It should work fine for your needs.  I test drove one for a while and it is very small which is good if you want to carry it around but bad when it comes to making adjustments.  I do like the SD card feature.  Guitar and Bass can plug in directly and so can a microphone.  it had headphones out and also line out.  I don't remember the price. 

I don't have personal experience with the device, but I've heard relatively good results for the price from the Zoom H4.


You can hear some sample recordings posted on Billy Ward's forum
here.

I found one on eBay for $266 including shipping. I think that Zoom has a new model now called the H2.

I've heard some audio clips of another drummer who uses the Zoom H4 for just practice purposes. Came out really nice I thought.

I had the little digital 4 track by Korg for a while, but didn't really like it. DI guitar was fine, but I had no luck with plugging in a mic nor using the onboard mic- I got horrible noise from the circuit. I ended up trading that Korg with my band mate for the Gibraltar rack I use. He uses the Korg to record song ideas. His stuff has come out OK.

I think if I were to buy a portable multi-track recorder, it'd be one of the larger ones that can do 8 tracks. A little more room for the controls on those. Fostex makes one for real cheap that I have been tempted to pick up just for the heck of it.

I think you can get some decent stuff recorded with those things. It was something about the circuit in the Korg that was wrong... I mean, I'm not talking about just ambient noise... it was this very harsh digital squeel. It was worse when using batteries instead of the wall wart. It may have just been a defected one.

The Fostex one I was referring to is $250. I haven't tried it myself though so I can't say more than it interested me as a cheap portable unit.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fostex-MR8-mkII-8Track-Digital-Recorder?sku=240343

You could always go old school and get a 4track cassette machine! I still have my old Tascam from '97. That thing was over $300 new back then. Hah!

I would not get an H4 to do multi tracking.  I have one and it's kind of a pain for anything other than stereo.

Frank, you might consider going to a pro studio and just doing a few sessions (that need to be done for making a demo to get you more gigs?)

You will have a great sound, learn some stuff and not be frustrated with poor sound quality.   You will be able to concentrate on your performance and not the engineering aspect.

Recording gear is EXPENSIVE and a very time consuming endeavor.   I would just cough up a couple of hundred and get a great demo made... work some more gigs, do your research and figure out what direction you want your studio to go.  A recording studio, even a small one takes planning man.

GOOD LUCK and knock them dead.