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Post by geoff738 on May 1, 2014 13:14:27 GMT -6
Sometimes the same piece of gear more than once. Not naming names - you know who you are.
I'm kinda the opposite. Figure out my budget, figure out what I need (well, want), do a bit of research and make my purchase. For me, I'm just a hobbyist, so I'm not doing this everyday. It takes me a while to figure out how whatever I get works for what I do. But since I've got to the point where I'm buying good stuff I just get it and use it and try not to second guess whether any of the other things on the market would have been better. I know I'm getting a tool that pros have and are using, so I figure at this point - good enough for me.
I don't know whether this is a subject for discussion or a comment or what. But I had a few minutes so, I'm throwing it out there.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by svart on May 1, 2014 13:19:36 GMT -6
COUGH (JohnnyK) COUGH
I used to go through gear a lot. I started realizing I was losing a ton of money doing that, so I made the hard choice to sell what I didn't use very often and just learn how to use what I kept a lot better. One of the best decisions I've made.
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Post by RicFoxx on May 1, 2014 13:21:07 GMT -6
I think for the guys that make a living doing this it's different than a hobbyist. Sometimes business is good and sometimes it's not. For the times business is down, you have to still pay the bills until you finally hit. Ive been on these forums for about a decade and Ive seen some guys with major credits consolidate. Don't forget that also some have a lot of fun trying out new gear.
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Post by warren on May 1, 2014 13:28:35 GMT -6
I'm a hobbyist as well and do go through gear  Not really more than once though. I get bored so change things up I guess. And don't see anything wrong with discovering if a particular gear will be better than what I have currently, kinda fun actually. Get to learn a lot too. But once I do get something I really like, it's not so easy to get rid of. Wish I could say I figure everything out beforehand, buy it and stay with it, but for me things change, taste changes, budget changes, knowledge changes, technology changes etc... so new interests pop up new/different gear. Wish I could keep all of them, but my room can only hold so much |
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Post by geoff738 on May 1, 2014 13:51:57 GMT -6
I do think if I had the room and the budget, I'd buy (a lot) more stuff, but I still think at the end of the day I'd still be more a buy and hold kinda guy rather than constantly flipping through stuff.
Trying a greater variety of stuff out would be fun though!
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by jcoutu1 on May 1, 2014 14:04:45 GMT -6
Buying used allows you try a variety and not take a loss. Personally, my live gigs increased from about 2 to 7 per month, which changes my gear budget too.
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Post by Johnkenn on May 1, 2014 14:07:50 GMT -6
I write music for a living. Buying, selling, acquiring, learning, trading gear happens to be my hobby. I've lost more money than I've made selling gear...but who cares? I enjoy it. Many times, I've sold gear - not because I wanted to - but because I needed the money for other things. I neither worship nor have some irrational love affair with ANYTHING in my studio. If I bought a U47 - and then thought, "I don't think I want a U47 anymore" - I'd sell it. If I changed my mind, I'd buy another one. The fun of all this - to me - is not what I HAVE, but how what I have makes me SOUND. Sometimes my tastes change. Sometimes they don't.
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Post by watchtower on May 1, 2014 15:07:53 GMT -6
I'm the complete opposite. Never sold a damn thing before. Call me a gear hoarder (not that I even have all that much compared to some of you).
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Post by wiz on May 1, 2014 15:18:49 GMT -6
It took me years, I mean maybe 15 years of recording, to fully develop my sense of hearing and my sense of asethic. To stop second guessing everything I did.
I wish I had received advice early on about what really is important to the finished product, and what is not. But the truth is I probably wouldn't have been able to appreciate the advice if I had gotten it.
Its a real conundrum.
When I heard a SM57 through a 1073 after using them in things like Roland and Mackie preamps, I went... aaaaah so thats how these people use those on albums...
