Hey gang, I figured it was about time I posted one of these threads. My modest rig's still a work in progress, with one or two pedals soon to leave and a likely amp change within the next couple of months.

I had to disconnect everything for the pedalboard pic, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see a goddamn thing. Which is just as well, because I need to take the time to re-Velcro everything and reroute all the cables.

Edit: 12/13/08 - I've made a couple of small changes recently. I sold the DL4 and replaced it with an Echo Park (return of the small green box) and a Boss FL-3 Flanger.

Edit: 1/20/09 - I've sold the EHX SMM/H, and plan to replace it with a second Echo Park. I've also added an Ernie Ball volume pedal--nice swells!

Edit: 2/2/09 - The Vox AD100VT is on the way out because I've acquired a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 2x12. I have officially returned the world of tubes. I'll be adding pics of the full, revised rig in the next week or so.
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Guitars:
Fender Telecaster - American Standard, 2000
Fender Stratocaster - 70's Reissue, MIM, 2000-2001

Amp:
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Effects (picture outdated, new one coming soon):
Ernie Ball VPJR
Boss TU-2
Ibanez TS9
Boss DS-1
Line 6 Echo Park (x2)
Boss FL-3
EHX Small Stone
Marshall Vibratrem
Boss RV-5
MXR Microamp

The above pedals are all housed in an ATA flight case/pedal board.

Most Likely Changes:
Like anyone else, I'm always looking for the next guitar to add to the arsenal, and I'm currently leaning toward an Epiphone ES-335, with an upgrade to the guitar's pickups shortly thereafter. I'd also love to get my hands on a 12-string electric for some extra "chime."

Music/Style:
These days, I'm playing in a post-punk type of band. My goal is to end up somewhere between the Edge of U2, Andy Summers of the Police, and Johnny Marr of the Smiths in terms of sound and technique.

Bonus:
Here's a cool picture of my bass player's recent acquisition, an Ampeg BT15--from 1969. We have lovingly nicknamed it R2D2.

I know there's probably a better place to put this, but I'm completely floored by the new GuitarGeek site!

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My band, Best Not Broken
BNB on Facebook

well frankly mr shankly may i say thats a damn nice rig, wish mine looked like taht to be honest im jealous! but what models do you use on the line6 delay since you've got the memory man and reverb pedals there too and what does that hazari thing do? i did know but not fully understood it so i forgot!

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Epiphone Natural Dot / Epiphone Goldtop Les Paul / Custom Relic Jagmaster ->

Vox Cry Baby Wah ->
Digitech Whammy ->
Boss SD-2 ->
Vox Satchurator->
Line 6 DL4 ->
Korg Pitchblack ->

Laney VC-15 / Line 6 Spider II 212 / Marshall MG30

10-52 gauge strings
73mm plectrums

Thanks for the compliment! Nice remarks plus a Smiths reference indicates to me that you're a classy guy.

On the DL4, I tend to stick to the "analog with mod" and "rhythmic delay" models, though in truth I think my old Echo Park might've been better at both of those. And aside from the fact that the tap tempo switch was showing signs of wear after two years of steady use, I actually think that pedal was somewhat superior despite not having a looper. It's just so much easier to use, I'm honestly considering selling off the DL4 and going back to the Echo Park.

I use the EHX for the looper (naturally) 'cause it's easy to do on the fly, it'll loop in any mode. The Hazarai function is basically just a memory preset function. The pedal will remember any settings you come up with, and has one memory patch for each of the 7 delay modes. It's definitely a great pedal, but it requires a little time to set up really good, usable sounds and presets.

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corr that memory man sounds very useful, im tempted to certainly suggest it to my bands other guitarist, whose the copmplete oppossite to a guitar geek, i mean i change his strings for him its taht bad! but when we recorded recently his signal on guitar rig had a memory man added, delay pedal wise it would probably be ideal, if he could be bothered to use it!?

i can see what you're saying with the echo park, certainly if you have a second looper, i far prefer the smaller pedal's appearance and it looks ten times easier with a descent foot plate rather than a little button, i have to wear slightly pointed flat sole boots when i play gigs to ensure i can properly use the line6 as ive big feet taht in normal shoes will easily press two buttons together, also bare foot playing at home the buttons just slide between my toes without getting pressed :'(

guitar wise id go for the Epi ES 335 Dot, i just bought mine recently and it plays so nicely, good long fastish neck, the tones are ideal to chime in with the edge or any other jangly niceness, aka the cure, but also i recently played the new fender jaguar classic player, the one with Humbuckers that are coil tapped has an improved vibrato, (its got a tune o matic bit on it) and also the kill switch and lead circuitry on it are just fantastic to play around with and make it sound super cutting or super warm, it might work well for you, but its basically how ive customised my jagmaster, when i saw the new guitar on the web site i thought here is the nicer version of my squier, but i have upgraded the tuners, sanded the body down to wood and fiddled it to my perfection.

