SKULLDUGGERY’S Set up
What’s happening everyone? I’ve been reading this forum for a long time without registering but knew I had to change that as I’m looking for some advice on where to go to next. Ideally an IKEA DJ booth would be amazing to house all my gear, but I’m living in Japan at the moment, so buying large pieces of furniture is kind of out of the question.
I’ve been really into Drum & Bass music for a long time and since moving to Japan, I met a lot of fellow DNB heads who go me interested in DJing.
Anyway, to test the DJ waters without dumping too much cash, I started off by buying a Hercules MK4 midi controller.
That was great to learn on and I realised that I needed to upgrade to something with more features. From being a long time reader of DJTT, I got hooked on the idea of the VCI 100 Firmware upgrade version. I sold the Hercules and got the VCI dirt cheap (Vestax is a Japanese company).
I mapped it to Traktor and got my first few gigs in a club using it. I loved how you could throw it in your backpack with a soundcard and basically set up anywhere. I used it for a while, but had some severe technical difficulties while playing at a club one night. The PA system wasn’t set up correctly and my set was cut very, very short. 
All my mates here were using CDJs or turntables with Serato and I figured it was time for me to upgrade. As luck would have it, one friend had 2 very old, very dusty turntables and a Vestax mixer hiding in a haunted room in his house. (Apparently there’s a Japanese ghost of a middle aged, friendly, woman in there).
I grabbed some of his to borrow records and a suitcase, jumped the subway and had a very interesting ride home. I also learned that turntables are HEAVY.
Using the records, I learnt how to beatmatch and find cue points on vinyl. I also learned something else. Records are also HEAVY! As 100% of my music was digitial, Serato or Traktor seemed like a great option. I managed to pick up a used SL1 Serato box off a friend for $200. Then I went to the local hardware shop and bought a couple of cheap shelves and set up my first DJ table. Game on.
After using that set up for a few months, I fell in love with turntables and DVS. It also helped that my DJ heroes Andy C and Friction both use vinyl. I started scouting around the second hand shops here looking for cheap turntables, as Panasonic is another Japanese company and Technics sometimes go for really cheap.
. You just have to hunt around and check the second hand shops every month or so and hope you get lucky.
