Besides his "EAR" and "Experience"........

[MISTERQCUE]

.........................what would be a Recording Engineer's single"Most Important" piece of equipment and why??

[CyanJaguar]

I would say the monitors

cos there is less of a chance to screw up if you are hearing things right.

[Wide Awake]

I'd say the the monitor system because it gives the engineer a frame of reference, and it influences decisions on how things "go down on tape".

The mini-fridge stocked with cold ones is damn important too.

[Vurt]

I would say microphones.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Ear plugs or monitors, depending on the artist!

Bruce

[Wallycleaver]

some media to record on! I would say console. Its a large part of the chain. I can get use to monitors, I can get by with not so good mics, and most recording media sounds ok, you can't really go wrong with that!

[skippy]

If he's doing this for money? Tact. Or perhaps more accurately "conflict resolution skills"... And a good dose of hard-earned wisdom in knowing when to pass on a gig to start with.

[Slackmaster2K]

I would say his hands, because they're good for turning knobs and plugging wires. After that, probably his arms because that's what his hands are attached to.

I'm pretty sure that the brain is recommended, but not a requirement.

Slackmaster 2000

[Krakit]

If you lack the experience, you can at least get a leg up with help from books, the internet, a BBS like this one or other folks who have the exp.

Thing is, without "ears", you're in a boat with no paddle. Might as well be an owner and hire engineers instead.