SPEAKER- EMINENCE DV-77 ...this is a NEED TO KNOW Post! ...move over classic Celestions!!!

 EMINENCE DV-77 

This is the new kid on the block. Nothing changes your sound more. Yes a speaker can change your sound as much as an amp.

That is a lot of change for $200 give or take. Even so most of us get an amp and speaker and we are more like to replace the whole rig without a thought about the speaker. At the price of a half decent pedal it is nuts.

Of course there is a down side. If we choose wrong we find very quickly we have something to sell that very few are interested in and shipping a heavy speaker is a non starter.

Celestion V-30's, Creambacks and Greenbacks all have had a following for years.

Since the birth of the Plexi Celestion V-30's have been killer for both their sound and the fact that they sound great in a band and seldom need EQ in a mix ...both live and when recording. Stick on a $100 Shure SM57 mic and you are done. 

the only problem is that there is not a crisp edge to the highs and the lows are Ok but not solid.

I ran into something unusual. A sensible review of this speaker. Most are damn dull and heady or non informative. So I will shut up and let you check it out.

But do it! Check it out ...because you need to know. It is a 4th thing. Guitar, Pedals, Amp and SPEAKER. 

Like I said you may be thinking new amp time when the one you have isn't the problem.

FUZZ- DANELECRTO Eniac ...the killer of killer Fuzz makes a comeback

DANELECTRO ENIAC FUZZ

$225,000000.00 USD

According to Dano the release date has been halted do to not being able to fit the circuit into their standard casing. Even so they project to deliver by late Spring.

CONCLUSION

They are taking deposits at Sweetwater. Rumour has it that Boss were considering to make one in their Waza Craft line but the decision has been deferred.

FUZZ-HILBISH DESIGN Pessimiser ...KING BUZZO of the MELVINS design! Yes me too???

$225.00 USD

HILBISH DESIGN KING BUZZO MELVINS PESSIMISER

Yes me too. I never heard of the guy. OK, OK it was when Alt. discovered Heavy Metal!  But WTF. A pedals is a pedal so let's check it out.

It is a cross between a Fuzz and hard clipper distortion. I suspect a silicon transistor or two and an OpAmp or in plain English a Muff and a Rat pedal.

You get 3 way EQ, Gain, Boost and a Mix to blend in some clean sound. The Fuzz has just the right amount of hash as the BIAS is set to a bit of growl.

CONCLUSION

I am sure that a few classic designs ended up in part in this pedal but not in a remotely obvious way In short it is it's own thing. It has loads of character. 

You might want to check out Wamplers $150 Ratbane mini pedal that went on sale yesterday. It too goes into the same territory.

OVERDRIVE - WAMPLER Ratbane ...a RAT??? No but a killer hard clipper!!!

 WAMPLER RATBANE 

$150.00 USD

This is Brian's take on a Rat. It starts there and takes it to never ever land! It is hard clipper that is more aggressive than all but a very, very few Fuzz or hybrid Metal Doom pedals.LOL

You get 6 different modes of dirt and if you think you can do better you can take off the back and easily change the OpAmp and make your own Big Box Rat by stuffing in an antique LM308 OpAmp.

CONCLUSION

I have a NOS LM308 Rat clone. It is killer! But this is it's 

own thing! Right know I am trying to justify buying it. LOL

DELAY- HORIZON DEVICES Flux Echo ...a modern echo/delay ...frustration free!!!

HORIZON DEVICES FLUX ECHO 

$200.00 USD

The market is a wash of delay and reverb pedals. most are full of devices that referred to as ambient pedals

The problem for a gigging player is they have very little practical use because if play an average tune in 99% of any styles they turn the tine into mud because the delayed sound simply swamps the guitar. worse still you could be onto the next chord or two and the delay is playing a chord or note totally harmonically clashing with what you you are playing a split second later.

Some ambient tones are both killer and work better like those on this pedal. Like ambient reverb with analog delay, modulated reverb with reverse delay and shimmer reverb with tape delay.

Two features that are both very welcome addition are a tap and freeze/hold and it will do 'spillover' ...you can set the echo to continue until it fades away when you turn it off.

