guitars

2008 Fender VG Stratocaster

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This Fender VG Stratocaster is Pearl Blizzard with maple neck and fretboard. This guitar rocks!! It has guitar modeling built-in. You can dial up a noise-free Stratocaster, a Telecaster, a Strat with humbuckers, or five different acoustic guitars. The acoustic sounds are the best I've ever heard! But that's not all. It has six tuning modes - Concert E, Drop D, Open G, DADGAD, Baritone, and 12-String. I understand that Fender dropped this guitar in April 2009. It's really too bad guitarists didn't understand the potential of this guitar. Yes, it was a little pricey but considering that it can take the place of at least 5 or 6 guitars, it was well worth the price.

Unlike other modeling guitars I've played, the VG Strat doesn't crap out on low notes, fast picking, or the 12-string sound. Not only that, but it is a very nice American Stratocaster with vintage pickups. I LOVE THIS GUITAR!!

I saw an interview with Andy Summers of The Police and instead of taking 10 guitars on the road, now he just takes four - one of those is the VG Strat. That is the primary reason I bought this guitar. It's like taking 15-20 guitars to the gig.

2006 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster

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This Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster is Black with the EMG SL20 Steve Lukather pickup set. From a playability standpoint, this is the best playing guitar I have ever owned. It is fast and smooth. It has locking tuners which helps keep the guitar in tune when you are using the whammy bar. The single-coil neck pickup was designed by Steve Lukather and EMG to be as close to a Jimi Hendrix tone as possible and it is fantastic.

Yes, I am a huge Steve Lukather fan and have been for more than 25 years. He is the reason I started playing guitar and he is the guy who taught me how to play. Thanks for the free lessons Luke. :)

I bought this guitar on Ebay at an unbelievable price. No offense to Ebayers but I am usually very hesitant about buying guitars on there. You can buy 10 of the same guitar and none of them will play or sound exactly the same. So I like to try before I buy.

1983 Fender Stratocaster (Modified)

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This is my baby. We've been together for 25 years. This guitar has been heavily modified. It was a great guitar to build on because the body is very solid and a little heavier than most Strats. It has three EMG SA single coil pickups with a midrange boost switch that makes them sound like humbuckers. It has an original Floyd Rose tremolo system (with the fine tuners on the bridge). Artist Gary Bailey painted a night scene on the body and pickguard. That is a moon in the lower left corner. It has a couple of other moons and some stars. The black on the right side is a silhouette of mountains. I recently replaced the neck with a Warmoth 22-fret model that was a little wider at the nut. This guitar is tuned down a half-step to Eb because we do a lot of songs that were recorded with the guitar tuned down to Eb. (i.e. Van Halen)

In May 2007 I ran into Kerry Livgren of Kansas at a Toto show in Kansas City. He autographed the guitar for me. You can kind of make it out in the picture. It is just below the Floyd Rose bridge.

***IMPORTANT NEWS*** On August 31, Kerry Livgren suffered a stroke. He is slowly recovering. Please keep Kerry, Vicci and the rest of his family in your prayers.

amps & preamps

The Guitar Rack

Here is the complete rack. On the top, supplying power to the rack is a Monster Power Pro 2500 power supply. Next is a Korg DTR-1000 digital tuner. Below the tuner is an Alesis Quadraverb. Next is an ADA MP-2 preamp. The gold colored piece is a Marshall 8008 80/80 watt power amp. Below the amp are a two-space OSP storage drawer and a three-space OSP storage drawer. That little white thing on the right side is a pick clip and slide holder.

ADA MP-2

I play so many different styles of music I had to have a preamp that had a lot of tones and was MIDI programmable. I am somewhat of a tone purist and I could never find a solid state or digital preamp that sounded good. So I finally settled on a hybrid, the ADA MP-2. The tone is created by two 12AX7 preamp tubes. It has 10 voicings and several built-in effects. All of those things are programmable and can be switched using MIDI. The foot controller also allows the use of continuous controllers for things like volume, wah, tremolo, etc. I can instantly go from a clean country sound to a heavy grunge sound just by stepping on one button.

Marshall 8008 Valvestate Power Amp

I was never a Marshall fan (my apologies to Marshall lovers). However, this little power amp rocks!! For a single-rack space it puts out a lot of power and doesn't mess with my tone. As a matter of fact, Marshall's Valvestate technology adds to the tube sound that I love.

Carvin 2x12 Open Back Cabinet

I rewired this Carvin 2x12 cabinet in stereo and I have always been amazed at how good it sounds. I have never reached a volume level that has made these speakers crap out.

Line 6 Spider III Amp

When I moved my rack to our secret practice location I needed an amp in my home studio to practice through. I like to have a variety of tones at my disposal and at least a few effects. I saw this little Line 6 Spider III on sale at Guitar Center and couldn't pass it up. No, it's not a Mesa Boogie or a Marshall but it works great for a small practice amp. It has a headphone jack so I can practice late at night and a jack so I can plug my iPod in to jam along with.

***UPDATE*** This little amp rocks! For an inexpensive, small practice amp, I can't believe some of the tones you can dial up! Line 6 gets 5 stars for the Spider III.

Digitech GNX3

I bought the Digitech GNX3 and after a few weeks I seriously considered selling it. However, the problem was not the GNX3 but it was me. I just hadn't spent enough time learning all of the features and how to properly program it. While waiting on my Roland VG-88 to come in I had to use it for a gig. That forced me to program some patches I could use. The coolest thing about the Digitech GNX3 is that you can mix amp models. So I can dial up a Fender Tweed with a little distortion on the Green Channel and dial up an Blackface with an acoustic guitar sound on the other, then mix them together! How cool is that??? Okay, the amp modeling sounds are mediocre and the pitch shifter only works right if you play one note at a time. It is now in our studio and I'm tweaking it to get some good tones. May put a tube preamp between it and the mixer.

effects & gadgets

Alesis Quadraverb

Old habits die hard. This is my third Quadraverb. I can't get away from the ease of programming and the quality of the effects. I don't use it for a lot. Mostly delay and reverb which the ADA MP-2 does not have.

Korg DT-1000 Digital Tuner

I really hate tuning. But I hate not tuning even more. This Korg DRT-1000 tuner is great and helps me stay in tune even when I'm in the middle of a song.

OSP 12-Space Rack

To haul all of this gear around I rely on an OSP 12-space rack. The OSP company is based right here in my hometown. This is a sturdy, lightweight rack that is easy to transport. Even though it is ATA-approved I don't think I would risk throwing it on a plane. If you contact OSP ask for Rodney or Steve and tell them I sent you.

EBow

I bought an EBow years ago and just couldn't seem to get the hang of it. Then one day I just picked it up and it happened. I've been playing it ever since. I love the violin like tone of bowing instead of picking.

Slide

Again, I'm a tone purist. I could never use a metal slide. Too harsh. So I use this Dunlop glass slide. Now that I have my VG Strat with an Open G tuning and the resonator setting I'm ready to break that slide out and have some fun!

Amp Clamp

The Amp Clamp is one of the coolest ideas I've ever seen and it makes life so much easier. Since I am running a stereo rig I've got two Amp Clamps and it takes me about 10 seconds to setup two SM57's on my cabinet. If you mic your amp or speaker cabinet, you have got to get an Amp Clamp!