RussianRecording
Back in 2003, Mike Bridavsky started Russian Recording as a fairly small-scale operation housed in an A-frame style cabin in the woods of Brown County, Indiana. Five down the line, however, he decided that although the acoustics of the unique building were “very cool and gave a great overall sound”, he needed a bigger space that was closer to downtown Bloomington. He knew that along with this expansion would come a lot of new equipment, and luckily Mike knew exactly who to turn to.

“I needed a company that would reply to my emails, get me the best deal for my money, and provide excellent service even after the equipment was installed,” Bridavsky says. “I was totally happy with my experience ordering from Vintage King and working with Jeff [Leibovich] from the get-go. The equipment selection is great, the website is very functional and easy to use, and the customer service is flawless.”

Mike’s old set up was based around a Speck M72 – a console that had no mic preamps and a very basic EQ. To supplement this he ended up purchasing a rare 1972 Speck Alpha Series II 24x16x2 mixing console which was, as he says, a big step up for the studio. In order to optimize this new piece of gear, Mike then decided to sell most of his old outboard gear and invest in some more high-end compression to complement the new board.

“I couldn’t be happier with my purchases,” Mike gushes. “The Manley ELOP is a brilliant device that gets used on literally every session. I love it for tracking bass and guitars. The UBK Fatso also turned out to be a great addition to the studio – the high frequency compression is perfect for taming bright or harsh guitars and the “Glue” compressor setting gets used very often as a parallel compressor. But my favorite purchase,” he continues, “is definitely the matched pair of Coles 4038 microphones. I had used these many times in other studios and had been wanting a pair of my of my own for years. They’re the best sounding overheads I have used, hands down.”

With recording artists such as Good Luck, Release the Sunbird, and comedian Tig Notaro taking advantage of Russian Recording’s amped up facilities, Mike says that new upgrades are constantly on the horizon for the studio. “Every time I make an upgrade, I promise myself that it will be my last… But it never is! I will absolutely go with Vintage King for my next upgrade – I really like working with Jeff because, well, to put it bluntly, he is a cool dude and I don’t cringe every time I have to call him with a question or place an order. I never feel pressured to buy anything more than what I ask for. He’s easy to get a hold of, very knowledgeable, and most importantly, neither condescending nor a kiss-ass.” Well said, Mike.