Every now and then I get some questions about the gear I use. Here’s a (hopefully) brief rundown of my gear and why and how I use it.
AMPS:
EGNATER TWEAKER 15
This is the amp I use every Sunday morning and when I travel. I have back problems, so I needed a small amp that would sound good that I could easily pick up. I had a Fender Deville that was way too loud and heavy, so I switched to a Blues Jr. and rocked that for a while. Now I’m on the Egnater, and so far I really like it. It’s all wood unlike the Blues Jr. (which is particle board) and has a bunch of different tonal options. I like it. As far as settings go, the bass is all the way up, mids and treble a little over 12 o’clock, and it’s set to break up just a little bit. I like my amps really bassy.
JACKSON SCARLETT 30
This is the amp I use to record. It’s basically a Vox AC30 with a bit more EQ options and a better “master volume.” I dig it. Settings for this guy are generally 9 o’clock on the gain, master volume all the way up, and all the EQ’s at 12.
GUITARS:
FENDER TELECASTER
My first guitar. It’s basically a bunch of different parts to different Teles put together. I think the body is probably a Squire. The pickups are David Allen Specials. They’re the least Tele sounding pickups I’ve heard, no twang, just rawk.
REVEREND SIX GUN III
My wife got me this guitar last year, and it’s the best guitar I’ve ever played. I really love it. The bass contour knob is super awesome, especially because I like using the neck pickup on cleaner parts. It can get pretty bass heavy, so being able to roll off those frequencies is nice.
PEDALBOARD:
I use a Pedaltrain Jr., Planet Waves solderless patch cables (the easiest and most reliable of all the solderless cable kits in my opinion), and the whole board is easily and non-noisily powered by a 1 Spot.
Quick note: I purposely choose pedals that don’t cost a lot of money. I get made fun of sometimes for the gear I use (seriously.) I enjoy being frugal and being able to pay off my loans and bills and stuff, so it works out pretty well. I also prefer pedals that do one thing REALLY well. I’m usually singing and playing electric, so I can’t think about presets and MIDI and all that jazz.
Anyways, here’s a rundown of the board:
BOSS TU-2
You know what this does. I’ve had this guy since 10th grade and it’s still going strong.
VISUAL SOUND COMP 66
I love Visual Sound, and I love this pedal. I generally keep the output really high to push the amp louder. This is a fairly subtle and quiet compressor, so I keep the comp knob around 12 o’clock. I never turn it off.
ZVEX BOX OF ROCK
This pedal is awesome. Since I don’t stack overdrives, I don’t really care what order they’re in. I do like to put a boost before my overdrives to be able to add saturation instead of adding volume, though, so that’s why the BOR is first. But the distortion side is really great for leads and low single note rhythm stuff.
VISUAL SOUND XO
This is my favorite overdrive I’ve ever used. In my opinion, it’s the best designed OD made today. Separate in and outs so you can use a true bypass looper, switchable true bypass or buffer for both sides, silent switches, etc. I use the left side for all the low gain range stuff, and the right side for all medium gain stuff. I rarely ever stack them, I’d rather just use one side to take care of each range.
VISUAL SOUND VISUAL VOLUME
This sucker is gigantic, but it has a great sweep and the LED’s are super cool looking. And no annoying string to have to inevitably replace!
LINE 6 ECHO PARK
Ok, let’s get this out of the way. The DL4 is the best delay pedal ever made. There, I said it. The Echo Park takes everything amazing about the DL4 (except the looper) and puts it in a small box. This pedal is amazing for ambience, and it has a tape mode that rivals the Strymon stuff. Actually, the Echo Park does things the Timeline can’t. WHOA. (Just in case you scoffed a bit, try and do a Reverse Tape delay on your Timeline. Burn.)
BOSS RV-5
Yeah, you know it. It’s on every worship record. I keep it on Modulate blah blah blah. The Hall setting sounds pretty sweet too. I usually keep the Time almost all the way up and adjust the E. Level knob with my foot throughout a whole set. 9 o’clock for chords, 3 o’clock for ambience. Tone is a little below 12.
Welp, that’s about it. If you have any questions, leave a comment down below!