Wow... Only just noticed this topic, doh!
For me I suppose it was just one of those flat tape deck recorders to start with, then an amp you could
buy out of your general catalogue which had a double tape deck on it lol
But the real learning happened when I was invited to be lead singer of a prog rock band. We used to record our
sessions with one of those big reel to reel jobbies
The bass player who later became the guitarist when I became bass player,
was really into the recording and tech side of it and I learned a few bit of mixing and recording from him.
Then at college, later on we used cubase on the old Atari st's, and that... given that I now use Ableton Live 8 and a computer to
record everything, was invaluabe.
If it's an option then music college has great advantages and things to offer. I learned to play my instrument about as well as I ever
will before I went to college and we musicians love to say we are self taught, but the other stuff you learn on top of that at college is
priceless.