Gang -- Need RIGS for July Community Section ASAP!

[Editor Boy]

It's easy.

 

Briefly detail your rig -- guitar, amp, pedals, etc. -- and WHY you've chosen those particular tools. Be sure to link me to your MySpace or FB page so we can include a photo of you in the magazine. Priority given to actual rig shots.

 

Need this Tuesday March 13, so please don't delay!

 

Thanks for sharing your setup and tone concepts with the GUITAR PLAYER readership!

 

Best,

Mike

[Caevan O’Shite]

When do you need that by, Ed?

[Editor Boy]

Hi Caevan...

 

Deadline is today -- Tuesday.

 

In a bit of a pinch, deadline-wise.

 

Just need a brief explanation of your rig and why you've chosen certain components.

 

Post here or send text and JPG (could be of yourself performing or yourself with gear -- whichever is easy and quick) to mmolenda@musicplayer.com.

 

Kinda surprised more people don't want to share their gear goodies with GP readers and actually get in the pages of the magazine. Weird.

 

Best,

Mike

[picker]

I would be glad to, but I never have enough time to get you the stuff before your deadline. Couldja give a guy a little more advance notice next time?

[A String]

I'm not sure if this is even close to what you guys were looking for and I've really condensed the stories (I can certainly elaborate should the need arise), but here it is:

 

My current rig:

-1989 American Fender Strat.

-Traynor YSR-1 Custom Reverb.

-Various pedals.

 

For me, having a connection to my gear is as important as the sound I can get from it.

 

My Fender Strat? Well, I grew up listening to Strats. Hendrix, Clapton and my personal favourite Gilmour. I've always played them. But my current Strat has some meaning to it.

 

Back when I was on the road, we had a truck fire. Everything I owned and every piece of gear I had, burned up while I watched from 40 feet away. Of course, I had to replace my gear and a guitar was of the utmost importance.

 

When I got back into town, I headed down to a local music store with Lance, a good friend of mine. After some debating, Lance pointed out this beautiful, Olympic white American Strat. It was hanging on the wall amongst a bunch of other guitars. I picked it up, played it for a while and was hooked. I brought it home that day. A few weeks later, Lance passed away due to complications with asthma. He was at my home and supposed to be coming to a gig with me. unfortunately, I left for the gig and he left in an ambulance. I got the phone call that he had passed away after our second set that night. That was twenty-one years ago. I still have the guitar and it is my "main" electric. Playing it still brings back memories of my friend and the day he found it in that store.

 

My amp? Growing up, my Father was a guitar player. Our home was always filled with the sound of music. I started out learning, from my Father, on an acoustic and then, after a few years, graduated to an electric. When I did finally get my first electric, my Father let me play through his old Traynor Tube amp.

 

My favourite memories revolve around the weekends. My Father would come home from work and we'd head down into the music room to play guitar. Some of those "jam sessions" lasted 12 hours! I learned so much from those sessions and also fondly remember the time I got to spend with my Dad.

 

I recall the night the local pub, up the street from us, had an open mic night. My Father dragged me up there to play on stage. We brought the old Traynor with us and so, consequently, it became the first amp I ever played through, live.

 

Just last year, my Father pulled the old Traynor amp out of storage. The very same one I learned to play through and the one my Father and I had spent so many hours using. He gave it to me and, of course, that "sound" I grew up with, quickly became part of my rig.

 

There are many reasons folks choose the gear they add to their rigs. Some buy gear for the brand name. Some buy gear for the recognition. For me, I acquired gear that meant something to me. Something that, in some small way, allows me to tap into my creativity and feel that connection with the gear I am using.

 

My Traynor YSR-1 Custom Reverb, fresh out of storage and (obviously) before it was cleaned up:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/twocaraboos/traynor.jpg

 

My 1989 American Fender Strat:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/twocaraboos/MyStrat.jpg

 

Me (Craig Brophy):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/twocaraboos/me-1.jpg

[Danzilla]

I don't have a picture of my rig; but here are my main guitars:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/Awestruckdan/Gear/2008_0309Image0015.jpg and http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/Awestruckdan/Gear/2007_0109Image0087.jpg

in order of preference:

Gibson ES 335, PRS SE Custom Semihollow, Guild Starfire, Hamer Duotone, BC Rich ST III (NJ Series).

 

Just something about a semi-hollow body. John Scofield once said (in a GP interview, I think) that it's like holding a woman; and he's got a point there. The resonance, the curved tops (esp on the Gibson & Guild), humbuckers... heaven. The BC Rich (w/Carvin & DiMarzion pickus) is mostly for whammy fun.

