Crown Jewel in your studio

[The Real MC]

Show your studio crown jewel!

 

Back in 1993 just when vintage synth prices started to climb, I landed this RA Moog (predecessor to Moog Music) Minimoog.  First Minimoog I ever owned.  Very low serial number made in 1971, less than 100 of these were made at the original factory in Trumansburg NY.  The white toggle switches by the wheels are not original, nor is the 1/4" jack.  It drifted out of tune very bad, so I drew on my day job systems engineering skills to improve the tuning without touching the audio path.  By the time I finished it was so rock solid that I could tune it before a gig without retuning the next four hours (yes I actually gigged it).  I later added a Lintronics MIDI retrofit.  It now resides in my music studio.

[Delaware Dave]

I would have to say the analog instruments, so my L100P and my Howard Combo.  I had read on the combo organ site that only 500 were shipped into the US so I should feel fortunate that I have one.  Everything on it works as well; it also came with a 100 watt solid state Baldwin Professional combo amp.  Everything on that works as well; has the original speakers in it and is, frankly, quite loud.  I also still love the acoustic piano on my Gem Equinox (has the 'real piano').  The feel of the TP20 keybed is perfect for piano and the piano sound itself is very good. Every time I play it is enjoyable (just too damn heavy to gig with).

[drawback]

21 minutes ago, Delaware Dave said:

Howard Combo

That was my first organ, bought it at 16. Unfortunately, it’s long gone. We’ll done! 

[Stokely]

No crown jewel, just a crown amp and KRK speakers from the 90s....other than needing a controller, everything is in a laptop    I have a few nice keyboards but they are for live use, or midi controllers at home.

[HammondDave]

For me its my Mellotron M300 (You can hear this model on the Moody Blues' Seventh Sojourn album). Only 55 were built, and only a handful survived, and mine is pristine!  Still cycles well. 

 

[MAJUSCULE]

Probably the Rhodes. Or the room itself.

[16251]

Ipad music apps

[KuruPrionz]

My studio keyboard is a nice but mundane Xkey 25.

It does what I need.

 

My crown jewel in the studio is a Microphone Parts T-67 microphone that I built from a kit. It's a fantastic microphone, not cheap but huge bang for the buck. 

A recent review on there was from a studio engineer who had recorded albums totaling 250,000 in sales. He asked how this $500 microphone could sound as good as his $5,000 microphone. That's a good endorsement in my opinion. 

[CyberGene]

ASM Hydrasynth 😀

[Dave Bryce]

 

I am the original owner - bought it brand new.  Still have the manual and S-Trig that came with it.  😎

 

Got it modded in the mid-80s by Ron Rivera in Boston.  Bob signed it when I worked with him at Kurzweil - brought it in to work so he could see the Rivera mods.

 

dB

[analogika]

Bought her non-working. Had Rudi fix and LAMM her in 2015.

 

[UnderGroundGr]

My Hohner Pianet T. I am not using it a lot, because i have no space for another keyboard, but I like it very much!

[Outkaster]

Other than Dave's Steinway most other stuff is disposable in my opinion. except dealing with some rare instruments.  I've owned so much gear in the past that it gets ridiculous after awhile but I always go back to an acoustic piano..........

[dacm]

I work mostly in the box with virtual instruments of late on film scores with Digital Performer. I own some hardware instruments that might be considered unique, however my centerpiece and master controller would have to be my Korg OASYS 88.

 

[marino]

I would love a piano like Dave's, but I make do with a humble Yamaha G2, which is a decent workhorse; my tech helped to improve both the sound and the action. I am totally in love with a particular Boesendorfer 200, but that would be an unreasonable purchase from all points of view, especially in these times. 35,000 euros...?!?

 

So my "crown jewel" is probably my Oberheim Matrix-12. It has all my sounds in it - weeks and months and nights of work. It sounds unique, and it's a whole world of synthesis possibilities.

 

However, it's not the synth that I love, or use, the most. The one I have used more over the years is still the Kurzweil K2600r (yes). And the one I absolutely love is the Sequential Pro 3.

 

And just yesterday, I brought home a new synth, a heavy contender to be the new centerpiece of my rig. I'll post my first impressions soon. 😉

 

 

 

[marino]

On 9/16/2022 at 4:52 AM, The Real MC said:

Back in 1993 just when vintage synth prices started to climb, I landed this RA Moog (predecessor to Moog Music) Minimoog.  First Minimoog I ever owned.  Very low serial number made in 1971, less than 100 of these were made at the original factory in Trumansburg NY.  The white toggle switches by the wheels are not original, nor is the 1/4" jack.  It drifted out of tune very bad, so I drew on my day job systems engineering skills to improve the tuning without touching the audio path.  By the time I finished it was so rock solid that I could tune it before a gig without retuning the next four hours (yes I actually gigged it).  I later added a Lintronics MIDI retrofit.  It now resides in my music studio.

 

Wow! The R.A. Mini! A friend of mine has one, and it's really a beast of its own - very different from the regular Minis. And yours stays in tune too! You lucky kid.