Getting into Gear

Christmas is traditionally a time when musicians throughout the land stock up on new instruments, sound gear and accessories. After a hard year’s touring, performing, recording and hopefully making some moolah along the way, it’s as good a time as any to take stock and perhaps consider splashing out on a new guitar, keyboard or perhaps the latest ultra-harmonizer or multi-effects unit.

The good news is that when it comes to musicians’ needs, prices have never been cheaper. Gone are the days when a trip to London or “oop North” was mandatory in order to purchase that elusive 1957 Strat re-issue or vintage Marshall valve amp/cab combo. Favourable exchange rates over the past few years have meant that prices for instruments and sound equipment are in line with, or in some cases lower than, the UK. Such is the value for money that can be had that retailers have even reported sightings of visiting bands stocking up on equipment and accessories when they hit Ireland.

The range and diversity of pro-audio equipment and instruments available has greatly expanded too. All the major names are distributed here and the discerning muso with eclectic tastes can usually find what they’re looking for without much trouble. Stiff competition between the multitude of retail outlets that have sprung up means customers can get generous deals and special packages.

So what are you waiting for? If your frets are worn down with wear, or your pedals have lost their bounce, pay a visit to your local music shop. You might be pleasantly surprised!

• The Soundhouse, at 7 Crow Street in Temple Bar, Dublin have oodles of bargains and special offers available over the Christmas period. In fact, such is their intended generosity of spirit during the season of goodwill, that any band who spends £300 or more during the month of December will get a free rehearsal session in Temple Lane Studios! They are also running various in-store competitions with poptabulous prizes on offer for the lucky winners.

“We have some unbelievable all-in packages as well,” says The Soundhouse’s Karl Hannigan. “For example, we have a deal where you can buy a guitar, an amp and a case, with all the accessories – such as a strap, leads, strings and plectrums – for £199, which is incredible value.”

According to Hannigan, some of the best bargains to be had right now are in the home recording area, especially with the new breed of 8-track digital hard disc recorders. “A few years ago, these kind of facilities would have cost you tens of thousands of pounds,” he suggests. “The way things are going in the home studio scene, people can come in and get everything they want from one manufacturer, one supplier – all in one package.

“The DMT-VL for example has come down from £1,500 to £1,000 including VAT,” he adds. “Also worth checking out is the D-80, an 8-track hard disc digital recorder with a removable gigabyte and the Fostex XR3, a 4-track with its own built-in microphone – ideal for sitting around and jamming. It’s a snip at just £249.”

Any problems that arise with equipment can be dealt with promptly at The Soundhouse as they have their own in-house service department, with four full-time service engineers. “Anyone buying recording equipment gets a full after-sales service,” Hannigan stresses. “We’re even prepared to go out to the home or studio and give them as much training as it takes to get them started.”

The Soundhouse also stock a huge range of both new and used guitars and amps, including such household names as Marshall and Trace Elliot and right down to half-size kids’ guitars and Yamaha sing-a-long keyboards. They are distributors for Novation – a small synthesizer, ideal for anyone starting out on dance music.

Other lines at The Soundhouse include the Hohner Les Paul and Strat copies; the Kurtzweill Range: K2000 and K2500, fully loaded including sampler plus 12Mb; of memory The Orbital Sound Module from EMU and the Akai S2000 sampler; the Lovetone range of Pedals including Big Cheese, Doppelganger, Brown Sauce and Meatball. There are some nifty deals here too. For example, anyone who buys a Behringer effect will also get a free microphone worth £60.

The Soundhouse’s extensive rental facilities are also proving popular with bands, as Hannigan outlines. “We can supply a PA for a gig with an engineer, supply the entire backline, including drums, instruments, amps – the lot. We can supply a mobile recording studio plus recording engineer to record it, master it, the works. I don’t think anyone offers that kind of comprehensive service.

“We’ve now added full automation to our mobile,” he adds, “which makes it one of the only fully-automated mobile facilities in the country.”

Coupled with the retail and hire facilities, The Soundhouse are heavily involved in facilities such as the Sound Training Centre, Temple Lane Rehearsal Studios, both Sun and Electra recording studios and The Ormond Multi-media Centre.

• Perfect Pitch at 35 Exchequer Street Dublin 2, has gained a reputation for providing a compressive service to both professional and amateur musicians since it first opened for business four years ago. “We’ve had them all coming into the shop,” says proprietor, Gerry Crowe, “from people like Billy Connolly and Mark Knopfler down to the absolute beginners.

“We like to think that we can offer an individual, expert service to every one of our customers,” he adds. “Part of the whole thing is in looking after people once they’ve made a purchase. We offer a full after-sales and back-up service and we carry out all our own repairs. Customers are very price-conscious and tend to shop around a lot these days, but they appreciate the extra service.”

With prices to suit all pockets, Perfect Pitch stock a wide range of acoustic, electric and classical guitars, as well as keyboards, accessories and music tutors etc. According to Crowe, there are plenty of bargains for the aspiring musician: “We have a Yamaha keyboard with full-size keys from around £89 and a Yamaha acoustic Guitar Model F310 at just £125, which is an amazing price. Going up the scale from that we have Dean electric guitars, starting at £249 up to about £600, and this range is exclusive to ourselves.”

