MC88 Studio Desk
A Modern Classic
The MC88 tips its hat to 1960 and winks its eye toward 2060. Mid-century in its bones, with proportions that settle into a room instead of announcing themselves.
Monk designed the first one over ten years ago for film composer Tyler Strickland, who wanted the desk and the equipment to read as one object rather than a rack with a shelf bolted on. It has been through a few iterations since. The most recent was for bassist Nico Abondolo.
The 88-key space builds as a cutaway or a slide-out. Two large storage drawers come standard. For rooms where clients sit on the other side of the desk, there’s an optional closed back.
Features
- 88-key space, cutaway or slide-out
- 2 large storage drawers standard
- optional closed back for outward-facing rooms
- up to 4 rack spaces @ 3U each (optional)
- wire flow channel under rack space for clean routing + laptop storage
- solid hardwood construction
- classic mortise and tenon joinery
- age enduring oil + hard wax finish
Specs
- 84w x 34d x 31h desktop
- 57.5w x 16d x 5.5h sliding keyboard drawer
- 60w x 10d x 5.5h hidden cable shelf
- 2 trapezoid U-bases in blackened steel
Options
Every option below is priced as what it adds to the starting price. Choose them in the dropdowns and the price updates as you build.
Wood
- Included — Sun-tanned poplar
- $150 — Goblin poplar (higher contrast with black streaks)
- $550 — White oak, walnut or rustic reclaimed
- $750 — Apocalyptic blackened reclaimed & walnut
Rack & Screen Shelf
- Included — No shelf
- $550 — 2 @ 23w x 16d x 7h split shelves (2 x 3U)
- $750 — 64w x 16d x 7h shelf w/ 3 rack bays (3 x 3U)
- $950 — 84w x 16d x 7h full-width shelf (4 x 3U)
Base
- Included — Trapezoid U-bases in blackened steel
- $750 — Ergonomic T-bases with embedded wood
- $950 — Heavy-duty sit/stand bases (350 lb capacity)
Storage
- Included — No additional storage
- $250 — Sliding shelf in rack space
- $350 — Matching wood drawer in rack space
- $450 — Soft-close drawer with shop-made steel pull
All of our pieces are custom-made to order,
and more options to explore in conversation.
Ask us about our 60/40 payment plan.
- Timeline & Payment
- Shipping
- Wood Care
Custom Premium Timelines are 2-3 months from payment.
You can pay in full at checkout if the build you want is here. You will be contacted as things progress.
If you want to reserve with partial payment, get in touch and we'll set it up as 60% down — which secures your place in the seasonal building schedule — and 40% plus shipping on completion, once you've approved the finished photos.
Shipping
Freight is quoted by the width of the piece.
- 30–39w" — $450 fully insured crated freight, inside delivery to garage · $750 full service white glove
- 40–60w" — $750 fully insured crated freight, inside delivery to garage · $1,150 full service white glove
- 61–94w" — $950 standard insured freight, liftgate and placed inside garage · $1,450 full service white glove
- 95" and over — quoted per piece
Standard freight includes full value insurance and a custom-made crate with an easy-open side hatch.
Full service white glove adds inside room delivery, base assembly, and removal of the crate and all packaging from your premises.Solid wood moves. Every piece is built from solid hardwood, not veneer or engineered panel, and solid wood responds to the room it lives in. It expands slightly in humid months and contracts in dry ones. Our joinery is designed to allow that movement rather than fight it — breadboard ends, floating panels and bolt-on bases all exist for this reason. A hairline seasonal gap that opens and closes is the material behaving correctly.
Day to day. Wipe with a soft dry or barely damp cloth. Blot spills as they happen rather than letting them stand. Skip anything with ammonia, bleach, silicone or wax polish — silicone in particular builds a film that makes refinishing difficult later. Use trivets under hot dishes and something absorbent under anything wet or sweating.
The finish. Hardwax oil, not polyurethane. It sits in the wood rather than on top of it, so the surface still feels like wood and repairs invisibly — a scratch can be spot-treated without stripping the whole top. Refresh high-use areas with a light coat of hardwax oil when the surface starts to look thirsty, roughly every year or two on a dining table, less on a desk. We'll tell you exactly what we used on your piece.
Reclaimed and salvaged wood. Nail holes, checks, insect tracks, old bolt scars and color variation are the record of where the wood has already been. We stabilize anything structural and leave the rest. No two pieces are alike, and photographs of one build won't predict the exact character of yours.
Sun-tanned poplar is poplar left in the California sun until it turns honey and chocolate — a color change in the wood itself, not a stain. It will continue to deepen slightly for the first months in your home, then settle.
Steel bases. Blackened steel is a chemical patina, hand-finished and sealed. Raw sealed steel keeps the mill surface under a clear coat. Both wipe clean with a dry cloth. Avoid abrasives, which will cut through the seal.
Built to be repaired. Mortise and tenon joinery, bolt-on bases and an oil finish all mean this furniture can be taken apart, refinished and put back into service decades from now. That's the point. If something ever needs attention, contact us — we'd rather fix it than see it replaced.