CONCLUSION

The sounds are great and it takes care of any features that if they are not there can cause frustrations. The spec is high enough not to interfere with the ascetics of the tones it produces. The damn thing simply just works and does the job!!! It has nothing you do not need and anything you might!

OVERDRIVE- Tube Screamer ...My best of!

TUBE SCREAMERS 1978 & BEYOND

The Tube Screamer is so popular that is almost a rule that if you have, or even are just starting a pedal brand you HAVE TO have one. If it is even half good you get credibility as being a serious brand. HEY ...I could never make this sh@t up!

The BOSS DS-1 in 1976 was the second OpAmp dirt pedal ever made the first being the ProCo Rat by only 3 months. Maxon wanted to join the fray. They were handicapped by a patent on the Boss that they had to get around. They tried using symmetrical distortion instead of asymmetrical tube like distortion. In layman's terms just the sweet overtones. In a sense it came across as a mildly distorted booster ...but it worked! In the early days it was virtually only used as a booster to overload the front end of a tube amp. It still is in Modern Metal.

Now the guy that designed the pedal for Maxon is Susumu Tamura. It was called the Maxon OD-808.

Ibanez originally started by having their name put on some Guyatone guitars to get into the electric guitar biz. So it seemed natural to licence Maxon pedals to get into the pedal biz. There thing was a great skill at marketing and distribution. Hence the Ibanez TS808 was born.

By the time the TS808 was ready both used the Boss style casing.

First OD808

IBANEZ TS9

This was the new improved TS808. It has a nice bite and it is quieter. But they both sound good but a little different so which one is best is totally up to you. 

 MY BEST OF 

These are simply a very few of perhaps 200 or even more different brands that make a Tube Screamer. I do not exaggerate how many there are. The only thing in common is they are OpAmp based OD's with clipping diodes that create symmetrical distortion based OD's. 

Some have high pass filters that are made for Metal players to tighten the sound while other are aimed at guys using a dead clean sound and just want a whisper of dirt to warm up and fatten their clean sound ...others are between the two. Many hide the fact of what they are. They want you to think they have recreated the wheel. It is sold as some unique pedal. It makes choosing one a nightmare. In the beginning I hated pedals labeled Tube Screamer only to find later I already owned two. One is a high gain pedal. Another is a Modern Metal pedal . I just bought the Cusack ...but I at least new what I was really getting.    :-)

MAXON APEX 808 

Susumu Tamura was told many times over the years that there was an ultimate TS808. Even a few famous guitarist that owned several thought so.

It was unlikely but he finally decided to check for himself. He found that after collecting over 200 to reference that there was indeed one. Although all the OpAmps used in the original were the same make and model OpAmp there was a 4 month period where they came in a different color which turned out to have a small variation. He went to the chip maker that still had some of those left over and and records of suppliers and some had more. So this pedal will have a limited run as it is all NOS.

The big deal is they sound the same but are mud free.

CUSACK MUSIC SCREAMER

Jon Cusack started the company after years of designing for others. Go figure. It all started with doing a very nice TS808 but making it cleaner. It did OK as 11 years ago there wasn't an Apex version. But ol' Jon C. had an idea or two. He put in a very high headroom booster ...and then he decided to add an asymmetrical stage to get the ts to sound more amp like. Much to even his surprise you could put the pedal through even a clean amp and you got an instant SRV sound. WTF!!! Version 2 was born.

I have one and all three sounds are incredibly useful! Especially the SRV sound on my Strat.

CALINE CP-75 EMERALD NIGHT OD

Well I can not leave a bargain alone and this TS9 is $35.00 USD. There are a lot of passable budget ts pedals so why this one? Because with my back back turned I can not pick out The Ibanez TS9 from the Caline. Thanx Caline!!!

IBANEZ TUBE SCREAMER MINI

In another blindfold test all 3 of the current ts pedals were compared. The TS9 came last the TS808 came second and Mini came first. lol

It does sound good ...it is $100.00 USD so ???

JHS BONSAI OD

It is 9 Tube Screamers in a box.They all sound pretty good so you are bound to like one.

TL PEDALS TL808

Every year or so there is hot new one. This one sounds damn good. It has lot more gain if you need it and unlike the Ibanez it has some lows ...what is even better it sounds really solid, fat and tight. 

