The Equipment

We have a wide range of carefully selected microphones and some incredible instruments to hand.

Sontronics,Golden Age,Samson,AKG & Neumann

The Microphone Cupboard

Neumann U87 large dual-diaphragm omnidirectional, cardioid and figure-8 microphone
AKG SolidTube vacuum tube large-diaphragm microphone
Golden Age R2 Figure-8 ribbon microphone
S.E. Electronics SE-2200a large-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone
Sontronics STC-2 large-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone
Samson CO1 large-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone
Eight Shure SM57 classic directional dynamic cardioid microphones
Shure Beta 52A high output dynamic supercardioid instrument microphone

John Grey,Monroe,Gretsch,Godin,Fender,Gibson & Gretsch

The Instrument Rack

Gibson J100 Jumbo Acoustic Six String Guitar
Martin 00015 Grand Auditorium Acoustic Six String Guitar
Gretsch Country Club Semi Acoustic Six String Guitar
Fender Telecaster 1988 Japanese Electric
Godin Semi Acoustic Nylon Six String Guitar
Godin A12 Semi Acoustic 12 String Guitar
Takamine Electro Acoustic Bass Guitar
Fender Japanese Squier Precision Bass Early '80's
Monroe Bean Blossom F shape Acoustic Mandolin
Bob Wailing Handmade Resonator Mandolin

Scandalli Super VI Accordion

Scandalli Super Six Piano Accordion with handmade reeds
Gold Tone Maple Classic 5 String Banjo
Premier Artist Birch Drumkit With Zildjian & Sabian Cymbals
Various percussion instruments including 14 Inch tunable bodhran, turkish made dumbelek hand drum & tambourines

Despite being acoustically biased we have a very special Amp Farm !

The Backline

Marshall AS 50 Acoustic Guitar Amp
Classic Fender 94 Twin Blues Amp
Mesa Boogie combo MK1
Trace Elliot Bass Amp

Just to make the recording sweeter

The Processor Rack

We have a wide range of Focusrite, Klark Teknik, Drawmer, Joe Meek, Behringer signal processors & channels strips.

On The Mac

Whilst we're really trying to get a great recording of you & your instruments, within Pro Tools we use a wide range of plugins including Waves, Melodyne, MOTU, Bomb Factory etc. We can also rent other plugins for your recording according to what you require at the time.

In Your Ears

For monitoring & mixing we use a pair of vintage Tannoy System 1000 full range, a pair of Tannoy Reveal Nearfield and a pair of KRK PR5s. For the comfort of your lugholes when recording we use a a range of Sennheiser, AKG & Beyerdynamic studio headphones.

The Neumann U87 Variable Microphone

Large diaphragm pressure-gradient transducer with double membrane capsule. It is an absolute studio classic. The mic has three switchable directional characteristics - either omni, cardioid or figure-8. It also has a switchable low frequency rolloff & 10 dB pre-attenuation. Ideal as main and as support microphone in the most differing recording situations.

AKG SolidTube Microphone

The SolidTube microphone is a single-pattern (cardioid), large-diaphragm condenser microphone. A slide switch changes the sensitivity of the microphone to accommodate loud sources, and a small red window glows a dull red (from the tube filament) when the microphone is powered. In the studio the SolidTube is great for vocals & acoustic guitar. The sound is full & warm, with a nicely extended high-end that is pleasantly bright without sounding exaggerated.

Goldenage R2 Ribbon Microphone

The R2 is a high quality vintage style ribbon microphone with some modern developments. It offers the unique warm response of a classic ribbon microphone. Large and mellow ribbon sound quality with a very smooth top end and an extended low end giving us realism with the feeling of "being-there". We use the R2 for vocals, acoustic instruments, the squeeze box & strings.

Martin 00015 Grand Auditorium

The classic auditorium size acoustic with solid mahogany top, back and sides. Characteristic 'nasal' tone, ideal for blues playing. This has got some special open tuners & a handmade tortoiseshell scratchplate. As Chris uses this live he has also had a headway pickup discretely installed by Paul Hathway.

Gibson J100 Jumbo Acoustic

The more demure sister of the J200. This is a big guitar with a sound to match. Solid spruce top, solid Maple back & sides & a very solid mahoghany neck. That inimitable Gibson Jumbo Acoustic sound. This is a beauty of a guitar with a specially scalloped fingerboard & hidden Fishman pickup.