how do you choose a CNC machine?

[M Fowler]

Living in an agricultural area I have no problems working with or finding expert help in metal forming, machining or cutting. I make all my own projects but decided with amp building to go with already made chassis but that may change too. I don't think I would have much trouble making one.

As far as woodworking, there are so many cabinet makers around the Fargo ND-Moorhead MN area that I wonder how they can all survive. But I haven't ventured out to ask these fine people about custom work for me as of yet.

Selloutrr,

I hope you find the machinery you need and get going on some ideas you have. Seems like many here are giving you a whole lot of crap lately, not sure why either. Let us know how it goes.

Mark

[benoit]

One is dedicated to the studio running a solid state logic 4072G+

Some people have all the toys/fun...

[selloutrr]

Thanks Fowler, I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out. I found a guy locally who can mill all the parts for trade on amp repair and possibly another guy to assemble it for some studio time. which will leave just the cost of parts! I'm pretty excited! It might actually be able to happen!!!

As for all the toys lol Yes, I guess some would call it that I think of it more as a tool. All to often I'm working and not playing, and wishing i was somewhere else. I picked it up from a studio in nashville for pennies on the dollar just after 911 and at the time I was travelling so often the purchase allowed me to stay at home and cut out a large overhead of expenses. It's paid for it'self twice over. As for toys don't get me started on the outboard gear, microphones, guitars, and amplifiers!

[benoit]

As for all the toys lol Yes, I guess some would call it that I think of it more as a tool. All to often I'm working and not playing, and wishing i was somewhere else. I picked it up from a studio in nashville for pennies on the dollar just after 911 and at the time I was travelling so often the purchase allowed me to stay at home and cut out a large overhead of expenses. It's paid for it'self twice over. As for toys don't get me started on the outboard gear, microphones, guitars, and amplifiers!

Hey, when you grow up to be something you like being, the line between toys and tools gets kinda fuzzy!

[selloutrr]

I can see that, but at times if you don't feel the music it's like nails on a chalk board and it really snaps you back to "THIS IS WORK" and no amount of toys can make that feeling an enjoyable one. My personal favorite it a drummer who can't play to a click track or the guitarist who can't tune. Oh lets not forget the tone def singer. all things that equal a very long day in the box.

[CaseyJones]

I can see that, but at times if you don't feel the music it's like nails on a chalk board and it really snaps you back to "THIS IS WORK" and no amount of toys can make that feeling an enjoyable one. My personal favorite it a drummer who can't play to a click track.

Piece of cake, dude. If the drummer isn't a musician a drum machine isn't, either. I'll take the drum machine, it does what it's told.

Or get some session guy to overdub it after the "talent" goes home.

A suck day is syncing dailies that were shot sans sync to the camera.

or the guitarist who can't tune.

Which is why they make tuners and why roadies hand musicans guitars that are in tune. That leaves the so-called "artist", if they're freakin' tone deaf what are they doin' there?!

Oh lets not forget the tone def singer. all things that equal a very long day in the box.

There's a black box that will fix that, too.

Two words: Milli-Vanilli! If they can't sing hire some old German dude who can! Then just play the track through the P.A. and the monitors "live in concert", good to go...

Good to go... down in infamy!!

[selloutrr]

oh casey if only we all lived in your world. If you have seen the things i've seen the word music would just be a dark place that gives you nightmares.

It's true you can fix just about anything and believe me i have. But in the professional world unless you are quantizing rap or techno / dance. and some R&B you can't replace a drummers feel with a drum machine. You can replace the drum sound very easily with sound replacer I do it all the time. In fact I have an 80Gig hard drive or drum sounds and loops I travel with just for that reason. Since protools started whoring in the local Guitar Center and every kid with a Mac and Digi 001 things he's an audio engineer. drums have suffered the most. you just can't get a huge drum sound out of a bedroom. You would be surprised how many times i get professionally recorded tracks and they drums are just crap. between poorly tuned to just not voiced right for the song. a picallo used as the wrong flavor when a nice 6.5" wood rim or 5" black beautty would have just made the whole track sit in the pocket and let the listener feel the music and not focus on the annoying whack of the head. So I make it a diferent drum keep the performance.
As for tuning... You can't fix stupied and i'm a strong believer in the need for a gene pool life guard. but with a Fully loaded Protools HD rig there isn't much you can't do! but's it's going to suck live!!!
Just remember 1997 was about the last time talent was a criteria for getting signed to a label. now it's looks and how far you are willing to get whored to get a shot.
I'm not saying you can't fix everything and make it perfect but it comes at a very high $$$$ and then at what point do yo say enough is enough?

