[alohachris]

Aloha Friends,

Flagstaffcharli - At this stage, I'm with you. I leave the mastering to the pro's. All I try to achieve is to bring the best tracks (in terms of performance & recorded quality) to an ME for mastering. I simply ran out of time - like many players in my generation now - to learn how to put the magic into home recordings using a DAW software program.

Though I've cut back dramatically (to 1/10th) on the huge volume of gear I used to audition, trade & own, I still like to play with great gear & put together interesting combo's when I have time. I'm pretty happy with the choices I still have. But you are right - you don't need great gear to achieve great recordings of great performances. High-end gear does, however, give you the potential for achieving more consistency in your recording quality. It's also more fun & easier to work with, IMO. It takes the guess-work out of many tasks as well. OF course, the only way to use high-end gear is in a signal chain w/ other high-end gear AND in a fully treated space (which many of us players lack).

NOTE: It took me many decades of trying out stuff, experimenting w/ miking techniques, saving up money, finally treating a space & gathering my courage before I began to accumulate high-end gear. Twelve years ago, with a lot of help from people such as sdelsolray & advice from other AGF-er's & gearslutz, I decided it's now or never for using the "best" I could afford. So I started with higher end mic's which I have always collected, & then worked my way up to high-end gear across the board. When I got to a certain level of expense & knowledge with each type of gear, it became VERY easy to trade it out with no money lost for other high-end gear of the same quality. Once I got there, it was a lot of fun auditioning & doing shoot-outs - especially with the great mic's of our time. Loved doing that - just for the fun of it - no commercial projects in mind. I auditioned hundreds & hundreds pieces of gear. Only kept what worked for me. Then traded on it for equal quality gear. Learned a lot in this long process.

Finally, I realized that I had too much stuff that I'd never use. So a coupla years ago I sold off just about all of those expensive toys. In the end, because of high-end gear's great re-sale value, I didn't even lose any money over the years & still I got to play with the "best" stuff I could afford. But the whole thing was allowing myself to write those first checks to buy that upgrade in gear. Glad I did - just for the fun of it- Ha! Now, I invest little energy into recording (I'm not a pro gigger any more - the money from which paid for all the toys), & do not buy anything new. I do enjoy sharing what I've learned with others. My focus once again is almost entirely on playing guitar & singing with friends. After 53 straight years, there will be no more regular bar type gigs ever again for me. Playing & singing has always gotten me off much more than any gear or acquired things in my life.

Wengr - How's your Lawson L47 treating you? In my auditions, I felt that that mic was wonderful, & a great value for the money - although it never really sounded like any of the U47's I've used, auditioned or owned. Gene's golden beaut has its own sparkling character that I found very appealing. Just wondering how it's working for you.

Mahalo guys!

alohachris