My studio is located just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. All recording is currently done on a dual processor G5 using Protools. The signal chain consists of Neumann and custom Mills mics, Avalon pre amps and Apogee A/D converters.
For
most of my acoustic violin and viola tracks I use
the Barbera
5 string acoustic violin, it's a beautifully made instrument with a rich
tonal color. For live applications I use the Barbera bridge but it's too dark
for recording so I'll swap in a traditional bridge. The instrument has also
been fitted with a Mills
Mic for both live a recording applications.
Barbera
Systems Ultralight 5 string is the sweetest electric violin I've ever owned.
The Barbera sounds really smooth but unfortunately Rich no longer makes them.
Rich
Barbera's multi-transducer design gives a really even response across
all 5 strings. It's a very "direct" sound so I only use it for live
or tracking electric and synth violin parts.
For
electric guitar tracks I usually use a 1961 Fender Strat. It's almost entirely
stock with the exception of the bridge pickup, a Dimarzio
vintage blues. I either use a Vox
AC30 top boost with vintage Celestion
30's, a Dave Vidal hot rodded Fender Princeton, or the Line
6 POD. I also have a late 70's stock strat and a custom built Paul Iversen
with lace sensors and a Seymor
Duncan '59.
Occasionally,
for fiddle tracks I use my Grandfather's 1920's
German Amati knock off with a Bagg bridge and Mills mic, run through a Rane
AP13 pre-amp. The coolest thing about the Mills condenser mic is that
it's in a constant fixed proximity so you never step out of the sweet
spot. It adds some really nice "air" that you can't get with
just a bridge. The advantage of using both the Bagg
bridge and Mills
mic is that there's an additional fundamental response with the
bridge pickup.
For
acoustic guitar I mike up an older Tackamine and then mix in the line
signal. The
direct signal from these guitars always sounds a bit bright so using it
with a Neumann smooths that out and is helpful in getting
some body to the sound. Tackamine's split bridge is brilliant for intonation
too.
The Godin
A8 Mandolin kicks ass. These guys really did their homework, it sounds
"as advertised" when you just plug it in and run it flat. The action comes
pretty high so I had to shim the neck to lower it. I also had the nut
replaced with the spacing cut in half so it plays a lot easier than stock.
Had
to throw in a shot of my old Roland GR synth guitar. This is the most radical
production guitar ever and it definitely looks better than it plays. It rarely
ever comes out of the case.