GEAR
For those of you that know me I'm sure you would agree, I am a self confessed gear junkie. I've gone through more rigs than I'd care to remember, from massive tube amp stacks, humongous pedal boards and racks the size of fridges.
This page is about just some of the equipment I use both live and in the studio and also a look back on some of the stuff I let go that wish I didn't (Why oh why did I sell my original 70's MiniMoog?!?!?!).
GUITARS
I'll start with my babies. Aside from my wife and children, these are the items I would be rushing back in to save if Chateaux Studio Brewdio was on fire.
I’m lucky enough to be endorsed by Vigier Guitars. Patrice and the team in France make some of the best guitars on the planet that perfectly fits my musical ethos.
I've gone through plenty of guitars over the years, some I wish I hadn't sold, some not so much, but I think I've settled on the little collection that manages to cover a massive sonic palette while still sounding awesome.
These are:
Vigier Excalibur Original Rock Art - My custom Floyd Rose equipped main guitar with kill switch and crazy swirl Rock Art finish. There’s not another one quite like it in the world.
Vigier Surfreter Supra Urban Blue - One of the main reasons I went with Vigier is this fretless beast. An amazing feat of guitar engineering with a totally unique sound.
Vigier GV Wood Burgundy Fade - My singlecut LP style guitar. Has a beautiful maple top and is versatile as hell.
Vigier Expert Classic Rock Anti Tobacco Burst - A Strat on steroids, really versatile guitar, ended my search for a single coil tone machine.
Suhr Classic T Black Cherry Metallic - Was originally Sherwood Green but came into contact with a certain ex-Ozrics drummer and had to be shipped back to Suhr for a respray and all the better for it!
Taylor 810ce LTD - Great sounding acoustic for covering steel string duties and is just as good live as it is in the studio.
Taylor NS44ce - My big bottomed nylon strung acoustic, perfect for those heartfelt moments or when you want to break out some flamenco while you're in a Mexican car chase.
I'll be putting up some sound demos of all of theses over the next few weeks but to get you started here's some pics of the beauties.
My Current rig
I've been a huge fan of Fractal Audio products since they were first released. I bought one of the first AxeFx Ultra's in the UK, upgraded to the AxeFx 2 as soon as it was released and have now moved onto the AX8, a much more live friendly version of the AxeFx. Same great sound, much smaller, back friendly and can be thrown in the back of the car or on a plane at a moments notice and still get the same sound anywhere without having to worry about valves or cabling going bad.
My other live rig consists of a Mesa Boogie Maverick combo and an awesome array of fabulous pedals. I’m endorsed by Origin Effects, makers of great compressors and drives. I also dig Meris, Source Audio, Laa Custom and classic Boss effects. All these goodies are then securely attached to Temple Audio pedalboard using their quick release mounting system. Finally for monitoring I use ACS custom IEM’s and a Mission Engineering Gemini 2.
Other Stringed Instruments
I have a soft spot for other weird and wonderful stringed instruments. My current bass is a Dingwall Combustion 5-string. Having that low B is really useful and the fanned frets are certainly a help when accessing higher frets.
On the weird and wonderful side I have a Godin Multi-Oud, an 11 string fretless instrument based on the ancient arabic/middle eastern instrument, and a Coral Electric Sitar, a 1960's take on the famed Indian instrument that appeared on lots of pop hits of the day. Listen to the intro to "Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica, its that sound.
I also have a greek Bouzouki, Ukulele and many either strange stringed instruments for when the moment arises or the session calls for something a bit more out of the ordinary.
Pedalboards through the ages
I've had so many pedals and pedalboards its silly so I thought I'd share some of my pedalboards through the ages. Shame I've gotten rid of most of them now but the AX8 more than covers my needs. Saying that every now and then I get GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) for a few new pedals so who knows, they could be back. Oh yeah, don't ask about the rubber duck...