It reminds me of duran duran.
When they came out with hungry like a wolf the title of the album is escaping me... but anyway, the band went in the studio and recorded the album it was horrible... no pocket nothing gel'd and it was a total trainwreck but the musicians were a sex symbal sellable and the label was committed. they sent the band away on a PR tour. while they were gone the producer had studio musicians come in retrack everything and then used the vocal tracks. the band spent 9 months relearning there own music and to this day if you see them play you can tell none of them are even close to the skill used to make that record.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS friends Smoke and Mirrors... Smoke em if you got em.!!!!

[CaseyJones]

It's true you can fix just about anything and believe me i have. But in the professional world unless you are quantizing rap or techno / dance. and some R&B you can't replace a drummers feel with a drum machine. You can replace the drum sound very easily with sound replacer I do it all the time. In fact I have an 80Gig hard drive or drum sounds and loops I travel with just for that reason. Since protools started whoring in the local Guitar Center and every kid with a Mac and Digi 001 things he's an audio engineer. drums have suffered the most. you just can't get a huge drum sound out of a bedroom. You would be surprised how many times i get professionally recorded tracks and they drums are just crap. between poorly tuned to just not voiced right for the song. a picallo used as the wrong flavor when a nice 6.5" wood rim or 5" black beautty would have just made the whole track sit in the pocket and let the listener feel the music and not focus on the annoying whack of the head. So I make it a diferent drum keep the performance.

Yeah, I get it.

We've come full circle from analog when everything was compressed into a little ribbon of goo, bass drums sounded like the beater was whacking a brown paper grocery bag. Remember those?! You needed an opener for beer back then!! Everything else sounded like garbage can lids. It amazes me how toms sounded like plastic garbage can lids... back when garbage cans were metal and had metal lids!

So we have great technology. Mediocre talent can still ruin yer day.

At least you're not cuttin' tape into little bits and stickin' it back together.

As for tuning... You can't fix stupid and i'm a strong believer in the need for a gene pool life guard. but with a Fully loaded Protools HD rig there isn't much you can't do! but's it's going to suck live!!!

Oh, you can fix stupid! It just takes smart people all day and all night to fix shit that should have been right to begin wif. What you said...

Just remember 1997 was about the last time talent was a criteria for getting signed to a label. now it's looks and how far you are willing to get whored to get a shot.
I'm not saying you can't fix everything and make it perfect but it comes at a very high $$$$ and then at what point do yo say enough is enough.

IMHO talent never had much to do with it. Oh, a little talent helps. It just flat out blows me away how creative some of these kids are. But tits and ass trumps talent every time. Hell, I'm a sucker for tits myself. Pardon the pun!

There are a lot of talented musicians out there who are gonna work their asses off playin' clubs and that's as far as they'll get. It's only a small percentage of 'em that have something the big labels can really exploit...

[selloutrr]

it's sad but most of the band geeks and kids that got really great at an instrument had alot of free time to practice for a reason. Minus that super hot asian chick who's parents made her practice everyday all day. the good news I've seen alot of older musicians get picked on country tours as backing players then after proving the chops they get asked into the studio. They have a pretty $$$ studio carier and some even break out as a song writer. if my opnion it's the bitter sweet best of both worlds. You almost get to taste the fame. You get to play huge events and get paid to play music. Then when you want out you can just step away. the trick to being a musician is just knowing when to cash in and walk away. Always leave on top and you'll be remembered as one of the greats. LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE!!!

Oh I love tape!!! I've got an MCI JH110 2" 24 track like zeplin used calibrated to 15ips. Dual Studer A800's currently set at 30ips synced with a Lynx and two ATR 102 1/2" mastering decks. 96Ch of Dobly SR patchable where needed. and my favorite for a quick bus out and bring back... Otari MX5050 1/4" 8 track ( Nirvana Bleach ). I use it all the time for printing FX's then dumping back into the box, just a little extra something. I don't mind protools and I use it almost everyday but i'm still an analog guy. what will kill tape is the enviromental laws and cost $$$

[skyboltone]

it's sad but most of the band geeks and kids that got really great at an instrument had alot of free time to practice for a reason. Minus that super hot asian chick who's parents made her practice everyday all day. the good news I've seen alot of older musicians get picked on country tours as backing players then after proving the chops they get asked into the studio. They have a pretty $$$ studio carier and some even break out as a song writer. if my opnion it's the bitter sweet best of both worlds. You almost get to taste the fame. You get to play huge events and get paid to play music. Then when you want out you can just step away. the trick to being a musician is just knowing when to cash in and walk away. Always leave on top and you'll be remembered as one of the greats. LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE!!!

