What Makes That Sound?
I have received a number of requests about what I am using these days for my guitar rig. For stage work, I use a PRS Custom 24 as the primary guitar and an American Fat Strat as the secondary guitar. I use a stock Fender 64 Deluxe Reissue as the primary tube amplifier and a modified Fender Hot Rod Deluxe as the backup tube amplifier. Although I rarely haul two amps these days. I do always have a few backup tubes in the gig bag.
For the past couple of years I have been using an SKB professional pedalboard case for my floor pedals. The case is hardshell, and it contains its own power supply for the pedals.
The pedals I am currently using include an Ernie Ball volume pedal, a Boss TU-2 tuner, a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, an Analog Man Juicer for compression, an Analog Man modified Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer, an Analog Man modified Boss DS-2, a Voodoo Labs Chorus and a Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler. All cables on the pedalboard and to the amp are George L. I use a Planet Waves cable from the guitars.
The Deluxe is typically in the lower part of its sweet spot. I use the TS-9 to overdrive the amp. In fact, one of the little secrets that I can share with you is that I always have the amp being driven by the overdrive pedal. I switch between clean and overdriven sounds simply by attack and by dialing up the volume on the guitar itself. Much better tone from the amp that way. If I need more cut then I will stomp on the distortion unit but I find that for stage I can easily keep control over the tone by my hands and by changing the volume on the guitar. A little distortion goes a long way. The juicer provides more sustain, if needed.
I always carry a Shure SM-57 with me as I usually have the rig close-miked and I prefer to have my own 57 on hand. I also carry a dedicated and filtered power supply, 3 sets of strings, a couple dozen medium picks, extra cables, batteries, and a small toolkit.
Oh. And strap locks on my guitar straps. Never play a guitar on stage without strap locks.
Andy B. in… nice nice nice lol… that’s a great lookin rig, Richard! the SKB is a fantastik platform for the pedals. Is the TU-2 not the king of tuners or what? I love it – I think it’s got to be the best stomp tuner out there. and yes…starp locks are the way to go – I’m getting those cool strap locks next week as a matter of fact…hey, I think there still might be some room on the skb for a wireless… A.
I imagine I will continue to tweak the rig. I suppose it is a never ending process for serious players.
I had to swap out the PRS guitar strap posts as they were too big. In fact, part of the reason why I went to strap locks in the first place was because the PRS took too long to strap on stage. Now, I never worry about the time to load the guitar or losing a strap during a performance.
My son has been pressing me to go wireless. Just not sure about the impact on tone. I’ve been thinking about it though.
What brand of guitar lock system did you swap to? I’m really hesitant about doing anything to my prs so I want to make sure I get it right. A.
It was a while ago… I used Schaller. I removed the old posts and the screws that hold the posts to the PRS. The new posts and screws fit perfectly. Looks stock.
Pretty cheap… about $20. Most music stores stock them.
I kept the old ones in case the PRS suddenly becomes worth a huge amount of money with the original guitar posts 😉
Thanx. I’ll grab a few this week. A.
Your comment – “I imagine I will continue to tweak the rig. I suppose it is a never ending process for serious players” is so very true….I have been tweaking mine now for about 30 years – there are those I play with who still think it needs work! (It is however a good excuse to keep acquiring gear, although my wife differs in opinion at times!)
My first stage rig, 30 years back, consisted of a Roland JC-120, an MXR distortion pedal, an MXR 90 phaser, an MXR flanger, a Morley volume pedal and a Dunlop wah-wah pedal. I had a 1974 Fender Strat and a Hagstrom Swede (model year unknown).
I did not think any of that stuff would become vintage so I sold most of it in my bid to tweak the rig. I still have the MXR distortion and flanger.
I have been looking at getting the Voodoo Labs pedal power for the floorboard. I have it on good authority that it really improves the tone of the pedals! At least, that is what I am telling my wife 😉
Funny, I still have my Phase 90 as well – the orange stomp box from the mid/late 70’s – hard to believe it is 30 years+ old. I do not use it often though, given my propensity to the analog Rockman modules – I still use 14 units in a single chain, switched via midi octopus and midi pedal. Difficulty is, when a cable, unit fails or becomes problematic, finding the source of the annoyance is troublesome! Fortunately this is a rare situation. Keep on tweaking! Rob