I had a few emails asking about my rig and my settings. My basic guitar rig consists of a 1994 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 electric guitar, a Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special 1×12 combo and a floorboard which is pictured below.
The floorboard consists of a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus power supply, a Voodoo Labs Analog Chorus, a Line 6 DL 4 delay modeler, a custom Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer modified by Analog Man, a Boss Noise Suppressor and Chromatic Tuner, an Ernie Ball volume pedal and the Lonestar channel/solo switcher.
I will sometimes take along my 1999 Fender American Fat Strat as a second guitar but I usually play the Paul Reed Smith.
In terms of settings, I find that most of the tone is produced by how I play the instrument — it is in the hands. The amp does make a huge difference in how the sound gets presented. I just love the sound of a Class A tube amplifier and I love the sound of the Lonestar Special. It is an amazing tone machine. I generally make very little use of the pedals. I will usually add some delay to the effects loop of the amp. And, because the Lonestar is so responsive, I find little need for the Tube Screamer.
The Lonestar is the first amp I have owned where I can find and maintain the sweet spot of a great sounding guitar tone. A wonderful and expressive amplifier.
You knew I would respond.
Nice rig, Richard – clean, not too busy and you have all the right tools to allow you to manage any situation. I too have a Boogie and a PRS – a wonderful combination indeed….
But my rig is a bit more complex – 25 rack spaces, not that I really need all this gear, but I do turn to almost all of the pieces at some time or another. I once took a picture of my rig all lit up in my studio with the lights out and I posted it on a music site – I was asked if it were an apartment building! Good fun, though.
Having said that, there is always a challenge yet a certain satisfaction to get the perfect tone going straight in, no effects at all. Simply love that clean, unadulterated tone…
Rob
The guitar rig I was describing was the rig I use for my live work. I do a fair amount of playing in the area and I have had a number of players ask about the rig.
In the studio it is quite a different story. I have hundreds of processors along with dozens of stomp boxes, pedals and rack effects.
But my guitar collection is quite modest compared to some people I know
Hey, if you are referring to me, I am down to 14 now – trimmed the herd over the past year. I figure I can only play one at a time, but the variety is nice…and it’s getting harder to sneak them in the door…
Why do you use the Voodoo Labs power supply instead of the on board pedal-board one? Is it a simple case of quality?
I use the Voodoo Labs power supply largely because it has the output to handle the Line 6 pedals (250mA). The onboard power supply can only output 100mA. And because it has a much better balanced transformer. I was getting hum from the onboard power supply. As a bonus the Voodoo Labs power supply features a “sag” that allows the simulation of a battery running low on power. Some pedals get interesting tones when the voltage begins to sag. A combination of quality and features.
The best instruments for me are Ibanez RG super-strats, they just play like a glove, and scream like no other guitar, I cant imagine finding a faster playing piece of craftmanship, and to be fair the range now that they offer is awesome, the andt timmons model is lovely :OP