My studio is located in the greater Vancouver area of, British Columbia. All recording is currently done on a Mac Pro using Protools 8. The signal chain consists of Neumann or custom Mills mics, Avalon 737-SP pre amp and Apogee A/D converters. Digidesign really stepped things us with the new version of ProTools 8. Adds considerable fuel to the ProTools/Logic debate.

For most of my acoustic violin and viola tracks I use the Barbera 5 string acoustic violin, it's a beautifully made instrument with a rich tonal color. For live applications I use the Barbera bridge but it's too dark for recording so I'll swap in a traditional bridge. The instrument has also been fitted with a Mills Mic for both live a recording applications.

Barbera Systems Ultralight 5 string is the warmest electric violin I've ever owned. The Barbera sounds really smooth but unfortunately Rich no longer makes them. Rich Barbera's multi-transducer design gives a really even response across all 5 strings. It's still a very "direct" sound so I only use it for live or tracking electric and synth violin parts.

For electric guitar tracks I usually use a 1961 Fender Strat. It's almost entirely stock with the exception of the bridge pickup, a Dimarzio vintage blues.

I either use a Vox AC30 top boost with vintage Celestion 30's, a Dave Vidal hot rodded Fender Princeton, or various amp modellers. I'll DI using the Avalon U5.

Occasionally, for fiddle tracks I use my Grandfather's 1920's German Amati knock off with a Bagg bridge and Mills mic, run through a Rane AP13 pre-amp. The coolest thing about the Mills condenser mic is that it's in a constant fixed proximity so you never step out of the sweet spot. It adds some really nice "air" that you can't get with just a bridge. The advantage of using both the Bagg bridge and Mills mic is that there's an additional fundamental response with the bridge pickup.

For acoustic guitar I mike up an older Tackamine and occasionally mix in the line signal. The direct signal from these guitars always sounds a bit bright so using it with a mic and tube pre smooths that out and is helpful in getting some body to the sound. Tackamine's split bridge is brilliant for intonation too.

The Godin A8 Mandolin is a really solid live instrument. These guys really did their homework, it sounds quite acceptable when you just plug it in and run it flat. The action comes pretty high so I had to shim the neck to lower it. I also had the nut replaced with the spacing cut in half so it plays a lot easier than stock.

Had to throw in a shot of my old Roland GR synth guitar. This is the most radical production guitar ever. Definitely looks better than it plays. It rarely ever comes out of the case.