BUFFALO CARRERA OVERDRIVE

The Strat sound does get thru beautifully. I miss not

having that extra chime in the highs. It does however have 

the fattest sound of any ts. If I only played a Strat I would

have to have it as a second sound.

DIRT PEDALS

THE NEED TO KNOW

There are 7 basic Dirt pedals. Two we call Fuzz which are either Germanium or Silicon transistors. Two that use OpAmps and to create either a hard or soft clipper pedal and FET transistors to mimic tubes. Then we get two opposites. One are real tube preamps. Finally there are modeled dirt pedals that literally make an audio photograph of all and any of the previous choices.

Add to that there are hybrids that use 2 or more of the above. All have advantages and disadvantages.

 The only ones I do not personally favor are modeled dirt pedals as they lack feel and fine detail in the tone. Great for money gigs & commercial recording. I find them too limited in allowing for transferring expression in your playing that best communicates the emotion that is critical to create art.

A great overview of  a Tube Screamer and how to use one.

Near the end you are shown the sound of it with a Fender Twin

 on 10. Too much spring reverb trashes the sound but if you look 

past it you will hear the sound that the Cusack Screamer will give 

you with a bedroom practise amp and not the  obscene amount 

of gear used in the demo. My point is that Cusack at 

$185.00 USD is a total steal!!!

A NON TUBE SCREAMER?

TL PEDALS THE HONKER

Ol' Tim had an idea. What if one started with a Tube Screamer and made it do everything from a mild ts sound great for Country but if you needed to you had a killer Hard Rock early Metal sound. It would have to still have to do all this without sounding second place to another pedal that only did just one of these styles. The chances of pulling it off are zero. but WTF ...he did it!!! Add to that you get a quality roadworthy pedal. Did I say at $130.00 USD the price is scary cheap!

PICKUP- A BIG SECRET EXPOSED!!!!

 THE SECRET OF THE ULTIMATE NECK PICKUP

I design guitars and ...no it it is not just noodling on paper trying to reinvent the Flying V with body shapes that are neither functional or makeable. If you were to make it you would have to use hand tools. If a guitar is not designed to be constructed in a modern factory then you could not afford it. I have had to learn all best practices of Industrial Design and the manufacturing processes. At the same time I needed to separate the myths from reality about the materials used to make a guitar sound and function for the most amount of players. 

One of the most important things I did was to track down the 'old timers'

who had a hands on iob in the making, research or assisting in the iconic guitars of the 50's. The guitar above is my LENARD guitar. It is quite literally based from reliable info about some guy in 1951 who thought he needed a better guitar for '52 than the one he was selling. If it reminds you of one that came out in '54 it should. Keep in mind that one had changes made by the sales dept. team that wanted both the style changed and features added because they felt the players all listened with their eyes. lol The point is that's how I learnt about PU's :-)

WHAT ABOUT THE PICKUP?

PAF

The myth is that except for the cover that the Gibson Firebird uses it is just a Mini humbucker. Wrong!

 A true mini humbucker is  really a miniature PAF that was designed to fit in the solid body Epiphone guitars when they were only made in the U.S.

A PAF style PU as you can see in the diagram has one large magnet running flat under both bobbins but the Firebird PU has a magnet on it's edge inside both bobbins.

The Firebird was made in the first place to try encourage a Fender player to buy a 

Gibson. The Firebird design creates a similar magnetic field 

as a Strat yet it kills the hum as well.

Firebird

What has away's puzzle me is why the neck pickup in a guitar with a PAF at the bridge does not have a Firebird at the neck. You get a chimey like Strat sound without hum and the sound is very defined and perfect for chord work. Who does not want a fat lead sound? If you set up a PAF at the bridge for a fat sound then when you turn on a PAF at the neck you get nothing but mud!!! The Firebird PU is the 

perfect solution.

The poor ol' Firebird is all but invisible to a guy buying a PU unless he is hot rodding a Firebird.

Too bad :-(

OVERDRIVE- BJPRESS Range84 Distortion...a Rat ...decaffeinated

 BJPRESS RANGE 84 DISTORTION 

$295.00 USD

It is most probably a one man operation based in S. Korea. There are a few dirt pedals to choose from but only this is available and I could only find it at a local store. 