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Epiphone Natural Dot / Epiphone Goldtop Les Paul / Custom Relic Jagmaster ->

Vox Cry Baby Wah ->
Digitech Whammy ->
Boss SD-2 ->
Vox Satchurator->
Line 6 DL4 ->
Korg Pitchblack ->

Laney VC-15 / Line 6 Spider II 212 / Marshall MG30

10-52 gauge strings
73mm plectrums

The thing to keep in mind here is that the Stereo Memory Man w/ Hazarai is definitely a different animal from the traditional Memory Man pedals. The SMM/H is digital, whereas the older models that tend to pop up in modeling programs are analog and have a completely different tone--I would argue better. However, the digital one that I own has two advantages: looping and tap tempo.

Yeah, those are good points. I actually prefer the Echo Park at this point just for the simplicity of it. The DL4 has a lot of settings that are cool but which I never, ever use. At first, I thought, "Well, at least they're there if I ever decide to experiment." But at this point, I really don't touch them. The only settings I really use are the "rhythmic delay," the "analog w/ modulation," and the "tape echo" settings--all of which are present on the Echo Park.

Nice, thanks for the recommendation! I'm almost certainly going to go with the Epi Dot 335 when I have the money. Up until a little white ago, I owned a CIJ Jaguar, which was great in terms of feel and sounded great with distortion/high gain settings... but clean, it just wasn't holding up its end of the bargain lately.

When my bass player bought himself a new MIM Fender Jazz bass, his tone just got so much bigger and more round-sounding than when he was playing his old crappy Ibanez thing. The Jag just sounded so thin and out of place, especially now that I'm playing more jangly, ambient stuff with the focus on clean tones. Hence, after three years with the Jag, I traded her in for the Strat.

If I knew more about stuff like switching out pickups or wax potting, I might have stuck with the Jaguar, but I've found myself relying on the Telecaster more and more lately to get decent sounds. After playing the Tele a lot, I then found myself less accustomed to the Jag's short-scale neck, and that's when I just had to say, "F it, I'm going for a Strat."

Seems to have been a good move so far, but I really need to get out the tool kit this weekend and make some adjustments to it to really see what I can do with it.

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My band, Best Not Broken
BNB on Facebook

thanks i'll keep that in mind


thats it you've hit the nail on the head, as nice as the DL4 is its got too much of a good thing, have you seen the new line 6 M13? its all four stompbox modellers in one, awesome im sure but very easy to get lost in and restrain creativity. Have you read that article on harmony central regarding 'GAS', if not have a look it has some good tips on setups and rigs and focuses on what we're talking about here, not keeping it simple and losing out as a result.


well the dot is what you need, loads of power in those epi/gibsons, and short scale for this sort of playing especially i find well and trully *****, the classic player has a longer neck like the squier jagmaster which is what made me actually like it, i tried a jaguar at a london guitar show but it werent nice at all
but also if youve got a bad feel now towards that guitar type stay away from it and dont force yourself, even if its the sound you're looking for, if the feels wrong how are you going to create with it? thats the way i feel about strats, dont know why, i like their sound, the players who use them, but any time ive played one ive longed to be back on the jag! just me being weird i guess!

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Epiphone Natural Dot / Epiphone Goldtop Les Paul / Custom Relic Jagmaster ->

Vox Cry Baby Wah ->
Digitech Whammy ->
Boss SD-2 ->
Vox Satchurator->
Line 6 DL4 ->
Korg Pitchblack ->

Laney VC-15 / Line 6 Spider II 212 / Marshall MG30

10-52 gauge strings
73mm plectrums

Very nice rig. It has many nice effects and can cover a lot of styles I'm sure.

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Successful trade with ThinPaperWings, thevisionseeker, Pretend For Now, jm417, wren, & knives490

I can't believe you have a strat!

