Finishing off my home studio..

The walk-up towards expensive gear can beat the hell out of your wallet. Having done that to myself, I think in the long run there are a couple of things that make sense to me now. For example...

A Fearn VT-2 mic pre is expensive. But it's less expensive if you don't buy a Golden Age Project Pre-73, a Warm Audio WA12, and a Focusrite ISA Two to get you there.

A Flea 47 is expensive. But it's less expensive if you don't buy an Audio-Technica AT2035, a Neumann TLM 102, and a Blue Kiwi to get you there.

Disclaimer:I'm not endorsing or knocking any of that gear and most of what I listed are not pieces that I've owned; I'm just using them as examples.

My point is that I spent a lot of money on less expensive gear and found myself either unsatisfied or curious about higher quality gear that I'd wind up buying in the end. Had I just jumped to the end game, I wouldn't have taken so many losses when I sold the inferior stuff.

There are two drawbacks to that approach. First, you won't be buying gear very often so there won't be new shiny things to impress your eyes (and sadden your ears). Second, you'll have fewer choices when deciding what gear to use on a particular recording. But I'd rather be stuck using the same great preamp on everything than to have my choice of three or four less than stellar preamps.

I've observed this about myself over the years: I've never been disappointed when spending money on quality gear. When I cheap out, I find myself disappointed often.

The other solution is to buy used gear rather than new. Let someone else take the initial depreciation hit. The upside to buying used is that if you're patient, and barter to get the price down, you can usually resell it for very little or no loss. The downside is you're dealing with used gear that may have some issues so you'd better be diligent about putting any used gear you buy through its paces so you know right off if it's in proper working order.

Just the opinion of someone who has bought a lot of less expensive new gear over the years only to find myself selling it at a big loss later. YMMV.

I'm using three or four different guitar setups right now.

UAD Friedman Buxom Betty for guitar, UAD Ampeg B20 or SVT for bass (Only fake amps that seem to work for me... like needles in the hay.)

Marshall DSL100H full stack with 4x12. Bugera PS1 attenuator to control the fire. e906 guitar mic.
/Marshall DSL40C 50 watt combo with Celestion G12M-65 Creamback open back combo. e609 microphone. These often end up left/right in my tracks.

Finally I have a 1968 Fender Showman running direct into the Two Notes Torpedo Captor load box/DI. I use Wall of Sound for my IR inside Cubase. OwnHammer impulses usually.
This rig also works perfectly well as a bass amp.

For bass I have a Hartke LH1000 head on a 1x15 cabinet. If I'm tracking, I run the DI out the front of the amp into my Presonus Quantum, and maybe amp sims from there. This rig also has a pedalboard.

I get bored very easily, have always been a bit restless, so these all seem to get used in variations.

I'm rather surprised by how huge the DI/IR Showman rig can sound. It's very convincing. Gives the Marshalls a money run, for sure.

I would recommend any of these styles of recording. The Marshalls are my workhorses, the Fender is a newer setup that's starting to earn its keep.

I also have some Champs I rarely use. I feel like what I'm really missing is the Vox AC30S1. Just because I don't really have that "Class A" sound right now.

For mikes maybe you should think about Shannon or Tim if in Europe as you could get a mine tuned exactly how you want it: just pick the style you most prefer and work from there ?

This is a fascinating read and topic in general.

It makes me wonder this:
How much better do we incrementally capture and process audio and for what magnitude in investment as we move up the audio ladder?

Is my U67 that much better than Martin John Butler's Stam67 that it justifies, what 6 to 8 times the cost?
Are so-and-so's original blue stripes that much better than my reissues from Pro Replicas and Audio Scape that they justify 10X or more the cost?

The home studio guy who records himself has a distinct advantage over the commercial studio owner, all he needs is the gear that works on him. The disadvantage is he is useally chasing a sound in his head, and also hears himself different than the rest of us do. It’s a completely different chase of the perfect gear that often ends up with suprisingly less expensive gear being the right fit. I can’t count the times multiday day mic hunts have started with the expensive useuall suspects and the promise of a nice commission have ended with the likes of an SM7, RE20 MD421 or 441 being that tone in somebody’s head.
Over the years I have realized that for the DIY guy the the LDD’s slight compression and dulling of transients gives more of that “it sounds like a record tone” that most are chasing without to much work. I don’t think the average DIY guy realizes how much work most AE’s put in to the average tracking session, turning knobs and building a mix around the live track to see if it fits. The DIY is to busy singing or playing to do what an AE is doing in realtime.
As a home studio guy you have to ask yourself this when buying gear, is it going to make it easier? Will it yes better Sonics ? Or am I chasing a myth that I really no very little about?

Oh yeah, the "trusted buddy" approach is a huge asset, when available. Lets you focus on being a performer, and gives a sense of safety and confidence. A little goes a long way.

I think most people would’ve saved themselves a lot of money by simply getting their environmental acoustics dialed in first, then proper monitoring, both mains & headphone amplification. Once you have a space you can make informed descisions in, making evaluations becomes easier and the economy of time and expense lessens.

With over 40 years of analog recording working on a console, +1 to all of the above. That's why I'd never part with my analog studio. 

Spock is right the monitors have to work with the room, so getting the room right first is going to make finding the right speaker a hell of a lot easier.