The pedal started life from a Rat schematic. It then is indeed a hard clipper. They differ from other ways of making distortion as it uses a  an OpAmp which is in effect a nano amplifier that by design is clean or at least designed to be cleaned. If a signal going in is not the same going out it is indeed distorted. We tend to refer to this when it is cleanish as 'coloured' The 'colouring' of one brand over another is why we make such a fuss over the make and model of an Op Amp. Diodes are used to clip the signal which makes the sound more or less Fuzz like. There are endless choices and designs to vary this  Everything matters but using a design for this part that has the correct value of parts is far less critical then the exact brand. In the case of the Range 84 the schematic may be very similar but the parts and their values are quite different. If a ProCo Rat is espresso this is definitely the the decafe alternative. 

CONCLUSION

The parts and build may justify the price. But I would look at the Caline Queen Bee which is also using the Rat schematic gives you better and more exciting pedal for $40.00 USD. It has wider range of gain but backed off it is similar. Check out the video at the end. Or? At $150.00 USD you can get the Wampler Ratbane mini pedal.

FUZZ- OKKO FX Black Beast ...the shatter, shock, stun, dumfound, traumatize, destroy, ruin and crush pedal :-)

 OKKO FX BLACK BEAST FUZZ/DISTORTION 

$200.00 USD

Not surprising Okko usually get's it right they have been making nothing but dirt boxes since 2003. This has been around unchanged since 2010. they are a German company that live up to the stereotype.

The layout is Bass, Treble, Gain and Level.

Kaputt? Yes that dials in the Fuzz. A Metal pedal that crosses all the genres. If used as a Metal OD you can kill the Fuzz and still get great sounds. If on the other hand you want to take it to death and destruction genres 

it is all there. 

CONCLUSION

I have struggles with my music where it can lean either way. Too much splutter and disintegration doesn't work. Many Fuzz pedal just choke up or do not have a decent sustain. 

Other hybrids do not have heavy lows or even 

lower mids. Low end will disappear under the

drums and bass in a band. I have heard guys that use a crushing scooped sound that in a band nothing is audible but the highs. 

It is hilarious as in the audience it sounds like the guy playing a banjo! I do NOT exaggerate!  

The lows on this have a killer headroom. The lows are frighteningly dense and harsh they cut thru the mix like a Viper MGR-17 rocket. This was designed to do the job. There are pedals that sound better. Yes!!! I said better. Big BUT...they just do not do the job. This pedal has been available without updates for 11 years. It was designed to move mountains.

This is the best I've ever heard.

 

'HANDS ON'

Well I got mine and took a couple of weeks writing a new tune to put it straight into application.

It does what it claims. I fly from a few slow moving 'Doom' chords to intricate blitz riffs so I found I 

needed to back the bass and fuzz off a bit.  With such a massive sound a little extra care is needed with your palm muting. I found I had to use more gate than usual to tighten the sound. 

I was writing music specifically for it's voice so I got killer results.

VERDICT:  Definitely a keeper. The pedal was made to impress an audience. It does!!!

OVERDRIVE- RJM MUSIC Overture Programmable Overdrive ... more features than a new iPhone Pro 12

 RJM MUSIC OVERTURE  PROGRAMMABLE OVERDRIVE 

$400.00 USD

The most redeeming feature is it is that it is an analog OD.

Now I have never found an OD even with 2 different OD is the same box that could had more than perhaps 6 sounds that I found usable. 

RJM is known for a fairly wide choice of impressive pedal switchers. This is their only pedal. To read the copy of the OD on their site I felt like they were not describing a pedal but a damn switcher.

The layout has a Pre Boost, Gain, Volume, Bass and Treble. Rather ordinary. Not even a mid control. You get a selection of voicings. Crunch, Smooth, Versatile, Clean boost, Classic and Boutique. A button to store 8 presets and the usual foot switches.

CONCLUSION

On the plus side there is a basic medium to high gain punchy gourmet style OD with a Marshall hidden in it somewhere.

That's about it? It is not like a digital Modeler where you would hit the 6 selections and get several distinct sounds. Like a Plexi, a Deluxe a Vox AC30 etc. No you get 6 shades of grey???