 

I run them through the following: Planet Waves tuner; Boss Volume pedal; Danelectro Fab Overdrive (best $14 I ever spent on gear); Acoustic Imaginearing Quantum Drive (it has a special phasey thing going on with it); Tech 21 Comptortion; then I split the signal to go a) into a silverface Fender Bassman Ten combo (nice bottom end, and can push some air on a big stage); and b) either a Carvin Super Delay or a BYOC Ping Pong echo/delay; a Boss Chorus; into a Roland Super Cube (mid 80's) 60 watt solid state amp. Great reverb, and it handles the cleans & effects well; it's my cheap mono version of a JC 120.

 

Makes me wonder why I play bass most of the time.

[Caevan O’Shite]

(Here's a goofy, old mugshot of myself and my LP, feel free to not use it ; sorry, no "rig-pics" as of yet!)

 

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/v230/573/8/n100000994594751_6806.jpg

 

Right now, just for "silent" home playing, composition, and some occasional D/I recording, I'm usually running a headphone/direct rig. I use some excellent quality pedals, mostly all-analog, feeding a digital-modeler, finding I like the way the combination sounds and feels more "real" and "organic" than the digital-modeling and processing alone.

 

Its signal-chain goes:

 

Gibson Les Paul guitar >

 

Peterson 'StroboStomp' tuner >

 

Sustainiac Model C (sends tapped-off signal to transducer, and straight-signal on to output) >

 

Foxrox 'Octron' octave-up and octave-down fuzz >

 

Fulltone 'Clyde Deluxe' wah >

 

MXR 'Blue Box' weird two-octave-down distortion/fuzz >

 

J. Everman 'Octave-X' octave-up fuzz >

 

Guyatone 'SV2 Slow Volume' auto/envelope-volume-swell >

 

Radial Tonebone 'Plexitube' tube/ss distortion >

 

T.C. Electronics 'Stereo Chorus/Flanger +' >

 

DigiTech 'GNX4' modeler/multi-fx/workstation (stereo outs) >

 

Boss 'RT-20 Rotary Ensemble' Leslie/rotary emulator (stereo I/O) >

 

stereo mixer/headphone-amp/PC/etc. >

 

AKG K-55 headphones

 

It all sounds pretty good through a PA or stereo power-amp and cabs, too.

 

 

I also have a Fuchs Lucky 7 head which awaits a proper speaker-cab, and an old GT Electronics Speaker Emulator (the first model).

[PBBPaul]

I'll try...

 

I chose my rig to get a wide tonal palette without sacrificing sound quality. Reliability, ease of setup/teardown and consistency were also prime motivators. I love my PRS guitars because they have great tone and are incredibly stable with minimal maintenance. My old ES330 is simply the best sounding guitar I've ever played.

 

My old Bogen based amp has a great tone that is a little darker than the Fender. It has this huge, warm sound that just seems to hug you. My Fender has a bright, shimmery tone that cuts through a mix without being the least bit offensive.

 

My pedal selections get minimal use except for specific textures. For instance, I combine the tremolo and chorus pedals to get a faux Leslie effect as heard in the middle break of this tune.

 

I chose the AT1451 wireless for its reliability and transparency. I've been wireless since the early 90's and haven't had a bad cable since.

 

My main gigging rig:

 

I play one of a variety of guitars including:

'98 PRS Custom 24

'89 PRS Standard 24

'66 Gibson ES330

'86 Squier Tele

 

into an Audio Technica AT1451 wireless that feeds a pedal board populated with:

Nobels tremolo

old Boss stereo chorus

octave divider

Crybaby wah

TS9 Tube Screamer

old DOD digital delay

 

The pedal board feeds either my home-built 2x12 combo from an old Bogen or my '65 Bandmaster 3x10 combo.

 

Pics of me playing here , here, here, and here.

 

Here is the story of my main amp.

 

Here is my Bandmaster front... and rear.

 

My band web site is here.

 

My other stuff includes:

Ibanez and Carvin acoustic 12-string guitars

70's Eko 6-string acoustic guitar

Yamaha Silent Steel acoustic/electric

'63 Gretsch Corvette

Epiphone Joe Pass sig Emperor

Epi Dot

Hamer Echotone with Phat Cat single coils

G&L Skyhawk

Gibson ES135

 

'62 Ampeg ReverbeRocket

2 more Bogen based amps

90's Fender Blues DeVille

'75 Fender Bassman 10 (modded & converted to a 2x10)

80's KMD 1x12 combo

 

 

How's that?