Oh I love tape!!! I've got an MCI JH110 2" 24 track like zeplin used calibrated to 15ips. Dual Studer A800's currently set at 30ips synced with a Lynx and two ATR 102 1/2" mastering decks. 96Ch of Dobly SR patchable where needed. and my favorite for a quick bus out and bring back... Otari MX5050 1/4" 8 track ( Nirvana Bleach ). I use it all the time for printing FX's then dumping back into the box, just a little extra something. I don't mind protools and I use it almost everyday but i'm still an analog guy. what will kill tape is the enviromental laws and cost $$$

Yeah, all that's fine but what are you using for compressor/limiter amps? I still cry myself to sleep every night thinking about my pair of L-2A's that I let go with an old AM kw transmitter. That was ten years ago. I'll bet the dope threw them in the trash.

[selloutrr]

get a box of tissues .....


6 - LA-2a ( it's going to excape me but 2 with first generationtransformers I rebuilt from shells, 2 with next generation, and 2 reissue.)
8 - 1176ln (2 blue strip, 6 black face)
1 - 1178 stereo 1176
2 - LA-3a
2 - LA-4
4 - DBX 160
1 - DBX 165
2- Alan Smart bus comps
2 - Gates Sta-Levels
1 - Manley Variable MU w/ Mastering detents
1 - D.W. Fearn
2 - Summit AD200 ? ( dual rack space stereo - hi noise floor )
8 - API 3 series
2 - API 5 series
2 - RCA
1 - Shure level devil
1 - Neve Homebrew I want to say it's modeled after the comp on the 8068 console it sounds beautiful on anything it touches
4 - dbx 160XT
2 - BSS 901
2 - cbs ( found at a good will in nashville )
4 - wardbeck channel strips
2 - ADC Lundahl transformer balanced
1 - Homebrew SSL Buss comp
2 - Blue DIY LA-2a
1- Waves L2 Limiter
1 - alesis 3630? cheap awesome on squashing room mics!!!

a little something for ever flavor... I haven't bought a piece since early 2002 when digital was big and analog prices were very low. nothing was over a $1500 a piece. i have a cart of telefunken V series i need to get on the bench and in the rack too!

[skyboltone]

get a box of tissues .....


6 - LA-2a ( it's going to excape me but 2 with first generationtransformers I rebuilt from shells, 2 with next generation, and 2 reissue.)
8 - 1176ln (2 blue strip, 6 black face)
1 - 1178 stereo 1176
2 - LA-3a
2 - LA-4
4 - DBX 160
1 - DBX 165
2- Alan Smart bus comps
2 - Gates Sta-Levels
1 - Manley Variable MU w/ Mastering detents
1 - D.W. Fearn
2 - Summit AD200 ? ( dual rack space stereo - hi noise floor )
8 - API 3 series
2 - API 5 series
2 - RCA
1 - Shure level devil
1 - Neve Homebrew I want to say it's modeled after the comp on the 8068 console it sounds beautiful on anything it touches
4 - dbx 160XT
2 - BSS 901
2 - cbs ( found at a good will in nashville )
4 - wardbeck channel strips
2 - ADC Lundahl transformer balanced
1 - Homebrew SSL Buss comp
2 - Blue DIY LA-2a
1- Waves L2 Limiter
1 - alesis 3630? cheap awesome on squashing room mics!!!

a little something for ever flavor... I haven't bought a piece since early 2002 when digital was big and analog prices were very low. nothing was over a $1500 a piece. i have a cart of telefunken V series i need to get on the bench and in the rack too!

Wow. You live in the land where that stuff shows up. I got my first gen LA-2a's from a retired broadcast engineer from LA. He said he had a closet full of them but I could only have two because he sold them a couple at a time when he needed play money. I paid $350 each. '97 I think? God only knows what else he had in there.

Got a scheme on the Neve?

I was running a Gates BC-1J KW on 3870kc Ham. Used and LA-2 to keep the audio peaks within allowable bandwidth (well kinda). 833s on 833s. About 1800V on the modulators and 2400V on the PA tubes. Runn them bing cherry red and the mods would go to toaster element orange on voice peaks. Great fun. http://www.tube.be/833a.html Double extended zepp cut to frequency. Made doorbells ring all over the neighborhood.

[selloutrr]

I'm pretty sure I have a schematic on the neve and probably close to every other neve item I went threw a huge neve phase and stock piled literature and schematics like rice and guns. remind me when I get home i'll dig it out and scan you a copy. I got the original Pair of LA-2a in a package deal:

1 - AKG C24 stereo C12 tube
2 - Neve 1081 matched
2 - Pultec EQP-1a
2 - La-2a ( nice soft 2:1 tube love )
1 - 1178 ( 20:1 to make things pop out and peaks to flatten out)

Easily my all time favorite Drum Overhead Signal Chain $6K in 1990

buss it out to the echo chamber I turned a bay to the garage into a reverb chamber it's just lush!!!!

Neumann U47fet and Beyer M88 on kick and that's really more then most mixes need.