1 - Please list/brag/bemoan your guitar equipment
Well there’s no way this isn’t going to come across as a brag. I have worked very hard at digging into my gear and evolving my rig as I learned what worked for me while also trying to satisfy my geek tendencies and my antiques and collectibles history:
1946 Gibson LG-2 Acoustic - small body
1957 Gibson Les Paul Special, tv yellow
1973 Gibson Les Paul Custom '54 Reissue, aka Gracie, the eye-opener - my first truly great guitar
1980’s Japanese Les Paul Replica, honeyburst flamed top, humbuckers
2007 Gibson J-45 acoustic
Parts-o-Caster Tele based on a '52 design with a 'bucker-sized P-90 in the neck
Parts-o-Caster Tele/Gibson hybrid, the Tele Special
Gig amp: Cornford Hellcat - boutique British 2-channel amp
Home amp: Bruno Tweedy 18 - replica of a '57 Fender Tweed Deluxe
ProCo Rat distortion box - original; bought in when I was about 18 for $20; the only constant in my rig
Various other pedals on a song-needed basis for band work; a noise gate for my home rig when my P-90 pickups make a lot of noise…
2 - What do you use to create “your tone”?
It all starts with my hands - I pretty much sound the same on every guitar. But gear-wise, a simple tube amp, the Rat dirtbox and a mahogany-bodied (or ash) guitar with a big neck, solid neck joint and a bright, articulate bridge pickup with responsive Volume and Tone controls. Oh - and I play with heavy-gauge strings - .11’s - and I hybrid pick, hitting very hard with my flatpick, but plucking/pulling/grabbing and brushing the strings with my middle and ring fingers on my picking hand. No rhyme or reason to it; I just keep 'em moving
**3- What does your G A S ** demand of you next?
You don’t want to know. I have played three guitars that I am dying to find a way to acquire and don’t have the time and liquid access to funds that I can use to make a deal work. One’s a new humbucker Les Paul to upgrade the Japanese replica I have - I have played a ton of new 'bucker LP’s and this is the best one I’ve come across; the other two are stupidly-expensive vintage acoustics that I might be able to swing on a perfect stars-align, win-the-lottery day, but for now I stare at them behind the glass shop window in my mind, which is fogged up with my breath and grimy from my fingers pressed up against it. Sigh.
Beyond that, I typically have about 5-6 guitars I GAS for at any given time - there’s always something new I want to live with and try out…
Too late to add: I also spend a lot of time in Cheater’s G - tune the A down a step to G and just play the middle four strings of the guitar for an Open G tuning. There are some excellent songs in the rock/blues canon in Open G and this is an easy way to access them, while keeping the highest string - the high E which would normally be tuned down to D for an Open G tuning - in standard tuning, so I don’t have to search for notes when I do a lead…very easy for gigs and for lazy people who find they don’t play in Open G much if it means re-tuning 3 strings…not that I know anyone like that.
I plug into the Top Boost thingy and crank the volume all the way up, kind of trebly. Then I crank the Master Volume until it starts screeching, then back off a tad. 3- What does your G A S demand of you next?
Nothing; maybe some vintage Carnaby St. mod clothes.
My last gigging setup was the Fender Performer (see the Great Ongoing Guitar Thread for details) four Boss pedals:
Turbo overdrive, two DDLs and a Dimension C
And a hybrid Peavy 50W 2*12 combo with solid state input stage and valve power amp.
If I were to start gigging again I’d use a variation of that, the Peavy’s gone but I still have a 1971 50W Marshall head. I have rehearsed with the Marshall but I think I’d chicken out of gigging with it, It is probably worth rather a lot.
I did experiment with the stereo outs from the Dimension C going to two Park 20W amps like the one linked to in post #5 but that was too much faffing around to gig with.
A previous setup was:
Fender Telecaster Into a Laney 100W head and 4*12 (no master volume) via this lot.
Godammit, guys, stop giving me GAS. Not fair. You’ve got me googling for deals on a Blues Junior this morning, and I just spent $400 a couple weeks ago on gear. Gah!
