Hey everyone,
so most of us here are really obsessed with tone and have been spending unreasonable amounts of money on gear only to sell it a few months later.
I was such a person.
But then something magical happened.
I found everything i wanted and don't feel compelled to buy new stuff anymore.
When i walk in a guitar store i don't have GAS anymore, i'm excited about the gear but it mostly reminds me that i already have great stuff at home and i doubt that $3000 Gibson would actually improve it that much.
I'm cured !!! Now i only tweak minor things like caps or pickups but not very often (like once a year max).
So here's what i use, and i would really like to hear your stories about gear you own that's here to stay...
Amp: koch studiotone (since 2005)
It doesn't get much better than this when it comes to clean tones, and it takes pedals really well and is incredibly versatile. I can go from funk to vintage heavy music to modern High Gain rampage just like that.
Pedals:
DOD Malmsteen: i am not really into malmsteen but i needed an overdrive and this was on sale really cheap (like 10 years ago) so i ordered one and that's it. Pushes my amp just the right amount and makes the sound tight and warm. I could get a TS9 but i didn't and i see no reason why i should change.
It's actually based on a vintage DOD.
Krank Maximus Distortus.
I had been looking for a good distortion pedal for that californian sound, but didn't like the rocktrons, boss, digitech and coulndt afford boutique stuff. I went to the NAMM 2007 and bought it from the KRANK booth at the end of the show for $30 or so. It didn't work at first so i put it in a drawer. A few years down the road i decided to open it and used a soldering iron to warm the pots and it suddenly worked. Just like that.
It's perfect it gives me all the high-gain i've been looking for, punk rock, heavy metal, Grunge, from tight leads to fuzzy heavy smashing pumpkins sounds.
It's gritty fuzzy, warm fat and punchy.
Sounds like a wild beast.
Groooaaar.
Seymour Duncan Pearl Gates:
Simply put the best neck pickup i have ever heard and the only one i actually care about. That warm, fat yet bright sound.
Lace Sensor RED:
Most high-gain pickups i tried (and i tried A LOT of them) were one trick ponies. I really like the Screaming Demon in my SG copy but other than that i felt limited, either too tight or too fat, too fuzzy or too clean, too muddy or totally sterile, you get the picture.
Then this pickup comes along and it's like all of a sudden i can get all the tones i want from every guitar i put it in. It's really amazing, and has that transparent quality that makes it sound different in every guitar but equally balanced. Need a .33 cap though to make it beefy.
My stratocaster is now a rock'n'roll beast and my ESP is a savage heavy metal monster with brutally fat tones. Yeah.
AND THAT'S IT !!!
I have several guitars most of them with Seymour Duncan and Lace Pickups, a strat with Bar Knuckles that sounds stellar, but that's all i have been using for years now.
Your turn !!!
so most of us here are really obsessed with tone and have been spending unreasonable amounts of money on gear only to sell it a few months later.
I was such a person.
But then something magical happened.
I found everything i wanted and don't feel compelled to buy new stuff anymore.
When i walk in a guitar store i don't have GAS anymore, i'm excited about the gear but it mostly reminds me that i already have great stuff at home and i doubt that $3000 Gibson would actually improve it that much.
I'm cured !!! Now i only tweak minor things like caps or pickups but not very often (like once a year max).
So here's what i use, and i would really like to hear your stories about gear you own that's here to stay...
Amp: koch studiotone (since 2005)
It doesn't get much better than this when it comes to clean tones, and it takes pedals really well and is incredibly versatile. I can go from funk to vintage heavy music to modern High Gain rampage just like that.
Pedals:
DOD Malmsteen: i am not really into malmsteen but i needed an overdrive and this was on sale really cheap (like 10 years ago) so i ordered one and that's it. Pushes my amp just the right amount and makes the sound tight and warm. I could get a TS9 but i didn't and i see no reason why i should change.
It's actually based on a vintage DOD.
Krank Maximus Distortus.
I had been looking for a good distortion pedal for that californian sound, but didn't like the rocktrons, boss, digitech and coulndt afford boutique stuff. I went to the NAMM 2007 and bought it from the KRANK booth at the end of the show for $30 or so. It didn't work at first so i put it in a drawer. A few years down the road i decided to open it and used a soldering iron to warm the pots and it suddenly worked. Just like that.
It's perfect it gives me all the high-gain i've been looking for, punk rock, heavy metal, Grunge, from tight leads to fuzzy heavy smashing pumpkins sounds.
It's gritty fuzzy, warm fat and punchy.
Sounds like a wild beast.
Groooaaar.
Seymour Duncan Pearl Gates:
Simply put the best neck pickup i have ever heard and the only one i actually care about. That warm, fat yet bright sound.
Lace Sensor RED:
Most high-gain pickups i tried (and i tried A LOT of them) were one trick ponies. I really like the Screaming Demon in my SG copy but other than that i felt limited, either too tight or too fat, too fuzzy or too clean, too muddy or totally sterile, you get the picture.
Then this pickup comes along and it's like all of a sudden i can get all the tones i want from every guitar i put it in. It's really amazing, and has that transparent quality that makes it sound different in every guitar but equally balanced. Need a .33 cap though to make it beefy.
My stratocaster is now a rock'n'roll beast and my ESP is a savage heavy metal monster with brutally fat tones. Yeah.
AND THAT'S IT !!!
I have several guitars most of them with Seymour Duncan and Lace Pickups, a strat with Bar Knuckles that sounds stellar, but that's all i have been using for years now.
Your turn !!!
