Links & brief description on some of the gear I use live..
Ernie Ball/Music Man Guitars – Great American quality and they’re affordable! These guitars sound great & I got mine from a friend a couple years ago, it’s been my main guitar ever since. It’s the SUB-1 model (discontinued) which is a solid body American made with custom humbuckers & locking tuners.
Fender Guitars – Strat. Enough said. [For an affordable entrance to the American Strat look at the American Special Series, retail priced under $900 with custom shop Texas Special pickups and other great breakthrough features for this price point!]
Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9 – If you play electric guitar you should have a Tube Screamer. I use this overdrive for everything from a clean boost to bluesy riffs & rhythms to wide-open screaming solo. The ‘Gain’ control is very easy to manipulate with your foot while playing on stage so I am constantly making changes to the sound of this one. Check out this TS-9 “Strong Mod” by JHS Pedals.
Visual Sound Pedals – Awesome ’boutique’ tone & quality (solid metal housing on the V2) for the $$.. These are no longer hand made but the improvements in the new V2 series are excellent as far as housing construction & tone. I use the Jeckyll & Hyde on my main pedal board. The Jeckyll side has a TS-808-esque sound but a bit fatter & less harsh on the mids, also has a bass boost switch for added low end. The Hyde channel is an excellent high-gain distortion with lots of control.. I use it in front of my Reason Bambino & it really pulls on the amp’s natural tone. Adjustable Bass & Treble controls as well as a ‘Sharp vs. Blunt’ switch to shape the mids & highs. Lots of gain from this side but it does lack a bit of volume in comparison to the Jeckyll side for some reason. Excellent pedal overall.
JHS Pedals – Handmade boutique w/ great true-bypass tone.. I am starting to incorporate the “Sweet Tea” pedal soon on my pedalboard (and not just because I love sweet tea).
MXR Pedals – the Classic Distortion is/was a limited edition run & I got one.. it’s on my board always (for now anyway).. MXR says the Distortion 3 is the same insides as the Classic Distortion I use which is no longer available.
Reason Amps – The Bambino stack is a recent addition to my lineup for live use, soon to be tested in studio as well. After searching around for a versatile amp that is low power but still has a BIG sound, I found the Bambino by Reason Amps to be a great solution. This amp can go from VOX clean to Fender clean to Marshall drive with a few knob turns all while allowing the natural guitar tone shine through – pretty impressive! The Bambino is an 8w/2w switchable head, mine also has the effects loop mod add-on combined with a single 12″ cab, comes in a combo version too. Also check out the Reason Bambino Grande and SM series – I’m very impressed with these amps!
Fender Amps – The Blues DeVille 4×10 is part of my current live setup – classic tones and major power from a solid workhorse amp. Needs a good overdrive/distortion pedal in front of it, I’ve never been a big fan of Fender’s overdrive circuit.
Heil Sound – Great mics.. possibly most innovative dynamic microphones on the market. I’ve used the PR-35, PR-22 & PR-20 live with the PR-35 being my favorite for my voice. Also using the PR-40 for anything from guitar cabs to voice overs in the studio.
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