First timer, help needed

Hey everyone. I am about to enter into the sampling world. I am foremost a singer/songwriter. I want a full sampler/production center. I am not into computers and prefer the lower fi sound thing (ie, I still record a lot on 4 track cassette and 8 track 1/4"). I want to make beats that utlize obscure sounds for drums as well as samples of my live playing and samples from old records. I process sounds through guitar amps and pedals so onboard effects are of no concern. I want to be able to do some editing and heavy sequencing, as well as sampling some guitar playing and other short sound loops. Which mpc should I go for? I need an all-in-one solution. The 3000 looks great but I am a bit worried about editing and availability. The 2000xl is more affordable but will it sound funky? Will I be able to figure this stuff out from scratch? Any help would be great. Again, I dig old school hip hop but I am going to be creating something quite different than that. Cheers....Scott

a 2000xl will do whatever you tell it to do, it has no magical funkyness, as one wise man on the boards said; it's all about the indian, not the arrow. If would suggest you to download all the different manuals of the mpc models and see which one has the functions you're looking for.

i cant remember the difference between a 3000 & a 2000xl. i know of a few people who swear by the 3000 though. but to me, unless i was getting a deal, i'd rather get something thats actually still being made.

get the xl

Both machines are good. I would read up on those manuals like pt3r suggested.