gavster

Definitely get as good an audio interface as you can afford and an equally good condenser microphone. Everybody uses SM57 and SM58 and they are ok for guitar but gutless for vocals. Also I would have to say I am a grerat believer in using electro acoustic guitars a la Tanglewood/Crafter/Ovation as the sound is brilliant and background noise and mic thump are eradicated permanently:) Just use mics for vocals, not guitar

Hi, I would recommend using a PC, you need as fast a processor in it as possible, running windows xp as vista is still a bit crap for music, 2gb of memory, a separate graphics card (not built into the motherboard) , a decent set of powered monitor speakers (M-Audio, Edirol minimum 100) then buy any version of Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 you can get your hands on....You will not believe your ears. Go for the rig kontrol version if you can afford it, otherwise go for one of the cheaper setups, you will have the best sound and recording setup available on the planet and your recordings and live sound will be astonishing. DO NOT go for an ancient tape/cassette system - you will suffer NOISE. This is the future and if you ignore it you are missing out in my opinion. I am expecting criticism.....bring it on

I agree with the glue and sawdust method, it takes longer than matchsticks but will last far longer. Have used it myself on several occasins to do repairs and it's good.