Studio Workstations / Desks

These desks look pretty cool. I have something similar; just a 120cm top panel with a 112cm sliding panel underneath, a perfect fit for my SL88 Studio. It's actually particleboard, and believe it or not, I've had this desk for nearly a decade now. There's some slight color fade where I used a mouse for ~5 years without a pad, but otherwise it's in a very good condition. I've spilled stuff on it including oil and ink, and there's not even a trace of any of it on the veneer. The sliding rail is still as smooth as ever.

The panels are 2cm thick and the whole thing is rock solid. Total build cost was something like $100 and once I ordered all the boards and the kind folks at the local wood factory cut and veneered it the same day, it took me a couple of hours to drill all the holes and put the thing together. That was nearly a decade ago, mind you. I created a very quick model in a sketch program, then just copied down the dimensions of individual panels, marked which sides I want veneered, picked the veneer style and that was the order.

I don't think I'd drop $1k+ on a desk unless I was swimming in money. I'm all for actual hardwood pieces that were done by a master, but these don't even list the material type. I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing the same thing I did and just getting a 10x ROI. Maybe I should get into the desk-building business

I enjoy DIY, but you might not want to deal with that stuff, so if you've got money to spend, go for it. Just know that you're probably overpaying by A LOT. Maybe look into your local woodworkers and see if you can make a deal and get a better quality (maybe even hardwood, depending on the prices in your area) custom made for the same price, if not cheaper.

 

When Sarah and I redid our studio, we went the DIY route. We bought an awesome desk for 220$ from Office Depot, then bought a piece of plywood, and server grade rails. We stained the plywood, then drilled and mounted it. Total price was under 400$, and it was a custom desk, with huge space on the table for me to put scores out, blank sheet music. Plus, it holds an 88 key keyboard. Now, it was a good 8 to 10 days of work (varnish, then let dry, etc). But we saved a ton of money, and got a desk that was perfectly suited to what I want. Photos below.

 

This is probably what I'll end up doing. I can't figure out another way to deal with PC keyboard/piano keyboard positioning, regardless of stand type, etc. Looks great by the way.