The pod can automatically switch guitar models on the Variax, so I can tailor different effects and guitar combination. For example, I have have a Rickenbacker 12 string patch that switches to the Variax Rick 12 model and adds a lot of compression (ala Jangle Box).
The Rickenbacker has been vintage-ized with vintage style hardware and a pair of toaster pickups. It came stock with Rick hi-gains.
Guitars:
1990 Fender Strat Export–my first “real” electric, back from high school; replaced bridge pickup with Seymour Duncan Little '59 humbucker
1992 Fender Strat Plus–couldn’t pass up buying this from a friend a few years ago; stock Lace Sensors in middle/neck, but put an SD JB jr humbucker in the bridge (variation on what I had previously done with the other Strat, since I liked the results so much and didn’t care for the red Lace)
Amps:
1976 Fender Bassman 100W tube head through 2x12 Celestion cab.
Mllz-Tone: Mostly stick with the bridge humbuckers and/or middle pickups in the strats–not much tweaking on the guitar side is required. The Bassman 100 is an absolutely superb amp that I lucked out on about 15 years ago–when it’s cranked, the sound is incredible. Unfortunately, when it’s cranked, it’s also straight-up deafening, so that only comes out in my extremely rare club gigs (there’s a reason why it’s nowhere near as prized as the Bassman 50s!). The D&S gives the rig a great kick at more reasonable volumes and sounds killer with both SD humbuckers (though again, even better when cranked). Boss Reverb/Delay is mostly used to make up for the lack of built-in reverb, though I’ve been known to add delay depending on the song.
Gear I Crave: Although I couldn’t pass up buying that Strat Plus–and don’t regret it one bit–I’d much rather have a Tele as my other option. Definitely interested in getting a smaller, more portable tube amp that’s more suitable for apartment living as well as travel to more impromptu musical happenings (Blues Jr would be great for this, but haven’t checked out many other options). If I had the money, though, I’d probably be replacing my acoustic or bass as first order of business.
Jeez I GAS for that guitar and would totally swap in toasters…so do I want to know what color it is? Or whether it has a decently chunky neck?
What do you think of the Variax? I get the impression it would be a fine/excellent gig guitar - but I get no…“hit” off the guitar and the digital connections - I have yet to find a digital rig that can even attempt the responsiveness I look for in my noodling-at-home set up…
**Mllz **- yeah, Bassman’s are the bomb. From a loudness standpoint, literally. A Blues Jr or a used Peavey Classic 30 can get you there in a small tube amp, but you’d probably still need the right dirtbox in front of your signal…
One thing I like about the GR is the ability to download signature tones. Like there’s one tone that was called Jimi’s Spangled which pretty much gives you the overdriven feedback of JH’s Stars Spangled Banner solo.
I really don’t plug in the GR that often. Its more of a discovery tool for me to see what a compressor/flanger etc does to the sound. I’m not sure I would ever trust it enough to perform. Not that it’s unstable but that I would be relying on the computer/software/hardware chain to all work flawlessly.
So what exactly was your method for adding a wah/distortion/effects module?
Did you test drive them at a dealer? Take a chance and just buy something that got good press? Because, unless I could try out a pedal on my own rig I’m not sure whether I would trust the sound I heard at the shop.
The white pickguard and truss rod cover have since been replaced with gold colored items. The gold pickguard is handpainted plexi from Pickguardian.
I like it, but you certainly have to approach it the right way. It definitely sounds like the guitars it models. The guitar is kinda crap though. The 300 is the low end model that I got at a substantial discount when it was discontinued. I ended up putting a telecaster neck on it to make it more playable.
Even if I never used any other model, it was worth buying for the Rick 12. I could never justify buying a Rick 12, so this is the next best thing.
I just want you all to know I went amp shopping today because of this thread. I managed not to buy something, but it took some real will power that can’t last. Shame on you!
Guitar-My number one is a hardtail Strat.
Amp-Twin Reverb '65 reissue.
Tone-Clean, plenty of reverb, Strat on switch positions 2, 4 or 5 and tone control wide open.
