The Saltmine has been the favorite studio of many local artists for more than 15 years, and in that time has become popular as a recording hideaway for visiting recording artists and producers as well. 

Our new studio facility in the arts district of downtown Mesa offers three recording studios, three practice spaces, and an outdoor stage and private courtyard.

On the left is a view of the control room in Studio A.  In the foreground is the 12-channel Neve Melborn Sidecar, next to the 36-Channel Neve 6235 console which adds up to an awe inspiring 48 channels of all-discrete classic Neve channels.  Both the main console and the Melborn have just been completely "recapped" and had their power supplies upgraded and they sound amazing.  In addition to the neves, there is a wealth of classic and modern outboard gear, including Distressors, Pultecs, 1176's etc.

In the rear you can see the Studer A-827 24 Track 2" tape recorder and the Otari MTR-12 1/2" 2-track mixdown deck.  Click the picture to see a larger view.  The Pro Tools HD system and Macintosh G5 are in a separate machine room behind the control room.  This Pro Tools HD 3/Accel system has 32 I/0's on Digidesign 192 interfaces with a Sync I/O, blackburst generator, Lynx II synchronizer and about 1.5 Terabytes of hard disk space.  All computers in the facility are networked together for easy file transfer.

This room also has a pair of vintage Neve 1064's, GML 8200 Parametric EQ, 2 API 500 series Lunchboxes, 4 vintage Pultec EQ's, 6 Distressors, a Lexicon 480L, an AMS RMX 16 with a remote, a Neve 5432 sidecar and lots of other cool and unusual outboard gear.  This control room is the same size as Control room A and has an iso room which is about 12'x14' with a 14' ceiling, with a Clearsonic vocal iso booth.

Studio B also features our ATR-102 1" analog master tape recorder.  This is the finest analog recorder in the world, one of about 50 in existence!

In addition to the Westlakes, Control Room "B" features Yamaha NS-10m's powered by a Bryston 3B amplifer,  Genelec 1030A, Hafler TRM-8, and KRK V6 or 7000 Monitor speakers.  Other amplifiers and speakers are available upon request.

With 24' high cathedral ceilings and a maple floor, this room makes for an enormous live drum sound.  The block wall and heavy oriental rugs on the walls add to its character.  We have ASC tube traps and various baffles available for diffusion and isolation but this room's natural ambience has brought a smile to every drummer who has recorded in here. 

Over the drum set you can see a Neumann SM-69 stereo tube mic, and next to the Vox AC-30 and Fender Pro Reverb amps there is a Neumann U-67 Tube mic in position as one of the room mics.  These are just two of over 100 sought-after classic microphones in The Saltmine's microphone locker.

Click on the picture for a better view.

On the right  is a view of Studio A's Isolation room #3 which doubles as a guitar amp locker.  You can see a few of the amplifiers that we keep on hand which nicely complement the classic guitars from our collection of over 50 world-class instruments. 

This room is about 12'x12' with a 16' ceiling and is big enough to set up a drum kit if you want a more intimate "dry" sound than our large drum room has to offer.  We use it mostly for vocals, acoustic guitar and guitar/bass amplifiers. 

Studio A also offers a Mytek Private Cue headphone system, which allows musicians to control the "more me" knob in style.  This is the most widely regarded professional headphone system in the world and features class A power amplifiers for pure, awesome sound from whisper quiet to ear-cooking...

You can see the stage in this picture, which can be wired to Control Room A for live recordings.  Since this picture was taken we have added a gorgeous aluminum lighting grid custom made by Mike Brown, which can been seen in the pictures of our concerts.  The courtyard is wired for sound with a console at standard house position and there is room on stage or side stage for a monitor console. 

Arizona's beautiful weather helps to make the Saltmine a perfect studio retreat from those cold winter months up north.  You won't miss the snow while sunbathing in our courtyard in January while working on your record.

The city of Mesa, and Phoenix's "Valley of the Sun" offer everything you've come to expect from a sprawling desert city, including everything from five-star hotels and restaurants to mountain biking trails and lonely little places in the middle of nowhere. 

The city of Tempe, only five minutes  from the Saltmine, is the location of Arizona State University and is the hub of the Valley's music scene.  You can catch a concert nearby in one of many local venues, or find a place featuring some of Arizona's best talent.