The Gear Page
Gibson Flying V
This is my 07 Gibson Flying V, which I used for the first time on the Premios Juventud Show at Bank United Center with Paulina Rubio performing the song Causa Y Effecto. The guitar is a little more worn in now and I’m trying to age the hardware. Surprisingly, the guitar stays in tune very well and I especially love the humbuckers, as they eliminate much noise from my signal path. Try this guitar with a Vox AC30 and a Tube Scremer with a little delay and you’ll be able to re-create Space Rock!!
Rittenhouse Jazzmaster
This guitar has so much vibe, definitely an eye-catcher. I used it at the Jalisco Festival in Guadelajara, Mexico and frequently use it for The Westar and Monterosa. I’ve also recorded with it a few times. The vibrato is such a pleasure to use. Purchased off eBay, this guitar has an aged neck, vintage tuners, lollar pickups, and vintage-style electronics. Sounds killer thru a twin reverb, but just about any amp will work. I recommend using a bit of Tremolo, Delay, and a Volume Pedal (for swells), just strum a chord and depress the whammy bar a little.
Gibson ES335
This is my ES335. I’ve had it for a few years now, and I have to say that it’s aging gracefully. It made it onto my record These Frequencies. Recently, I’ve been using it because it’s so versatile. From Blues to R&B to Rock to Country. This guitar does it all. If you can set it up right and make sure the strings are well stretched then the tuning should be great. I especially love the humbuckers, making it a lot less noisy when I’m playing through my pedal board. A great setting for this guitar is using the rhythm pickup and dropping the volume to 3, and running the guitar through a fuzz pedal, such as Fulltone ‘70, add a little delay and you’ll get a very creamy bluesy sound. Cheers!
Rickenbacker 330 v/64 12 string
This is my prized George Harrison version of the Rickenbacker 330. I bought this off of eBay when I was 18. This guitar comes with the vintage-style toaster pickups, which make all the difference. I oftentimes set it up as a 6-string for radiohead-like guitar playing. But if you want that Tom Petty jangle, the 12-string with a little overdrive is the way to go. Obviously, I run this through my AC30 and recreate Hard Day’s Night every night!
Gibson ‘57 reissue Les Paul Goldtop
This is my Les Paul, which is the first serious guitar I ever bought back when I was playing punk rock. I gave up on this guitar and it became the first guitar I would sell if I needed some cash. Recently though, I’ve set it up with low action and fell in love with her again. This Paul has the really think neck for that vintage feel and the ‘57 reissue pickups which wail! I changed the tuners from the deluxe ones to grovers, this is always a plus for tuning. The guitar has amazing crunch and if you’re playing Zeppelin music, there’s no other guitar to be used. I love this guitar for blues as well, especially for soloing. A great setting is running a tube screamer with a hair of reverb through a Marshall amp. Wow, so rocking!
Fender ‘57 Reissue P-bass
This is my primary bass. I’ve used it playing with 16 Second Stare, Tim Charron, Breakup Season and a few others. I switched out the pick-ups with Lollar’s. This bass feels amazing. Nice 50’s style neck and the color is stunning, its got the light finish where you can still see the wood grain. I usually drop the tone knob to about 7, just to give it that vintage sound. The tuning is great on this bass and what can I say, it’s a custom shop Fender, it’s well-built!
‘62 Harmony Stratotone
This is my 1962 Stratotone that was given to me by a really great friend. It belonged to her dad and when he passed away, she wanted someone to keep playing it. This is a hollowbody and has an amazing sound, somewhere between a 335 and a Les Paul. I used this guitar a lot with the band Kingsley. Very light weight and fast action. Perfect for dance rock stuff like Franz Ferdinand or Arctic Monkeys, very gritty. I recommend running it through a Vox AC30 with the gain up!
Vox AC30
I’ve ended up with two Vox AC30 Amps and it’s perfect because if one breaks down, I always have a spare. Both AC30s are older models (made in Great Britain). One has Celestion Greens and the other has a pair of Fane speakers.These amps sound amazing, especially if you grew up listening to British rock. What sets Vox apart from other clean amps is their gritty sound. Mind you, you really need to crank a tube amp to get it’s full potential, but even so, Vox’s tone has a lot of grit to it. This is my primary amplifier, so I play all my guitars through it, but when you play a Gibson through a Vox and put the volume up, the heavens will part so that the sound can reach God himself. I’ve recorded with these, and gigged all over. They’re sturdy and reliable, but very heavy. I recommend a road-case, as these amps don’t come on wheels.
Marshall 1974x
In search for a great recording amp, I stumbled across this monster. This Marshall is famously dubbed the “Blues Breaker,” since Eric Clapton used it in the early 60’s. My version is hand-wired and only 18-watts, ideal for recording. The sound is what you would expect from a Marshall Plexi. It’s that British Blues rock sound. This amp is perfect for Blues and soloing. It has a built-in tremolo that sounds just like a leslie. I should note that this is not an amp you can use unless you’re going to mic it up. Once you push it past 4, it breaks up like nobody’s business. Anyway, great amp… just a little over-priced.
More to Come…