Actually, I started by plunking down several thousand for a pair of axes. Then I spent 8 months spec'ing gear. I did one package deal at GC for about $5000, with another $4000 or so at various on-line sources. I later did a $5000 upgrade at GC also, adding the Avalon, the Kiwi, and C414B-ULS. I've simply developed a relationship with a local retailer, and they make a point to let me know about closeouts and deal on the things they can. There is a long list of deals I've gotten that way.- 6 Kiwi quad cables, $19 each, used once for a drum shootout. AKG C2000B $99. A pair of Oktava MC012's, $140. My Avalon AD 2022 $2100. I've gotten substantial deals on pop filters, Road Ready cases, AKG D690- $36., you name it.
Actually, Andy Ryder at the Natick, Mass. GC was instrumental in charting out patching options and made crucial gear suggestions that were mostly right. He made no attempt to sell me useless crap, and often suggested a good piece of used gear in place of an inferior new one for more money. I will buy whatever I can buy there, unless they don't handle it., just because it keeps the deals coming..
I stand by the statement that it isn't inherently wrong for a relative beginner to have good gear. (Why son, in my day, we recorded with the power amps we salvaged from the jukebox when the bar burned down, etc....)
There are lots of fools who will spend too little money on all the wrong gear, and salesmen who will spoon feed it to them. One of the great advantages of high end gear for a beginner is knowing that *you* are the fuckup. When you have a B.L.U.E. Kiwi plugged into an Avalon, you know that if it sucked, it wasn't the mic or the pre. It was the room, or mic placement, or poor gain structure, or maybe the source (you) sucked. Good equipment makes it harder to fall into the trap of blaming the tools. Yeah, that old Neumann really sucked. It must have been that Fearn pre? I don't think so. I think some days I just suck, and the Avalon captures it perfectly.-Richie