I would never have dreamed of spending the sort of money I have spent on some of the gear I have, back then it would have horrified me.
cheers
Wiz
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Post by cowboycoalminer on May 1, 2014 17:49:16 GMT -6
I'm the complete opposite. Never sold a damn thing before. Call me a gear hoarder (not that I even have all that much compared to some of you). I'm like this. Seldom do I sell a piece of gear. If I do, it's just not completely for me. For instance I sold a Martech MSS-10 awhile back because it wasn't getting that much use. My recordings just started going more toward the Neve sound (the direction I wanted). It was a wonderful amplifier and I really liked it but I can honestly say I haven't thought twice about it since. That's how I know it was right to sell. I've got gear in here that you'd have to pry out of my dead hands, and some that I could live without but I would defiantly miss them. So I keep most of what I buy. And turnover is almost zero. Someone said it earlier but I feel like the key to good business is buying high end stuff that everybody wants, and finding it used in good condition. Money in the bank. |
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Post by svart on May 2, 2014 7:05:43 GMT -6
It took me years, I mean maybe 15 years of recording, to fully develop my sense of hearing and my sense of asethic. To stop second guessing everything I did. I wish I had received advice early on about what really is important to the finished product, and what is not. But the truth is I probably wouldn't have been able to appreciate the advice if I had gotten it. Its a real conundrum. When I heard a SM57 through a 1073 after using them in things like Roland and Mackie preamps, I went... aaaaah so thats how these people use those on albums... I would never have dreamed of spending the sort of money I have spent on some of the gear I have, back then it would have horrified me. cheers Wiz This is an almost perfect example of my beginnings as well. I got advice, but never really appreciated it nor listened to it. I thought I'd be the one to break the mold and be fresh and inventive. Never had I been so wrong about something! I thought that buying some monitors, a 57 and any old preamp was good enough, and that I'd be the one who made great sounding recordings with cheap gear. Once I had someone from a *real* studio tell me that my recording was terrible. Instead of taking it to heart, I thought "man, I thought these guys would know more about good sound".. totally allowing my ego to make excuses. At least I didn't stop trying, which meant I at least learned a few things along the way. If I had just listened, I would be 5-8 years ahead of where I am now. I spent a good 5 years regressing and allowing my recording/mixing to suffer before I snapped out of it. In this case, my early recordings were better simply because I didn't read everything and try everything that send most folks on wild goose chases. I used my ears and my musical instinct. Once I lost my ears and started to spin in circles chasing that elusive "perfect sound" with building gear and modding and trying every suggestion I found online, I was toast for half a decade. I did build my first 1272 preamp, but thought it sounded pretty plain and bland. Later I would find out that my monitors murdered everything that went through them, and I never had a chance to actually experience what the gear sounded like. Again, I thought that expensive gear was simply about brand names and bilking money out of folks. I mean, it sorta is with the crazy markups and nutty prices on certain gear, but for the most part, you have to spend up to a certain amount to get into the level of professional sound that can hold it's own against the big boys. There isn't any way around it I'm afraid. I've tried. Nope. Once I finally got my head out of my egotistical ass, I realized that I was going about it backwards, that my monitoring should be the best thing and I would work backwards from there. If I couldn't hear what I was doing, it didn't matter one bit what awesome gear I had up front. Once I did that, I found out what good sound was, and found out why professionals use the gear that they do. Like you, it was like a switch was flipped and I could finally stop struggling. And like you, I thought spending 50$ on a mic was insane. The first time I saw a Neve 1073 sell on ebay for 3000$ I thought I was losing my mind. I had never dreamed that music gear cost so damn much. Now I have around 30-40K invested in the studio and I'm finally at a point where my work is not hindered by gear or the room and I can focus on getting the right sound up front. |
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Post by Randge on May 2, 2014 7:35:22 GMT -6
I have become a collector of gear, rare and otherwise, along with becoming more DIY as time goes on. The only gear I have ever sold were a pair of KM-184's that I hated the sound of. I wish I had known Shannon Rhoads before I sold them. I find uses for every piece of gear that I own. The only gear not in service at this moment is my Binson 8 channel echo mixer and an RCA 76 series console slowly being restored and changed to stereo like the Sun records console. I could use the Binson as a tube eq and gain stage since it has all been restored, but am waiting to pair it up with a matching Binson Echorec and rack it all up with other effects in one tidy rack. Since I do run a studio for a living, I find uses daily for the most escentric gear and would hate to not have it when I wanted that particular sound on a record. I also hang onto stuff because I know it will increase in value and eventually be a retirement fund when my ears are old and fold over. I hate losing money and choose to invest in gear that is high quality and gear that I believe will hold it's value. I am slow to buy the latest greatest, choosing to buy after it has been in the field for a while normally. The more gear I acquire and the more I learn about circuits and what the sounds are I am trying to shoot for, the wiser my purchases are. Turning knobs, whether in the box or analog is a hobby turned career for me and I love it. I can't imagine doing anything else ever again.
