GEAR:
I'm the kind of guy who reads the instructions, can spend hours researching even the smallest music-related purchases, and loves to know the exact specs of his favorite artists'/bands' equipment. If you're a gear nut like me, this list is for you... enjoy.
LIVE RIG:
1997 Taylor 510 - My first REAL guitar. I learned to play & write my first songs on junky, bargain guitars that rarely stayed in tune. Though they provided a lot of great moments and got me in a few doors, I was outgrowing them. I saved for months and eventually set out on the quest to buy my holy grail of acoustic guitars; the "I'll never have to buy another guitar" guitar... though have to buy and want to buy are very different things, as any musician's wife will tell you.
After a lengthy search, I happened into Guitar House of Tulsa where Rick Williams introduced me to this guitar. I fell in love immediately and begged & borrowed the difference to cover it. It cost roughly 4 times as much as the 1987 Buick Regal I was driving at the time (which I later parked on top of the guitar in a sleep-deprived moment of stupidity - God bless hard-shell cases). I almost always name my guitars, but this one is simply "The Taylor".
More than a handful of engineers have dubbed it the best acoustic guitar they've heard. Originally lacking a pickup, I had a Fishman piezo installed that has some EQ circuitry built onto the input.
I used to half-joke about throwing this guitar birthday parties (March 20, 1997 for those curious). It seriously feels like a family member.
2006 Taylor 710e - DONALD - My "backup" acoustic. New neck design, expression system electronics. It's a very different beast than my 510 and has far fewer battle scars. I named this one "Donald" both in honor of my Dad, who floated me the remaining bones I needed to buy my first Taylor, and Don Chaffer of Waterdeep, who played the 710 that gave me the itch to get this one.
1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom - NORMAN - Found in a Tulsa guitar store. I was told it was seized with some other property in a drug bust. It has burn marks on it, chipped/scratched/worn off paint, cracked binding, and a missing pickguard, yet plays like a dream. It had some horrendous sounding ceramic pickups installed when I bought it, which I very promptly swapped out for some Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups. Humbucking bliss.
Fender Stratocaster - JENNY - This is a replacement. My first electric guitar was a 1960's Japanese reissue Strat that was glorious. In a weak moment of financial need I sold it and have regretted that decision ever since. This Made in Mexico model gets the job done when needed.
1964 Fender Bandmaster - I have 2 of these. My initial plan was to run them in stereo, so I had 2 custom 2x12 cabinets built to make this my dream rig. I only used them in that configuration once... it was loud. DANG loud. Stupid loud. But for clean tones, it doesn't get much better in my opinion.
I often wonder who the original owners of these amps were... one was found in an old storage shed in Las Vegas, and I love the thought (slim possibility though it may be) that it may have shared a stage with Dean Martin, Sinatra, or Elvis (or at least someone dressed up like him).
1969 Fender Deluxe Reverb - The original reverb and tremolo work. Once I plug into this thing, it's very difficult to stop playing. Almost all of the clean guitar tones I've ever recorded were played through this amplifier. I used to get a hard time from other guys who noticed that I always set it on pillows when I was transporting it to and from gigs, but those old reverb springs are FRAGILE, and I've never had to have mine repaired. So suck on that.
Guitar Effect Pedals (Click the pedal name to buy one!)
- Full Drive 2
- Choral Flange
- Supa-Trem Tremolo
- Mini Deja Vibe
- '70 Fuzz
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Juicebox Pedal Power
RECORDING RIG:
M-Audio ProFire 2626 interface
Brent Averill Neve 1073 preamp
Shure SM7B, SM58, SM57 microphones
Oktava MK012 microphones
M-Audio Axiom61 keyboard controller
Audio Technica ATH-M50 Headphones