For those of you who operate a studio business, what studio instruments do you have? Which instruments do you think a good studio should provide, including different guitar amps, etc?

it's pretty common in the studios i've been in that there's a wurly & a rhodes hanging out, and a full-sized piano if there's the room. several others have had a marshall half stack (jcm900, perhaps?), maybe an ac-30, etc.

i think it varies a lot depending on what type of business the studio usually does (no need for a house drum kit if the label is paying cartage for the session drummer, etc.), and the size of the space.

--jon

As a freelancer, I'm often in a position where I book a studio based on whether or not they have a grand piano or a Hammond organ. I never book a studio primarily based on whether or not they have a certain amp or set of drums. That stuff is fun, but secondary in terms of offering something not all studios have. I'd prioritize with stuff people won't likely have themselves or feel like carrying to a session, but would get used a lot. Timpani would be another good one, although I've never booked a studio based on whether or not they had timpani.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

i love when studios have great guitars and amps, a kit is nice too. the main reason is that musicians these days have such crap gear,most hi-tech new marshalls and kits and all just sound terrible to me. have a good plexi head or old fender/vox and a nice tuned kit around and it makes recording basic tracks 10 times easier. much more useful than having esoteric studio gear capturing crap instruments.
-brian

I guess it obviously depends entirely on the prospective clientelle.

I don't think TOO many pianists would be willing to wheel in their Bossendorfer for a quick overdub for example, but on the other hand, I do believe that there are two VERY BASIC principles relating to a studio providing instruments.

The first is obviously every GEARSLUT'S favorite, and that would be to provide a varied pallette in the forms of multiple snare drums, cymbals, guitar amps etc etc as it may well count as one of the plus points for artists choosing a studio ... I mean, a lot of musicians are also gearslutz at heart and LOVE scrounging through the storeroom and digging out the old AC30 etc.

The second, which I THINK is perhaps more related to what you were initially asking, is to provide at least one QUALITY instrument to replace the 3-stringed no name brand guitar that the misty eyed pratt (who just so happens to be paying for the session) is weilding.
On that level ... I would (PERSONALLY) say that ONE good guitar, bass, acoustic guitar, guitar amp, perhaps a bass amp, drumkit, one or two additional snares (piccolo for example), cymbals, and SOME form of universal keboard arrangement (my opinion on this is a nice weighted controller, a non-weighted controller and an old fashioned sampler with a healthy sample collection) is a solid starting point, although many may beg to differ.

Of course there are exceptions to the above .... (I don't run a big commercial facility, but have worked in MANY) .... and I would think that one possibility is providing as many "familiar" instruments as is possible ... that is a big issue with electronic instruments, where a player may be familiar with a minimoog for example and won't want to mess about figuring out the Waldorf Wave for the entire morning's session ..... but I think that this train of thought is tightly related to my first scenario as above.

Just my opinion.

Ciao

I have a Pearl Drum Kit, some percussion toys, a Marshall 50 watt JCM 800,
a Fender Blues Deluxe, a 65 Fender Princeton Reverb, a Voc AC30, i have alot and midi keyboards and modules

i won't differ, but i will comment... as a keyboardist, if a studio told me they had keyboards and this is what was there i would be very dissappointed. a sampler/controller playing some softsynth, is going to sound worse than any "real" keyboard i think. so, i think that this setup is only practical if the musicians do not have any keyboards of their own. a last resort when nothing else is available kindof solution. but, if the musician has their own board of any kind, they'll probably be able to make it perform better than this.

on the other hand, having a rhodes / clav / wurly / accoustic piano would definately be an asset. they have a unique sound that will hold up against any other instrument, and even if the musician already has one, it's definately better not to have to transport that kind of board.

I agree, only have a Rhodes myself tho, i'll add the rest later

i tour and freelance so the gear i keep around is pretty limited, most of it sits out in storage.

guitars:
gibson les paul studio and custom
fender telecaster and 2 strats (1 all s/c, 1 w. h/b's)
fender jazz and p bass
rickenbacker 4001

amps:
'76 marshall jmp 100 watt,
'81 jcm 800 100 watt,
a couple different cabs,
a couple of homebrew amps,
64' fender deluxe,
mid 60's (i believe) belletone combo,
pedals as far as the eye can see,

drums:
early 90's yamaha tour custom kit
late 60's sonor 4 piece kit
various cymbals, perc. toys and snares

keys:
cant play em really, so i never owned it.
Rent or borrow.

I just think of it this way-- a rock band is a rock band and if you don't have a bunch of fancy, esoteric amps and guitars, you should still be able to actually record the band, even if it means not having a bunch of high-end, custom stuff on the recording. If you don't have a piano, there's a whole bunch of work that you simply cannot get. I understand that not every studio is going to be able to accomodate every situation (not every studio is large enough to record an entire big band or full gospel choir, for example), but piano recording encopasses a LARGE percentage of potential work available. Stupid, little things like kids recording Christmas songs for their parents or college audition demos that take no time and help keep your studio booked. You can offer something different from many other studios in your area or you can offer something that many places just plain DON'T have.

Just a thought.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

i highly agree, im just in a position that i have never had the means to own a piano so far.
i dont have my own live rooms to work out of, i have a control room set-up in my home so i can work on mixes etc, but all tracking i do at established studios.
i have a specific room which i use exclusively for piano.

that may sound ******** but thus far its served me well.

i should point out that most projects i work on, i am strictly sitting in the engineers chair or i have been brought in to tech.
i usually only bring out any gear at a producer's request or if i am teching i sometimes rent out equipment to who ever im working for.

It doesn't sound ******** at all. That's essentially what I do, too, but without the control room at home. I'm all about freelancers. I wish there were more freelancers and less mediorcre studios.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

On the cheap side of things, I have found the Ibanez Jet King guitar to be a great all rounder to have around. $300 new, no frickin' tremelo but very versatile on sound as you can tap the coils from humbucker to single coil. Gets used a lot and beats a lot of bands own guitars.

I keep a Randall MTS series combo amp around with several modules as well. Not a big investment and gets used on lots of stuff.

I am beginning to HATE when others play my drum kit, as after a while I get sick of mixing the same old kit! I have Arbiter maple 9mm drums in 10/12/14/16 toms with 3 different snares that get used almost ALWAYS over what the band brings in. One is the stock Arbiter maple 14x5.5" and the other two are great el cheapo Chinese made Slingerlands. I have a 14x4.5" steel that smokes, and a 14x6.5" copper that gives a more mellow tone. Between the 3, I can cover most ground (I don't own a true piccolo but I hate recording those anyhow if I can help it!).

Keep some cymbals around at the very least a ride, crash, and a pair of good hats. You will be surprised how crappy some guys cymbals can be.

On bass I crave a Fender P, but have a nice Washburn Taurus 4 string around that sometimes gets used.

I have an Alesis QS8 that has some surprisingly nice samples on it and feels like a real piano with hammer action. Ends up in a lot of projects too.

War

i like mine as well.
just wished i could play the thing.

Hey here's me playing mine, along with bass and drums! "Ode To Joy"

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/...d=2079&alid=-1

I really love the piano sounds on the Alesis.

War