I'm a bit of a gear whore. But, I am very particular about my gear, and I'm a bit cheap (to be honest)... This lands me in a spot where I will want something for a long time and do research about the options and go out and try out the options until I absolutely know that what I end up with is what I really had in mind. When I started playing guitar more seriously, I had a Crate amp, a few pedals and I could use my laptop to run Amplitube, which sounded OK, but I needed to create my REAL rig.
I have owned some really cool gear. Sadly, I didn't really know what I had at the time (Fender Twin Reverb II 6X10 combo, Sunn Sceptre head and cab...) but the one thing I've had the longest is my twin brother Matt's first 'Real' guitar, a 90's Epiphone Les Paul Custom. I put in some coil-split-able pickups and still rock it at home and on important gigs as a backup.
As a rhythm guitarist and worship leader at church, I had come across the Fender Acoustasonic Tele - which puts out both electric and acoustic sounds thanks to some engineering between Fender and Fishman. My awesome wife got me the Tele for Christmas back in 2010, and it is such a versatile instrument. The acoustic 'images' are great (and have had many soundguys complimenting my acoustic tone, even in really big venues) and the electric does a great job in clean and rock and roll settings. The guitar splits off (one side goes to the PA - acoustic... and the other to pedals and an amp - Electric).
I have owned some really cool gear. Sadly, I didn't really know what I had at the time (Fender Twin Reverb II 6X10 combo, Sunn Sceptre head and cab...) but the one thing I've had the longest is my twin brother Matt's first 'Real' guitar, a 90's Epiphone Les Paul Custom. I put in some coil-split-able pickups and still rock it at home and on important gigs as a backup.
As a rhythm guitarist and worship leader at church, I had come across the Fender Acoustasonic Tele - which puts out both electric and acoustic sounds thanks to some engineering between Fender and Fishman. My awesome wife got me the Tele for Christmas back in 2010, and it is such a versatile instrument. The acoustic 'images' are great (and have had many soundguys complimenting my acoustic tone, even in really big venues) and the electric does a great job in clean and rock and roll settings. The guitar splits off (one side goes to the PA - acoustic... and the other to pedals and an amp - Electric).
I also picked up a Stratocaster. Now, I had been a Les Paul guy (both looks and tone) and the Tele was the 'next best thing' as far as cool looks and great tone... but I started to feel that a Strat would round out the stable.. I found a 2006 AMerican Standard on Craigslist for a fair price - turns out it has Lollar pickups in the neck and middle spots, and a Seymour Duncan Duckbucker in the bridge! I even find myself using the whammy bar!
For the electric I have a pretty simple pedal board that covers my needs very well. I don't use a lot of 'Effects', though I do use delay on quite a few of our songs. I've left my chorus pedal out (Boss CEB-3 bass chorus, but it works great on guitar, too!) as Hoz has a great roto-vibe pedal he uses.
For the electric I have a pretty simple pedal board that covers my needs very well. I don't use a lot of 'Effects', though I do use delay on quite a few of our songs. I've left my chorus pedal out (Boss CEB-3 bass chorus, but it works great on guitar, too!) as Hoz has a great roto-vibe pedal he uses.
My guitars go into a Carvin A/B switch (so I can switch quickly) and that goes into a
TC Electronics Polytune tuner pedal (which also acts as a kill switch to cut the electric signal completely when I need to go to an 'acoustic only' part).
My Punch Factory compressor by Aphex is always on, providing just a hair of reduction on the hardest hits - it's one of those pedals that you don't 'hear'... but you miss it when it's not there!
For Overdrive and Distortion I rely on my Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde - a great dual function pedal. The OD is very much like the best Tubescreamer - and it pairs well with both the clean and drive channel of my amp. The distortion is capable of British stack sounds and plays well with both amp channels, and the pair can be used together or a stadium rock sound. When I'm playing with both the OD and the Distortion on and the Drive channel of my amp, it can get pretty righteous!
For delays, I'm using an Ibanez 'Toneloc' digital delay. I have the unit set so that the slap-back is juuuuust right (an on most of the time) and then I can switch the delay time to the 'medium' setting for a standard medium delay (for songs like 'Papa Olie' and 'Train'.