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Do you think a vintage laptop would sound better?

nickphaneuf.com

my myspace

my compy rig (UPDATED)

some of my pedals

I know what you mean. And perhaps strangest of all, it's white! Normally, I'd be like, "yuck." Something about off-white with a rosewood neck, though... delish...

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My band, Best Not Broken
BNB on Facebook

Where the hell did your real ac30 go? What prompted this change? I thought...I...what happened?? Strat?? Wha...I...it...when?

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My rig:
http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x160/Phrygia80/

If tone is all in the fingers, I'm just gonna play a Squier through a Gorilla amp from now on.

I know, I know, it's all a bit of a mess.

The Reader's Digest version goes like this:

-The AC-30 had to get sold (I know!) when I hit some financial hard times. It was either part with the amp or run the risk of eviction/bills not getting paid, etc. Naturally, exactly one month after selling off the amp, I got a new job which is much more secure and pays more than double what the last one paid. Further evidence--like I need more--that if god does in fact exist, he's pretty pissed off at me.

-The Strat showed up recently in exchange for the CIJ Jag, which was great for making noise and generally acting like an indie-rock asshole, but when playing post-punk with an emphasis on ambience and clean tones, it really wasn't cutting the mustard. Again, a lack of expendable income meant I couldn't keep the Jag and acquire a Strat (which I selected for its thicker tones), so I had to make a hard decision. I'm not sure what's more disappointing: parting with a guitar you've owned for a few years, or not regretting it 'cause your new instrument is kickass.

Don't worry, though. The Telecaster is still rockin' like Dokken. She'll always be my main squeeze.

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My band, Best Not Broken
BNB on Facebook

You made a good choice on that Strat. It is pretty cool looking. I love Strats (hence my name ), so I always love to see a cool Strat added to a rig.

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Successful trade with ThinPaperWings, thevisionseeker, Pretend For Now, jm417, wren, & knives490

I love the damn thing. I still really need to get it set up, or at least perform some tweaking personally. I haven't even taken the back plate off, so maybe you'd be a good person to ask (given your username) how easy or difficult it is to add a spring to the trem system?

The main reason I ask is because I usually play with .11s, and the dude who owned the instrument before me has the springs so tight that the back of the bridge is pressed down against the body.

As it stands, I can only rock the trem forward, not back; the guy who sold me the guitar assured me that this would keep the strings more in tune when bending occurs, but so far, I have to contest that statement. It's not like I use the thing like a madman, either. I just like to give it a little wiggle when I hit a crashing chord every now and again, but that tends to send things a cent or two out of tune.

I've read that Jimi used to leave the backplate off his Strats 'cause he liked to add/subtract springs at will (usually he'd add them, from what I hear, because he needed 'em to keep things in tune with his wild bending). Is this a good, logical step? Will adding a spring help?

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My band, Best Not Broken
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You dont want to add a spring unless you have less than 3 back there. Your problem is in the screw tension if it feels loose and you have 3 springs. If its going out of tune when you trem, you probably need to get it set up so that the bridge is floating when the guitar is tuned to pitch. This allows the player to pull the strings back through the nut after tremming wicked hahd, because usually the nut is the source of the problem. You could also backfile the nut so that there isn't a square edge on the headstock side, allowing the strings to slide back through more easily. Big bends nut sauce is also great for lubeing the grooves and allowing an easier return to pitch. Most likely though, the problem is on the front of the guitar not the back. Both of my strats have 2 springs, and they stay in tune exceptionally well, in spite of my somewhat frantic vibrato work. You should bring your strat here on thursday of friday and get it set up ( $40-50)

Ralphs House of Tone
474 Central Ave
Dover NH 03820
603-749-7473

We will fill it with curses and demons, and it will play like a hot rod sex god.

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My rig:
http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x160/Phrygia80/

If tone is all in the fingers, I'm just gonna play a Squier through a Gorilla amp from now on.

That's excellent.

Awesome! I have the feeling that a proper setup will really get this instrument rock[ing] hard, 'cause it's great right now, even with the tuning issues and tremolo lowered to the body.

What's the wait time and pricing like on a setup at the mighty Ralph's, anyway? The Telecaster's at the point where a once-over might be a good idea, it's been at least a year since the last one.

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My band, Best Not Broken
BNB on Facebook