My friends know not to let me go into Guitar Center (or any music store, for that matter) because it's usually a couple hours before I can be convinced to extract myself. It's like a black hole - gravity always tugs you, but at some point you cross the event horizon and just follow your feet.

With that in mind... I bring you the gear anorak thread, where anything and everything music gear is game. Post a question, rant about something that broke, recommend a Deluxe AutoMusicWidget (tm).

I'll start by offering a few random tidbits that I found were important to my budget:

- It's fine to buy monitors off the interweb, just try them in person first (sgt pepper is a good album for a test toast .

- Regarding cheap mixers, Behringer's newer stuff doesn't exactly harden my nipples. Their older stuff is okay, but beware the new stuff... noisy, clunky. Now, the cheap mixers that make my nipples hard come from Yamaha. Of course, if you have the option of not buying a cheap mixer, I'd recommend that instead.

- Techno was invented when a dude in the 1800's heard feedback. It was first used for muzak.