And look for a store in your area. Lowe's is fairly cheap too. | Thanks Alex! Turns out there's a store just a few miles from where I'll be building the new studio. I will definitely check them out next week. I've been looking at Lowes and Home Depot, but this might be a better option.
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26th May 2010
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#19 | | Lives for gear
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,365
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Nice work!
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26th May 2010
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#20 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by chris carter Thanks Alex! Turns out there's a store just a few miles from where I'll be building the new studio. I will definitely check them out next week. I've been looking at Lowes and Home Depot, but this might be a better option. | There are deals to be had! And if you gotta spend a little more for the kind you fall in love with, just do it. It'll be worth it in the end. The sofa was was little more than I wanted to spend, but man it's great and kind of completes my room, I think at least. I get lots of compliments, haha.
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27th May 2010
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#21 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2010 Location: Sydney
Posts: 557
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That studio is very similar colour scheme and vibe to mine, except mine is in my spare bedroom and doesn't have a timber floor...and its obviously not as big as yours.
Great job, I love the clean simplicity of what you have done.!!!!
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27th May 2010
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#22 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Reading, PA
Posts: 702
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by Draytone That studio is very similar colour scheme and vibe to mine, except mine is in my spare bedroom and doesn't have a timber floor...and its obviously not as big as yours.
Great job, I love the clean simplicity of what you have done.!!!! |
That's really what I was going for. Plans for the winter will be to get a C24 in there with an Argosy desk. I don't think I'll build that one though, ha. It feel grteat to have a studio that you're actually proud of. And want to invite people and clients into it.
Believe it or not, this is at a car and truck repair shop.
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