Of course, where there's a rule, there's an exception. And this rule is no exception, if you see what I mean. There is one high value item which must be upgraded as you progress. You will only need one of it, and almost certainly you won't be able to afford the best that is available at the outset of your home studio career. This is the mixing console. Everything else, including the multitrack recorder, you should use until it wears out. That way you get the biggest bang for the buck rather than the person who buys your equipment from you secondhand. You could look for further exceptions, but don't bother - keep your mind on the music, like the pros do.

To make a great recording, you need great sounds. Your studio will need great mics, great keyboards and modules, and a brilliant sampler. Don't forget that the complete home studio these days has a pair of record decks and a DJ-style mixer. I have to draw the line somewhere so I won't be considering guitars, drums and other instruments, but the golden rules apply there too. Let's look at the mic first, since vocals are the most important part of any recording, and even if you only do instrumental tracks, you'll still need a mic for sampling from acoustic sources. There are two ways you can approach the choice of microphones, and other equipment. The first and safest is to look at what the pros use. If a successful engineer or producer uses a particular mic, then that mic must have success written all the way through it like a stick of rock. Buy it! On the other hand, what is successful now may not always be successful tomorrow, so you might like to choose a less well known model in the hope that it gives you an advantage that few others yet have. I would say play safe with your first few mics. You are always going to keep them (remember?) and they will always turn in an excellent performance for you. But when you have a small but solid collection, be a bit more outrageous. Take a test drive so that you know what you are getting, and look for a mic with character. Pro mics start at around the £100 mark, so we are not talking massive amounts here. But a really good large diaphragm capacitor vocal mic, of the kind often seen in pro studios, will cost many times that sum. Even so, the major manufacturers are turning out good solid middle of the range mics at reasonable prices. They will do an excellent job now, and you will still find uses for them even when you can afford the top models.

I wonder whether a keyboardless studio is possible these days? Every studio needs at least one, and even if you can't play too well yourself, you can always get someone in who can. The major keyboard manufacturers change their models often, and what today is the sleekest, sexiest, most desirable thing around will be sold off at a knockdown price in two years time. But don't worry. Buy the best and aim to develop a lasting relationship with it. You may get bored with it after a few months - that's relationships for you - but in the long term you will find that you learn how to get more and more out of it and achieve far more satisfaction than those who continue to play the field (that's relationships for you too!).