R
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Post by wiz on May 2, 2014 18:02:47 GMT -6
I suppose I should ask him, but, what does shannon do to the KM184s?
cheers
Wiz
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Post by warren on May 2, 2014 19:22:17 GMT -6
I'd like to know as well
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Post by Johnkenn on May 2, 2014 20:08:29 GMT -6
It would be a capsule change...I wouldn't buy a 184 to have Shannon tweak...I would buy something cheap(er)...
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Post by popmann on May 2, 2014 21:37:21 GMT -6
I certainly don't. But, I have in the past. I think to some degree...it's a phase that's necessary in an engineer's journey. Now, I have tools that delivered the goods time and again...and have done a lot of woodshedding to get comfortable with achieving mix results with whatever I have at the time. Mostly though--transducers are king...always have been for me. The rest is negotiable. If I have my sources...and my transducers...I'll make myself happy.
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Post by littlesicily on May 4, 2014 16:37:48 GMT -6
Yeah I bought/ sold a lot of preamps, comps and mics over the years. For me it was a way I could learn lots of gear.
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Post by nico on May 4, 2014 17:26:02 GMT -6
I guess you could call the process of going through gear " gear-dating ", where you get to have an intimate date with a virgin or experienced gorgeous 3U cutie ( that would be the size of her rack, oh no errr getting carried away here... how she fits in the rack ) with brand new knobs to turn and twist, and some tubes and transfos to heat up the room. Obviously with the amount of gear available nowadays and to some extent affordable, coupled with a nearly endless palette of sonic flavors, it is normal that audio gear isn't just about sound anymore, I think it also relates pretty much with how you feel with a piece of gear, how it excites you, inspires you, enhances your workflow, is versatile, has a physical feel that you like : tight/loose - big/small - etc... knobs The quest for everybody's ideal gear is only as long as everybody is willing to let it go on. Needless to say this being a gear forum, some of us are damned with eternal dating of new gear...or is that eternal circle something we actually like...hmmm...just maybe a little bit   I would say I do extensive windowshopping, asking around before inviting gorgeous gear in the studio...perhaps because to some extent I hate to testdrive gear that I would have to send back. Gear can be a pretty huge temptation regards, Nico |
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Post by wiz on May 4, 2014 17:38:46 GMT -6
gear dating
I like it
8)
Wiz
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Post by Johnkenn on May 4, 2014 19:37:01 GMT -6
I would say it's very similar to how some people love cars...They're mechanical...some people collect them...some build them themselves (DIY)...some people trade for one and keep it and then decide to let it go...etc.
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Not really more than once though. I get bored so change things up I guess. And don't see anything wrong with discovering if a particular gear will be better than what I have currently, kinda fun actually. Get to learn a lot too. But once I do get something I really like, it's not so easy to get rid of. Wish I could say I figure everything out beforehand, buy it and stay with it, but for me things change, taste changes, budget changes, knowledge changes, technology changes etc... so new interests pop up new/different gear. Wish I could keep all of them, but my room can only hold so much 
I would say I do extensive windowshopping, asking around before inviting gorgeous gear in the studio...perhaps because to some extent I hate to testdrive gear that I would have to send back. Gear can be a pretty huge temptation