(( all things audible ))

(updated 9/10/09)

GUITARS:

Fender American Standard Telecaster:  This was the first “real” guitar I bought.  I tend to set it aside when I get something new, but I always come back to it as my main guitar.  I just tend to sound more like myself when I play it.  It plays really well no matter what style I’m playing.  For a while I’ve been stuck on the neck pickup, but I’ve discovered that the bridge pickup can actually sound really great playing higher gain stuff.

Epiphone Sheraton II:  Next to the Tele, this is my most played guitar.  I always though hollowbody guitars were dorky growing up, but now I know why everyone wants a 335.  Again, this isn’t quite in 335 territory, but it’s in the same universe.  It’s dark and I don’t love the combined pickup position, but the bridge and neck pickups alone get some great tones.  The neck pickup through some delay and into the AC15 is my Jerry McPherson sound.

Fender Standard Stratocaster:  I bought this sortof on a whim–it was thrown in with the AC15 when I bought it.  I thought it’d be good to have a Strat option for certain tones.  I’ve only played it a few times (it needs to be set up) but I’m guessing that once it’s set up, it could be a primary guitar.  Why have I not had one all along?  Nothing sounds like the 2 and 4 pickup positions with that out-of-phase sound. The only bummer is it has a pretty crappy aftermarket paint job–cool looking, but it’s a little thick and I wish the wood could breathe a little more.  It might end up being a project guitar.

Epiphone Casino: I’d been looking for one of these for a while after seeing Derek Webb and Alex Greenwald from Phantom Planet play one.  It’s cherry red which is the exact color I wanted so I got it.  The tone is a little different than I had expected and I don’t play it a ton, but it’s definitely a different sound between the completely hollow body and the p90s in it.

Crafter TGAE06/N Acoustic

Fender Highway One Jazz Bass

Epiphone MM-50 Mandolin

PEDALS:

(on the board)
dynacomp > rc booster > volume pedal > ac+ > dd-20 > memory man > ehx pulsar > rv-5 > ep-pre

(off the board)
- Digitech Whammy IV
- Zvex Fuzz Factory
- DOD 250 Overdrive/Preamp
- Line6 DL4
- Boss TR-2
- ProCo Rat2
- Korg Toneworks 301dl delay
- Morley A/B/Y switch
- Line6 MM4
- Menatone Red Snapper Overdrive
- Crowther Hotcake Overdrive
- Boss PH-2
- MXR Phase 90
- Danelectro Chicken Salad
- Rocktek Chorus
- Boss FZ-3
- Nobels ODR-1
- MXR Distortion+
- Ibanez DE7
- Danelectro Tuna Melt
- Cusack Tap-a-whirl
- DOD FX50 Overdrive/Preamp

AMPLIFIER:

Vox AC-15 TBR: I had wanted a Vox amp for years but could only afford a Blues Jr.  Then my church bought an AC-15CC and I played that for a while.  But it was disappointing, I could never get a good sound out of it.  Researching a little more, and at the advice of a player I admire, I learned that the earlier 90’s British-made reissues were much better and that the nicer speaker made all the difference.  So I picked this up used and have been in love with it ever since.  Since I started playing through it, I’ve found myself using pedals less and less, almost always getting my base sound straight from the amp and building from there.  That’s never happened with any other amp I’ve had, and it’s made a huge difference in my tone.  Like everything else, I was inspired to get this from a player whose tone I love.  Jerry McPherson talked about this in an interview with playlikeapro.com:

“But, despite having [other] amps, I use the AC-15 reissue all the time. I run it into an extension cabinet so I can have the controls right there beside me. The AC-15 reissue is the front end of an AC-30 with a master volume. I started getting hip to how good it sounded when I’d work for Dann Huff. Dann and his engineer would be getting sounds and ask, “What amp are you using? It sounds incredible!” When those guys say something sounds incredible, you pay attention.“