Gear

In an unending-quest to discover new sounds & ways to manipulate the signal between the guitar & amp; several devices have been acquired over the years, (decades) from both the digital & analog world. Here are some of those along with a few guitars & amps.

Guitars

1974 Fender Stratacaster

(Green) with EMG’s – Bought from a pawn shop in Mississippi from a guy who was told, ’if you want to pick up women, get yourself a green guitar’. (True story). It must not have worked out since it was for sale. I used it throughout the Dreams To Reality project. While not a big fan of high output pickups, these EMG’s do serve a purpose of always insuring a strong clean signal to the track. As my guitar tech Tony Martinez says, ‘you can reach Mars with those things.’

1982 Roland GR-505 Synth Strat

1982 Roland GR-505 Synth Strat
(Sunburst) with Kahler Tremolo.
This is the controller for the GR-300 analog Synthesizer. Low wattage pickups are on this one for sweet subtle playing. Used on assorted sections of ‘Party Favors’ and ‘Latenight’.

1980 Gibson Les Paul

1980 Gibson Les Paul
(Black) with Mini Humbuckers
Another pawn shop prize. While not owning a true jazz guitar at present, I can put flat wound strings on this one and get into that ballpark, minus the hollow body sound.

1990 Parts-Caster

1990 Parts-Caster
with Texas Specials pickups and a Floyd Rose tremolo
The neck and body were bought separately. I experimented with filing the neck, further contouring the body and gave it a clear satin finish. It worked out nicely!

2014 Gibson SG Derek Trucks Signature

2014 Gibson SG Derek Trucks Signature
Awesome guitar! A fantastic gift from my fantastic wife who knew I was searching for a designated slide guitar. Turns out, it sounds great on everything including slide. The combination of growl and top end bite of the ’57 Classic Alnico II pickups along with the super comfortable neck make it hard to put down. I began playing mid-afternoon the first day I got it home and the next thing I knew, the sun had gone down and I was still playing,…in the dark.

Tacoma Papoose

Tacoma Papoose
Mini acoustic
A Christmas gift from my sweet wife. Made in Washington State, with solid cedar top, solid mahogany sides and back, rosewood fretboard and bridge, and unique sound hole. It’s tuned to ’A’ like a guitar capo-ed at the 5th fret. The Papoose has been a secret recording weapon for doubling and fattening up guitar parts with its rich high-end harmonics, mandolin-type sounds and distinctive chiming tone.

Mini Les Paul

Mini Les Paul
A cool little travel guitar. I can practice in the passenger seat while my wife drives the car and I won’t poke her in the ear with the headstock! She appreciates that.

Kiso Suzuki Bowl Back Mandolin

Kiso Suzuki Bowl Back Mandolin
A unique little instrument with gorgeous woodworking, especially the deep bowl on the back. It was just too cool to pass up.

Amps

Fender Deluxe Reverb

Fender-Deluxe-Reverb-Black-Faced-Specs-+-Mid-Control
Fender Deluxe Reverb restored to ‘Blackface’ specs by Rick Hayes at Vintage Sound Amps. It uses 6L6 power tubes and a Weber Legacy speaker. Rick even installed mid-range controls on the back of each channel along with reverb on both. Channel 1 has a Marshall type voicing while channel 2 is dripping with R&B chime. Used extensively on track 9 ‘Party Favors’. Sweet!!

Super Reverb Amp

Super Reverb Amp
Owned by guitarist Jim Fuller and acquired after his passing, this was his Super Reverb Amp modified to fit into a Fender Twin enclosure. It is a dual channel amp sporting a Torres/Dumble mod along with some extra sweeting by John Langraff.

Trace Elliot TA100R Acoustic Guitar Amp

Trace Elliot TA100R Acoustic Guitar Amp
An amazing sounding amp for electric acoustic instruments. It uses XLR’s and works great for DI’ing (direct input) to track.

Polytone Mini Brute

Polytone Mini Brute
My glorified ‘Jazz’ amp. George Benson uses these. They sound great!

Pignose amp

Pignose amp
The one-and-only Pignose amp. A surprise Christmas gift from my mother and father-in-law, in tweed tolex no less! I love this little amp. Run this little dude into a 4×12 cab and be amazed.

Peavey Delta Blues

Peavey Delta Blues
Peavey Delta Blues 1×15. This was a great sounding amp until the day it acquired the Peavey amp-flu ‘live’ on a gig and never fully recovered.

Mesa Boogie

Mesa Boogie
I’ve had this Mesa Boogie .50 cal amp since the eighties when they first came out. Couldn’t afford the multi-channel models at the time but this little one channel with EQ has served me well for decades. Also used on ‘Party Favors and throughout the Dreams To Reality project.

During the beginning of the recording process for the Dreams To Reality project, I enjoyed a few days of miking a cranked up overdriven amp. Since the homes in the neighborhood we lived in at the time were only 10 feet apart, I ran into a slight problem with the neighbors. When the deputy sheriff showed, up I knew I had to make some slight changes.

I tried a few of my guitar rack processors and also experimented with miking a speaker cabinet placed in a box in the bathtub in the adjacent bathroom covered with foam and blankets. It worked out well considering no arrests were made in the recording of the project and I was now able to record guitar parts late into the night if needed.

The Digitech 2101 Artist Stereo Effects Processor proved to be essential as did the Yamaha AG Stomp Acoustic Guitar Processor. Other acoustic guitar tracks were successfully DI’d, (direct Input) using the Trace Elliot TA-100R Acoustic Guitar Amp.

Our New home however happens to have a large empty lot on the studio side of the house and a custom built ‘amp closet’! I’ll definitely be moving some air while recording the next project.