Equipment

I have owned and borrowed many items over the years. Most equipment has moved on to new homes.

The Oils years

The music I recorded from 1977 to 1979 in my bedroom and underneath Jim's parents house and 'released' as Bear's Greatest Hits volume 1 was recorded on whatever gear was at hand or left in my car overnight between gigs.

Equipment owned:

• AKAI 4000DS MkII reel to reel tape recorder
• TEAC A3340 simul-sync 4 track reel to reel tape recorder
• Riviera bass guitar (my first bass. Jim acquired it to use on his recordings and removed the frets)
• Fender Telecaster bass guitar (cream, single coil pickup, used on Farm's 1973 tour)
• Rickenbacker 4001 stereo bass guitar (fireglo, first used on Farm's 1974 tour, last heard on Midnight Oil's first album)
• Fender Precision bass guitar (sunburst, maple neck)
  The band told me to get one to replace the Rickenbacker. Instead I should've found the extra cash to buy the Music Man I played on the Head Injuries album.
  That Music Man was later stolen from the music shop I rented it from.
• Shure SM565 dynamic microphone (like the ones used at Woodstock)
• Acoustic steel string and nylon string guitars
• Upright Piano
• Fuzz Box (built from an electronics kit)
• Vox AC100 valve bass amplifier
• Stereo preamp (for my stereo Rickenbacker bass)
• Stanton headphones

Equipment borrowed:

• Jim's TEAC A3340 4 track recorder (for mixdown)
• Jim's Melos tape delay
• Jim's Yamaha YC200 Organ
• Jim's Gibson Les Paul electric guitar
• Jim's no-name drum kit
• Jim's Eko 12 string acoustic guitar
• Jim's MicroMoog synthesiser
• Jim's Leslie 18 (rotating baffle) speaker
• Jim's Funny Cat envelope follower pedal
• Martin's Fender Stratocaster electric guitar
• Martin's Roland chorus ensemble pedal
• Double Bass (my instrument in Lane Cove Municipal Band)

The Gospel Connection

Many happy hours were spent programming and recording music for projects that for the most part never saw the light of day. Here is some of the equipment that I used over these years.

• TEAC A3340 4 track reel to reel tape recorder
• Marantz SD2000 two speed stereo cassette recorder
• AKAI DPS12 hard disk audio recorder
• Roland Juno 6 synthesiser
• Roland Juno 106 synthesiser
• Roland JX6P synthesiser
• Casio CZ101 synthesiser
• Ensoniq ESQ1 synthesiser
• Yamaha FB01 synthesiser module
• Yamaha TX81Z synthesiser module
• Yamaha ME15F Midi dynamics controller (used as midi through box)

  

• Roland MT32 synthesiser module
• Roland U220 synthesiser module
• Roland MC500 sequencer (expanded to 8 tracks)
• Pearl acoustic drum kit with cymbals (bought for my daughter but set up in our garage)
• Yamaha QX21 sequencer
• Yamaha RX21 drum machine
• Boss DR55 Dr Beat drum machine
• Roland TR505 drum machine
• Shure SM565 dynamic microphone
• Yamaha KM802 8 channel mixer
• Atari 512STE computer running Cubase sequencer software
• Midi to tape sync box (borrowed, for synchronising my tape deck to my midi sequencer)
• Emperador Les Paul copy guitar
• Cimar Stratocaster copy guitar
• Maton CW80 acoustic guitar with pickup
• Maton JB4F fretless bass (1980)

  

• Fender Precision bass guitar (rosewood neck, cream)
• Fender Precision bass guitar (L Series - 1965, rosewood neck, Candy Apple Red)
• Music Man Stingray 5 bass guitar (1992, maple neck, translucent white)
• Yamaha jumbo 6 string acoustic guitar
• Yamaha acoustic electric stereo 12 string guitar (borrowed)
• Ibanez Tube Screamer (bought in 1980 - original issue)
• Korg Toneworks AX1G guitar multi-effects pedal
• Yamaha digital reverb(borrowed)
• Tapco IVP instrument preamplifier
• Perreaux PM2000 200w stereo power amplifier
• Electrovoice TL606 15" speaker box
• Roland Cube-60 keyboard amplifier
• NAD stereo amplifier
• Teac bookshelf speakers

The Two Of Us

I now own equipment with capabilities which I could not have imagined when I started recording with two mono cassette recorders over 40 years ago.

Current core studio equipment:

• Akai DPS16 hard disk audio recorder
  My favourite recorder. A joy to work with. Instant startup. Comprehensive editing. Hardware mixing automated via MIDI. No stuffing around with computers, licences, upgrades, latency and plugins.
• Plextor SCSI CD writer (for Akai data backup and finished song upload to the internet via computer)
• Roland Fantom X6 synthesiser workstation (includes MIDI sequencer and sampler)
• Roland S1 tweak synthesiser - 4 voice synth/sequencer smaller than a book
• Ensoniq ESQ-m synthesiser module with rewritable program cartridge (grainy 8 bit sounds that I love)
• Music Man Stingray 5 string bass guitar (1992)
• Fender Precision bass guitar (1965 L Series)
• Maton JB4F fretless bass (1980)
• Line 6 Variax 600 modelling guitar
• Cimar Stratocaster copy guitar
• Maton CW80 acoustic guitar with pickup
• (my wife's) Art & Lutherie acoustic parlour guitar
• Martinez Acoustic/Electric mandolin
• TC Electronics BAM200 ultra compact bass amplifier
• Ampeg SVT210-AV speaker cabinet
• Fender Rumble 115 v3 speaker cabinet
• Zoom G1Xon guitar multi-effects pedal
• Ibanez Tube Screamer (1980)
• Rode NT3 condenser microphone
• Shure SM565 dynamic microphone
• Yamaha KM802 8 channel mixer
• Yamaha DTX electric drum kit
• Sennheiser HD240 Pro headphones (I do most of my recording and mixing with headphones)
• Truthear Hexa wired in-ear monitors (for stage use - I was glad when my Shures broke - these are better)

Gear no longer used. Some items are currently available for sale.

• Yamaha AW1600 16 track hard disc audio recorder. I bought this after my first Akai DPS16 failed. I replaced it with my second DPS16.
• Ensoniq ESQ-m synthesiser module with rewritable program cartridge (grainy 8 bit sounds that I love)
• Roland Juno G synthesiser (replaced by the Fantom X6) for sale
• Roland U220 synthesiser module for sale
• Roland MT32 synthesiser module for sale
• Korg Toneworks AX5G guitar multi-effects pedal for sale
• Roland Cube-60 keyboard amplifier for sale

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