Vox Classic Rock

Vox Classic Rock

Love this little amp. Now when my neighbours are out I can play through my headphones without disturbing anyone, and save the Orange Tiny Terror for when they're in.

Fairly cheap at £30, the Vox Classic Rock amPlug is a close match to how I remember my Vox AC30 amp sounding.

Orange cab & Tiny Terror

Orange cab & Tiny Terror

And a sweetass Orange 1 x 12 cab to go with the Tiny Terror. Playing through this set up really does an SG justice. It's been gathering dust, now I'm tempted to gig with it.

Orange Tiny Terror

Orange Tiny Terror

On a recommendation Gary (who owns more serious guitar amps as a bassist than I ever have as a guitarist) I bought an Orange Tiny Terror.

I didn't need much convincing - my Sessionette 75 packed up a while back despite some loving from Chandlers, and the youtube videos all looked awesome. So when my Mum generously gave me some money for my birthday, I was off to find one. I tried a couple in a shop in the West End and was sold. I think I had more people stop to listen me try them than we've had at some of our gigs.

Anyways, I've gone the whole hog an ordered an Orange cab as well for practicing at home. It's coming from a shop in Glasgow, and hopefully the guitar gods will be kind and it will arrive Wednesday...

Louvaine 16th December 2007

Louvaine 16th December

We playing at a bar in South London in a week or so. And the bar's closing, so we get to drink it dry :)

Scuzzbuckets

Scuzzbuckets

A photoshopped "Guitargeek" style layout of the equipment I've been using. I'm sure after a few more gigs and a record deal Guitargeek will want to do their own official version, but in the meantime... ;)

I can live without the wah wah. I used to play with various Boss pedals back in the day (delay, octave, another distortion, chorus, flanger, compression), and another no-name distortion pedal that could sustain till the audience went home, had kids, raised them, introduced them to live gigs, and then those kids came to see us. They'd find me still holding that note. Anyways, life's simpler now. And the planet waves tuner (as recommended by Devin Townsend) is a life saver.

Equipment

Never listed my equipment, because I'll pretty much play with anything. Only thing I'm picky about is the guitar. But here goes, for what it's worth.

Guitar

Currently gigging with a Gibson Les Paul. It ain't perfect. The neck is wonky and the E and A strings buzz between the 9th and 12th frets. But it sounds fucking great. But may swap to a Tokai Les Paul because it's the second Gibson Les Paul I've had with a crappy neck. I also practice with a Fender Strat and my first second guitar, a fantastically heavy no-name strat copy I fitted out with Seymour Duncan and Carvin pick ups, a graphite nut, and an Alembic Stratoblaster thing. Own a Gibson SG and a cheapo Mex Telecaster. And a Tokai Strat copy. If I had the cash, I'd have more guitars (must... resist).

Strap

Using an old Ernie Ball strap with Schaller strap locks - a must with any guitar, but more so with the weight of a Gibson. You don't want to snap the head of a Les Paul when the strap slips off. Have Schaller strap locks on the Gibsons Fender and no-name Strats.

Amp

For years, I played and practiced through a Sessionette 75 (since gone it a bit flaky on me, needs a service). Currently practicing and gigging with Marshall stacks. No idea what they are, but they sound great.

Pedals

I use a Boss DS-1 distortion pedals to fill the sound out during solos and add some sustain. Been considering picking up a Keeley modded version. Used to have an array of pedals, but they all got pinched. Still own a couple of wah-wah's (Morley and Colorsound). Might start using them again, but I ain't that great with them.

Tuner

Broken two guitar pick tuners (a planet waves and an early Strobopick - which I loved). Poised to buy a Planet Waves Chromatic Pedal Tuner after the disaster of the last gig. And probably some locking machine heads for the Gibson (my Fender Strat has them, and they are a god send). Have a pitch fork that's never let me down (A).

Strings

Ernie Ball Regular Slinky. Used Dean Markley custom lite's back in the day, but had trouble finding them of late. Never really used a light gauge, but have tried some obscenely heavy gauges in my time (till the bassist threatened to quit because I was making him redundant...). Have a slightly lighter gauge on the Fender Strat.

Cables

Whatever. Currently a mixture of Ernie Ball and Fender.

Post Arch Aid

Simon (drummer) has quite a philosophical approach, and after this gig he said "Well, it's all a learning experience". And I learnt that sitting outside for an hour (we were supposed to play at 7.30, but didn't go on until 8.30) meant that my hands froze. And while Simon quickly realized he couldn't spin his drum sticks, I quickly realized I was having trouble playing at all.

And things got worse: my guitar went out of tune during every song. I've no idea why, but first the A string, then the E string, then the B string. I would play a power chord, discover that it sounded shit, guess which string was playing me up, and quickly shift to playing that chord in a different position. Which would have been ok had my hands not been frozen.

After four songs (we were playing a short set - there were seven bands due to play), I was glad it was all over. I thanked the audience, my guitar strap came off, the leads came out, and I looked up to see the rest of the band staring at me. We had another song to go. Sheeesh. Plug back in, strap back on, and we knock out 'Too Drunk Too Fuck'. In this case I was too cold to play. And slightly too wired. But since a disastrous Inn On The Green gig I've learnt to play it cool with getting wasted before playing. Now I've learnt too stay warm too.

As for the Gibson going out of tune, well, that I don't know about. I was weighing up between taking the Fender Strat and the Les Paul before the gig, and Kirk (my son) recommended the Gibson because of the sound. Which was a good call - it sounded great. Just wish it had stayed in tune too. Perhaps locking tuners are in order.