Running up as the caboose is a DOD Bi-FET preamp (not pictured) that I use as a boost for the rare 'lead' spot I play. I was looking at the boost options and just couldn't bring myself to spend over $100 for a simple volume boost (as I mentioned at the top, I'm cheap!) - I had this pedal in the case for my Martin because it helps the peizo sound great through PA's as the guitar doesn't have a preamp. I found out that this pedal was a go-to boost pedal and haven't looked back.
When it came time to get a real amp I spent 3 months trying out the options. I ended up choosing the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III 'Red October' - a 40 watt tube combo with a 12" speaker. this particular model (one of only 400 like it that were made) has red tolex covering the amp and an Eminence Red Coat Wizard speaker. There is a little bit of a Brit vibe when you push the speaker, even with clean sounds, so it has a cool edge and is incredibly loud. After all that searching, I ended up with one of the least expensive options out there! I still love this amp!
I have a few acoustic guitars, including the Gretsch Bobtail resonator that I got for Christmas Last year, and a handful of basses. Below is a complete list of my gear:
Bass:
Essex B-205
Schecter Stiletto Studio 5
Yamaha RBX 270 F (Fretless)
Chinese upright bass
Acoustic:
Garrison G-50E
Martin Shenendoah (1984)
Gretsch 9020 Bobtail (round neck)
Fender Mandolin
Banjo
Electric:
Epiphone Les Paul Custom
Fender Acoustasonic Tele
Fender Am Std Strat (2006)
Misc/additional (used mostly at home):
Ibanez Metal pedal (distortion)
Vox Valvestate combo (20 watts, modeling)
Peavey Basic 112 (bass combo)
Yorkville BM200 (bass combo)
Crate G60 (guitar combo)
Stagelite Pro Pedal Guard Pro
Clayton USA custom guitar picks
TC Electronics Polytune tuner pedal (which also acts as a kill switch to cut the electric signal completely when I need to go to an 'acoustic only' part).
My Punch Factory compressor by Aphex is always on, providing just a hair of reduction on the hardest hits - it's one of those pedals that you don't 'hear'... but you miss it when it's not there!
For Overdrive and Distortion I rely on my Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde - a great dual function pedal. The OD is very much like the best Tubescreamer - and it pairs well with both the clean and drive channel of my amp. The distortion is capable of British stack sounds and plays well with both amp channels, and the pair can be used together or a stadium rock sound. When I'm playing with both the OD and the Distortion on and the Drive channel of my amp, it can get pretty righteous!
For delays, I'm using an Ibanez 'Toneloc' digital delay. I have the unit set so that the slap-back is juuuuust right (an on most of the time) and then I can switch the delay time to the 'medium' setting for a standard medium delay (for songs like 'Papa Olie' and 'Train'.
Running up as the caboose is a DOD Bi-FET preamp (not pictured) that I use as a boost for the rare 'lead' spot I play. I was looking at the boost options and just couldn't bring myself to spend over $100 for a simple volume boost (as I mentioned at the top, I'm cheap!) - I had this pedal in the case for my Martin because it helps the peizo sound great through PA's as the guitar doesn't have a preamp. I found out that this pedal was a go-to boost pedal and haven't looked back.
When it came time to get a real amp I spent 3 months trying out the options. I ended up choosing the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III 'Red October' - a 40 watt tube combo with a 12" speaker. this particular model (one of only 400 like it that were made) has red tolex covering the amp and an Eminence Red Coat Wizard speaker. There is a little bit of a Brit vibe when you push the speaker, even with clean sounds, so it has a cool edge and is incredibly loud. After all that searching, I ended up with one of the least expensive options out there! I still love this amp!
I have a few acoustic guitars, including the Gretsch Bobtail resonator that I got for Christmas Last year, and a handful of basses. Below is a complete list of my gear:
Bass:
Essex B-205
Schecter Stiletto Studio 5
Yamaha RBX 270 F (Fretless)
Chinese upright bass
Acoustic:
Garrison G-50E
Martin Shenendoah (1984)
Gretsch 9020 Bobtail (round neck)
Fender Mandolin
Banjo
Electric:
Epiphone Les Paul Custom
Fender Acoustasonic Tele
Fender Am Std Strat (2006)
Misc/additional (used mostly at home):
Ibanez Metal pedal (distortion)
Vox Valvestate combo (20 watts, modeling)
Peavey Basic 112 (bass combo)
Yorkville BM200 (bass combo)
Crate G60 (guitar combo)
Stagelite Pro Pedal Guard Pro
Clayton USA custom guitar picks