Here are a few pictures of the gear I use and what my bedroom recording studio looks like:

On my recordings, I’ll utilize any of the five guitars in this rack:

Shots of each guitar:

Ibanez S320 6-String Guitar

Despite being the youngest guitar in my small collection (I bought it in January 2009), it’s the most battle scarred, particularly from my overzealous use of the whammy bar.

It’s also starting to show wear where my right arm rests while playing it:

Of my three main electric guitars, this is the only one that isn’t decorated with stickers. Instead, I let the wear and tear speak for itself. There is one small adornment just aft of the bridge:

My fiancee made those for me from a spare guitar string one night when I was changing the whole set. She originally gave them to me just as a kind of silly gift, but I decided I could take something so sweet and make it just a little rock and roll by screwing it directly to the body of the guitar.

I have the 7-string cousin of the above guitar, the Ibanez S7320.

This guitar’s paintjob is much more durable than the 6-string version, so it hasn’t accumulated any battle scars yet. Give it time. :)

I used the Fender Fat Strat w/ Floyd Rose on the entirety of the Stop The War! album:

Part of the charm (for me, anyway) of this guitar is that it’s a bit of a conundrum. It’s a Fender Strat, which a lot of people equate to blues or surf guitar. Then again, it’s decorated to the edges with various stickers and decals, so it may come across as a punk guitar. Yet at third glance, it’s got a humbucker in the bridge, and a Floyd Rose Licensed Locking Tremolo, which brings up visions of metal and shred. It’s kind of my everything guitar. It doesn’t have the high gain of the Ibanez guitars, but it’s got a good rhythm chunk to it, and the clean sound is unbeatable. Here are some closeup shots of the various stickers:

For a few songs, I’ve used an Alvarez Acoustic/Electric I’ve been borrowing off one of my bandmates.

For bass, I bought a cheap little Rogue 5-string bass. I would have gotten the 4-string, but I wanted something that could match the 7-string’s low-B string.

Here’s a bit of a relic! This is my first ever electric guitar! I got it on my 13th birthday as part of a Yamaha Electric Guitar starter kit that included an amp and a cable. They didn’t even bother with a strap!

At the tender age of 13, I thought it would be cool if I gave the guitar my own custom paint job. Using Sharpie and paint markers, I gave it my own flair.

Sadly, this guitar doesn’t work anymore. It needs to have the electronics gutted and replaced. Seriously, when I was 13, I couldn’t take care of anything expensive, especially if it was my own stuff.

Further along in Guitar World is the signal processor, the Line 6 POD X3 Live. As well as creating all the sounds you hear on my songs, I use the same unit out live with my band.

I used to have a Digitech Pedal (now owned by a good friend of mine), but switched the POD when I realized I needed more control over my sound. Line 6 are the kings of amp and cab emulation, and the X3 line is their top stuff. I’m super happy with the sounds I can coax out of this unit.

The POD runs to my amp, a Line 6 Spider III:

I’ve thought about getting a Line 6 FBV Foot Controller to plug into the amp so I can use that live, and keep the X3 Live at home for recording. As it stands, the Spider is just a pair of speakers for the tone coming out of the X3. As powerful as it is, I’m not using any of its distortions or effects. However, it’s nice to know that it is capable of that if I need a backup.

Away from guitar world, and into recording world, we have an overview of my desk, or what my roommates and I have affectionately dubbed, the Command Center:

This is where all of the magic happens. My computer, my netbook, the sound card, all of my MIDI controllers. I even have a stock of DVDs and Blu-Rays on the top shelf, and a bin of snacks below the desk (out of frame). Also, on the right-hand side of the photo, you can sort of make out my mini fridge with a stock of fruits, string cheese, sodas, and beers. Basically, with the exception of bathroom breaks, I never have to leave this room.

Oh, and just to gloat, yes that’s a copy of Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush It” on my left speaker. And yes, its autographed. I met him at a book signing in Denver. Awesome awesome guy. :D

The biggest object, other than the desk, is my MIDI keyboard which I bought off of a friend for $100.

This is the one device that is keeping me from deleting my Windows XP hard drive. I have yet to find drivers to get it working with Windows 7. Everything else in my arsenal works famously with Windows 7, and since I only use the keyboard on contracts where someone needs piano or orchestral sounds, I do a good majority of my recording in Windows 7 anyway.

Next, and easily the most used piece of MIDI equipment I own, the Korg PadKontrol.

This is the piece of hardware I use to lay down my drum tracks. You can watch a video of me demonstrating it here (opens in a new window/tab).

While not at all necessary for a setup like mine, I decided to add some sort of fader control system to my recording setup a while ago. Most of these control surfaces can get really pricey, but I found a product from Behringer for about $200: The BCF2000 B-Control Fader

It’s motorized, but it doesn’t have the LCD bar that the more expensive modules have. While that feature is something I would absolutely love, I’ve learned to work without it.

For monitors, I use M-Audio’s Studiophile AV30 desktop monitors.

They double as my regular desktop speakers (hence the green plug going into the Aux In jack on the front. Stupendous speakers for the price. They come highly recommended.

When I need to be able to hear more subtle nuances, or one of my roommates asks me to keep it down, I use the M-Audio Studiophile Q40 Headphones.

Best headphones I’ve ever used, and they only cost about $120. They’re also very comfortable.

All of these pieces of hardware meet up at one point: the M-Audio Delta 44 soundcard.

It has 4 ins and 4 outs, which is more than enough for my recording situation, since I always record one instrument at a time.

This all ties in to the software I use to record. I’ve been using Sonar 8.0 for about a year now, and I absolutely love it. In the past, I’ve used Sony Acid, and before then, Adobe Audition, and none of them hold a candle up to Sonar. In my mind, it’s the best recording software for people on a budget and running a Windows-based system.

On top of Sonar, I use Addictive Drums to get my drum tracks laid down.

I store all of my songs on a pair of 1TB external hard drives.

That’s about it for the ins and outs of my bedroom studio. If you have any questions, you can always email me at bobby {at} bobbyphillipps {dot} net.