Big Ups to Small Gear Companies

With all the great progress on building acoustic treatment for the Badlands recording studio, I decided that a serious gear upgrade was in order.  After researching all the different options, I decided that I could get really excellent equipment and keep costs down by ordering directly from the manufacturers.  This turned out to be great not just for low prices, but also for getting excellent customer service.

Great Experience #1 – OktavaMod

My first priority in stepping up my gear game was microphones.  As one of the of the earliest components of the signal chain (coming after musician, instrument, and room), the importance of quality microphones is difficult to undervalue.  After learning from Raymond Richards at Red Rockets Glare that great microphones don’t have to come with prestigious brand names or high price tags attached to them, I focused my search on modified mics.  This quickly led me to Michael Joly of OktavaMod, whose reputation among the mod set appears to have no equal.  I settled on the Cascade Gomez, which wasn’t actually modified but was co-designed by Joly, and the modded Apex 460.  A quality ribbon mic and a multi-pattern tube condenser were just what I needed to expand the sonic palette of my microphone collection.  Michael and his wife Meryl were very responsive to my questions about ordering the mics, and were very prompt in their responses to

my billing questions.  The only downside to my interaction to them is that I have to wait until July to get the 460 (the Gomez showed up almost immediately), but the fact that Joly’s skills are in such high demand definitely bodes well for the quality of this mic!

Great Experience #2 – Hamptone

After I had my mics sorted out, I turned to the question of preamps.  For a while I’d been thinking of getting a 500-series Lunchbox and filling it with preamp modules, but while I was touring Jackpot Recording Studio, the studio manager told me that Scott Hampton of Hamptone has space next door.  I had heard great things about Hamptone preamps, and was into the idea of buying local (I am in Portland, after all.)  I decided on an assembled HVTP2, and once again got excellent customer service.  Scott was very responsive to my many emails, and allowed me to come by the shop to pick up the pres and avoid shipping charges!  He was super friendly and helpful while he explained how to check for worn out tubes and that if I ever had any trouble with the pres to bring them right back so he could take a look at them.

I was already impressed with the great level of service from Hamptone, when I found out that Josh Powell, one of the owners of The Map Room, worked at Hamptone.  I was using a bunch of the Hamptone pres on a pair of dates for the upcoming Hip Hatchet record, and mentioned to Josh that I was getting one for myself, and he said he’d probably be the one to build it.  Awesome!  I love that someone working at the company making my preamps is a successful studio owner, and stands behind the company’s products enough to use them all the time!

Support The Little Guys!

I’m really happy that I went with the mics and pres that I did, instead of going the Vintage King or Mercenary Audio route.  I have nothing against those companies and am glad they exist, but ordering directly from the manufacturer was a great experience in every way possible.  I received high quality, wonderful sounding equipment at a low price, got excellent customer service directly from the people who designed the equipment, and am supporting small businesses.  I will definitely keep these companies in mind for my future gear purchases, and recommend others do the same.

Links

• OktavaMod – http://www.oktavamod.com/
• Hamptone – http://hamptone.com/