Perfect Pitch now stock the acclaimed Fender Squire guitars from £169, with budget-priced practice amplifiers to match. For those with more cash to spend, they also have the hand-built Yamaha LL11 guitar at £599 – “a stunning guitar,” according to Crow. Other brands in the upper range of acoustic guitars include Lakewood custom-built acoustic guitars with three separate models available.

Perfect Pitch has lots of Christmas stocking-fillers – for example, no guitarist should be without an electronic tuner such as The Quik Tune, which is available for just £15.99. And for those who want to protect their guitars from the ravages of touring and life on the road, they stock the acclaimed Hiscox range of hard-shell cases. “You can literally dance on them without fear of damaging your instrument,” says Crowe. “They’re made from toughened fibreglass and are vacuum sealed, making them completely waterproof. From around £69, they’re a must for the musician who needs to safeguard his or her investment.”

Finally, Perfect Pitch have become known as specialists in bodhrans – that essential percussion accessory for any self-respecting traditional combo. “We believe we’ve the best selection of bodhrans in town,” offers Crowe, “with prices starting at around £25 and going up to £129.

“They’re not confined to the traditional sector either,” he says. “Mark Knopfler’s drummer bought a bodhran here last April – we’re all looking forward to hearing the next album!”

Perfect Pitch is open each Sunday until Christmas.

• The proliferation of do-it-yourself recording, with bands setting up their own recording facilities has led to a demand for high quality and reliable post production services. Professional mastering, pre-mastering and manufacturing of recorded material is crucial in ensuring that the finished product is marketable and suitable for broadcast.

Apex Tape and CD Duplication manufacture product for the DARA and Dolphin labels, as well as catering for independent record companies, individual bands and solo artists. According to Joe O’Reilly of Apex, CD’s have now become the standard release format, even for demos.

“They’re not as expensive as they used to be,” he states. “True, there are set-up costs like the glass mastering, but once you go into any sort of volume, the costs go down rapidly. Bands might be wondering what they’ll do with 500 CD’s, which is the usual minimum run, but they’ll certainly sell some of them at gigs. We find that even the smaller bands are looking for CD’s rather than tapes these days. There’s still a market for tapes, especially in the Country `n’ Irish market, and they’ll probably hang in there for a while – but CD will soon be completely dominant.”

According to O’Reilly, when it comes to demos for radio stations or record companies – if you want to be heard, you have to release your product on CD “You just won’t get tapes played on the radio,” he says. “CD’s are much more likely to be played and they’re much more useful as promotional tools or in trying to get a deal.”

As well as duplication and manufacturing, Apex provide a complete printing and packaging service to record companies, bands and artists.

“Our prices our as competitive as anyone’s,” O’Reilly offers. “But it’s all down to our service. Some people want complete packaging and we can organise that, but if they want to do their own printing that’s fine with us.”

• Stage Services North is a theatre-based company, providing lighting, sound, rigging and materials for the theatre and entertainment business.

They base their business around the demand from customers; for example they have recently added a range of theatre make-up – the Ben Nye range – to their stock, following demand from amateur and professional theatres who were having difficulty sourcing this necessity.

Stage Services North have specialist staff in the fields of lighting, sound rigging, curtains and tracks and are always pleased to advise and to quote for any job large or small. Even though operations are based in Belfast, no part of Ireland is more than a next-day delivery away.

• Almost every guitarist is familiar with the legendary electro-acoustic sound of the Ovation Roundback. Whenever a top class guitar sound is required, whether on stage, in the studio or “unplugged”, Ovation guitars, manufactured in Kaman in Connecticut, USA are quite rightly employed by top flight professional guitarists everywhere.

But for those with a limited budget, who can’t quite stretch to the original of the species, there is a cheaper alternative. All of the fascinating and intricate sounds of the roundback guitar are offered by the Applause Summit range which has all the advantages of the Ovation roundback design at a budget price. Made using the same moulding and manufacturing methods as the Ovation instruments at a highly advanced Guitar Workshop, the only obvious difference is the fact that they are made in Korea rather than the USA!

Applause Summit guitars offer three distinct variations of sound: the pure clear acoustic sound; the pick-up sound (for players who require some amplification) and the famous full-bodied roundback sound.

The Applause Summit range is offered in either shallow bowl or deep bowl, with passive volume and tone control, or active EQ preamplifier with treble, bass and volume controls. A battery check indicator light is also included. The EQ version has a perfectly balanced pre-amp and under-saddle transducer to reproduce the famous electroacoustic sound of the roundback guitar.

• The guitar most identified with the prestigious Jackson brandname and the one most recognised, the Rhoads guitar, has been one of the sought-after instruments for virtually every major axe shredder both past and present over the past decade. Anthrax, Randy, Rhoads, Megadeth and Sepultra are a few of the bands for whom this guitar has become a part of their identity. With two high-output humbuckers, a 22-fret neck and a Tunamatic bridge, this guitar continues to render ownership of Jackson a real mark of prestige in rock’n’roll.

When you pick up one of the Performer series guitars, you’ll know immediately why Jackson has established the reputation of building the finest of instruments. You’ll also recognise that the quality is comparable to instruments costing significantly more. All Performers come with solid Alder bodies, Maple necks and the highest quality Rosewood fingerboards.

With six different models to chose from, the Performer series offers virtually every type of player the sound and styles of a Jackson at an unbelievably affordable price