Alright, let's get down to it! I feel like I should start off my "gear blog" by sharing the gear I use. Don't judge me by gear. Keep in mind, this is not my dream gear... just my affordable gear. My dream gear post will be coming soon. Also keep in mind, I like to think I can rock any guitar!
Epiphone SG-310
I got this guitar in high school. I bought it for $289 new from musicians friend. It is actually a good guitar. I have since then bought other guitars, and haven't played this one as much. Although, recently I broke it out of the closet and fell in love with it again. It's got that thick beefy tone to it, which I like. The neck is a little fatter than other guitars too, so it fills up your hand. What I like most about it, is that it's light as a feather (as are most SGs). That is an important feature in any guitar I play. I love Les Pauls, but I think if I ever bought one, I'd have to invest in a good stool to sit on when I play it. There is no way my back can take playing a whole show with that thing strapped around my neck! I use this as a backup guitar and an alternately tuned guitar for gigs. I think I need to re-solder some stuff inside it. It sometimes doesn't like it when I toggle between pickups.
Fender Showmaster HH
This wasn't really an impulse buy, but I wasn't exactly shopping for a new guitar when I saw this one. I was at a recording seminar at Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne, Indiana. During a break I was looking around their showroom, and this caught my eye. I had been wanting a new guitar, but like I said, wasn't actively looking for one. I plugged it in and it just felt so right. I had to buy it. I've had no regrets.
It has two Seymour Duncan humbuckers and a neck-through body style. It is kind of a mix between the classic Fenders and a more modern rock guitar. The 24 frets, humbuckers, and neck through features make it appealing to rock genre of players. The tone is versatile enough to hang on to those die-hard Fender lovers. If a stratocaster and a Les Paul had a kid, this is what it would sound like. It doesn't have enough low end output to make it a hard rock, or metal guitar but it can still handle the typical alternative rhythm players through their distortion channel. And while it may not be the typical "Eric Clapton" style guitar, it still sounds so smooth when playing leads. It is my main guitar for playing on my worship team at church.
Ibanez RG270
I got this by trading some metro checks with a guy on Craig's List. I'll admit, this was an impulse trade. I had never been an Ibanez guy until I played this guitar. I don't know why I have been so down on Ibanez all these years. If they are good enough for Steve Vai, they are good enough for Steve Henry.
It has two after market D'marzio humbuckers in the neck and bridge position. I can't remember what kind is a the neck, but at the bridge is a D Sonic. These pickups are so smoking they'll melt your face off! It's my main guitar when I'm playing rock. Again, it's light as a feather. I really like maple necks. When your fingers play a maple neck, they just seem to slide so effortlessly. I'm not a big fan of tremolos, but this guitar does have a double locking, fully floating, Floyd Rose Licensed on it.
Seagull S6+ spruce top
My very first guitar was a free, miniature Kay acoustic. It was a piece of crap, but now sometimes I cry myself to sleep at night because I don't know what happened to it. Anyway... My first ACTUAL guitar was a seagull S6 spruce top. My parents got it for me for my birthday. To this day I still vividly remember leaving T & G music in Goshen, Indiana with my new guitar securely in my purple felt case. I loved that guitar. I loved it so much I bought a second one (this one) when I needed to upgrade to an acoustic with electronics.
Seagull guitars are affordable and play like a dream. This guitar has LR Baggs electronics in it which can hold their own with the likes if Fishman any day. What I may like best about this guitar is that there is no laminate. The top and back are just straight wood. This give the tone such a rich, warm sound. More than that though, this wood actually sounds better with age. The more it is played, the more the vibrations "break in" the wood. It is a guitar that really does get better with age.
Gibson 2x12 G105
On to the amps! This is another Craig's List find. Believe it or not, I got this for absolutely free! Some guy was like, "I played this amp back in the 70's in my high school jazz band. I don't use it anymore... anyone want it?" I of course jumped at the chance.
It is an older model, so no foot switching action going on here, but it does have Hi and Low inputs. The Hi input is the only thing that doesn't work on it. The low input can get that really smooth jazzy tone when you turn up the gain. It was designed to be a jazz amp. I love the clean channel. Some people think clean is clean. I beg to differ. I am just as picky about my clean channel as I am with my distortion. What is also cool about this amp (although I will never utilize it), is it has on board phase shift. The reverb isn't great, but it adds something. It has a master volume and a volume pre-amp, which is cool. For a solid state amp (a free one at that) I am very pleased with it. It gets loud too. 200 watts worth to be exact. I use it when I don't want to lug around my half stack. I can hook up my distortion pedals and play just as heavy rock as anyone.
?
I have no idea what kind of speaker cabinet this is, other than it is a 4x12. I bought it used on Ebay. There are no identifiable markings to suggest it's brand. The speakers themselves don't even have anything written on them. I do know the cab is well made. It's made of solid birch wood, not particle board. The handles are metal, not plastic. My favorite feature is its green snake skin covering. Very unique. Unfortunately the speakers don't sound that great. Don't get me wrong, they work. They have served me well for many years. But, sadly, it's time to move on. I'm actually looking for a new home for it.
B52 LS-100
I had never heard of B52 until I started looking for an affordable amp head. Turns out, they get pretty good reviews. I picked this puppy up from a kid (also on Craig's List) for $150. Amps are where it is for me. If I were going to spend $2,000 on any one item in my rig, it would be the amp. You could plug into a Marshall JVM and, if you knew what you are doing, fool people into thinking you were playing a Les Paul instead of a Squire. Even though I didn't spend $2,000, I think I did a good job for $150. It's 100 watts with three channels. Having three channels are VERY important to me. I am a minimalist when it comes to pedals. I let my fingers to the playing, not my pedals. I can't stand pushing and poking down at my feet when I'm trying to play. When I use this head I have my foot switch and a tuner with me, that's it! However, I think I'm going to have to by a Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor. The feedback is a little unbearable when I have the gain cranked. Again, it's not a tube head, but I'm still very pleased with it.
Marshall MC412A
This cab is the newest member of my family. I love it. It's 200 watts and has 4, 16 ohm Celestions in it. What is really nice about it is there are two jack inputs. One is a 4 ohm mono, and the other is a 16 ohm stereo. It's nice for if I ever decide to complete the stack. It pushes the volume for sure!
Boss GE-7 EQ
Like I said, I try to use as little of pedals as I can. When I do use pedals I use them to enhance my tone, not effect my output. I don't use any Wah, phase, tremolo, Pitch shifting etc. None of that crap. I'm thinking about selling this pedal. I use to use it to act as a third channel. But, obviously I don't need that now with this head.
Digitech Hot Head Distortion
I bought this pedal to use with my combo amp. I have never liked distortion pedals. I'm a firm believer in buying an amp with good distortion so you don't need a pedal. I really like this pedal though. I'll admit it. I don't love it, but it can definitely rock.
MXR Zack Wylde Overdrive
Again, I bought this to use as a "crunch channel" with my combo. It's okay. It served my purpose which was to add that slight overdrive bite to my tone. It's hard to get a tone I really love out of it though. It lacks control over the ever important mids. Plus, when I am playing on stage, I'm always afraid I'm going to bump the knobs when I step on it. It's built like a tank though. I feel like I could throw it against a brick wall, pick it up and still play it.
Boss TU-2 Tuner
This is the best tuner I've ever used. You can set it to tune chromatically, numerically, flat, sharp and other ways I've never used. You can use the output jack to mute your sound on stage when tuning, or use bypass to tune while being heard. I love it because I can just hook it up to my chain like any other pedal.
That pretty much does it. What do you think?
