Jay: Well, good mics are the first place to start (given that you have good instruments). Always follow sound down its natural path: instrument, mics, cables, console, processing, and storage platform. If you have the first three, then yes, console is your next key.

Jim: How about acoustical treatment of the space?

Jay: Well, some people may disagree with me on this. For live recordings of church bands or singing groups, yes, the ideal acoustical environments are nicer, but not really necessary. Some of the finest recording I've ever heard of praise and worship were all due to the gear, not the room. Granted, the room can help, but I'd spend money on great gear first. Acoustical treatment for live is more for the live listener.

TMC: Are there other better studio monitors, other than Mackie?

Jay: Better is such a relative term. When you go into the Hit Factory, or Ocean View, you will see monitor systems that - no lie - cost more than 1 million dollars! But about 50 percent of the hit songs you hear on the radio were recorded in home studios, with monitors of a Mackie-caliber or less in terms of price range.

Jay (continued): I personally know three Grammy award-winning producers that use Mackie monitors, and that's why I bought them. The thing about them is that they have room size and tone adjustments, so you can bring them with you to different rooms to mix and listen, keeping the sound you know. That’s why producers like them.

Jay (continued): But I know guys that still use NS 10's! And these guys pull $4 million a year. But yes, of course there are higher quality and pricier monitors. Genelec would be my next choice up in this regard.

Phil McCraken: Do you microphone amps, or direct feed for guitars?

Jay: I always mic guitar cabinets. I use either a Shure SM57 or a Sennheiser MD421.

bob: RE – mic’ing guitar cabs. Why?

Jay: Because the true tone of an electric guitar is created by the amp feeding the speaker cabinet with all that juice. The woofer is moving and the tone is better or worse depending upon the quality of the speaker, and or the box it’s in.

Jay (continued): When you run a signal direct, you’re basically bypassing all that sweet sounding stuff, replacing it with a circuit. And I'm sorry basement guitarists, but there isn’t a circuit made on this earth that sounds as good as a cranked Marshall JCM with a 4-12”-loaded cabinet or a Mesa Boogie or a Vox combo amp.

Jay (continued): I know, because I’ve tried ‘em all, and I have the most sophisticated guitar modeling software created. It’s called AMP Farm, by Line 6. I use it to occasionally fill something after the guitarist is gone, generally if there’s a mistake. But I can tell you, it's doesn’t sound the same. If you really, really have to bypass mic’ing an amp, use the POD, by Line 6. It's the closest processor to a real guitar sound.