What I heard was a very good fat OD with boost. It has a basic sweet spot at mid gain and backed off still sounds good. You get a nice bite with the boost kicked in.

So what you really get is an excellent $225.00 USD OD with another $200.00 USD worth of bull!!! So throw out the programing crap put it in a smaller box ...drop the price in half and I will order one.
Very disappointing as it does sound damn good.

PEDAL BOARD- ....if I had to have a mini board? ...what would I do & my 9 guitars too

[SINCE YOU ASKED]

I am constantly asked about what to choose for a basic Pedal Board. It changes over time as I find the new and better and the old, available but forgotten.

I also need to know what style a guy plays in ...so the list gets long. 

I thought I would come up with a board of the minimal must haves that I could use.

So in the end I have picked what works out 'live' for 'me' :-)

I decided to list the pedals in an order that I would lay them out in

 

THE OUCH FACTOR

I have chosen about $3000.00 USD in pedals. I would soon want a switcher & even if tacked to a plywood board the pedals need power. 

I have always made my gear a priority. I do not have fancy phones, TV, cars etc. I do not go to movies or even buy fast food. Skip McDonalds twice and Starbucks once and you can have a nice compressor! 

You can shop world wide too. I have bought mint pedals made in the States but bought from Germany or Poland etc.for 30% off. Japanese pedals from Russia or German pedals from China half price!

It takes hours to search for them.There are tricks. Google eBay UK or even ebay Germany etc. But be prepared for long waits with shipping.

NOTE: all these pedals have a full review and prices so check out their Posts later.

COMPRESSOR

KEELEY COMPRESSOR PLUS

I will get right to the point. No matter what comp you got after pissing around for hours getting it to happen in the end it would end up sounding like this. You may have spent a lot more money, read the manual a dozen times but is the result better? Let me qualify just one thing the expensive Origin Effects Cali76 Compact sounds better. BUT only when compared side by side. The response and general EQ of the sound is the same. The '76' is a bit cleaner. Not different ...but the same only better! 

LOW GAIN OVERDRIVE

CUSACK SCREAMER v.2

First you get 'as good as any' Tube Screamer sound. Big but ...with  one click of the voicing switch and you get a killer SRV sound. I rest my case!!!

You can also use the 3rd setting which gives you very high headroom as a boost or set it very low for when your clean sound is just too damn clean. It is a 'must have tone ' for a semi.

MEDIUM GAIN OVERDRIVE

FRIEDMAN SMALL BOX OD

This is a new pedal with a 50 watt Plexi sound. It is fat, chunky and balzy. Almost forgot ...it is also killer.

MEDIUM/HIGH GAIN OVERDRIVE

TECH n TONE TURBO NONNA

This pedal is just flat out killer. It goes from a near low gain up to high gain with a sweet spot in whatever range you leave it. I never tire of it. It breaks the rules. ALL other drives that try to give more than one perfect sound give you maybe a couple of passable sound.

It is an 'in case of fire' rescue this pedal.

HIGH GAIN OVERDRIVE

LPD PEDALS EIGHTY 7

It is basically a Marshall JCM 800 but with the mods that all the hero shredders of the time had done to their amps. Lawrence faithfully and painstakingly nailed them. If you need even more to move into early Metal territory you do what those guys did and put a Tube Screamer in front. In short stack the Cusack on the your '87.

METAL

KLIRRTON OH MY GOAT!

This sweet little box covers everything from pre 'chug' to 'chug' and does a good stand in for Doom and related genres.

FUZZ

ELECTRO HARMONIX BIG MUFF OpAmp

Surprised? 

I was ...big time surprised. Even the king of heavy dirt Billy Corgan is using this new version.

It is in effect a cross between a classic Muff and Rat pedal and subs for a Muff, a Rat and a Metal pedal.

Stack it with the Klirrton if you need to take your sound to 'Never Everland.

OKKO FX BLACK BEAST FUZZ/DISTORTION

Trust me this is the hugest sounding dirt box on the planet.

The low end cuts thru any bass player, drummer etc. without 

having to play louder then them! You can dial in any genre 

of Metal from classic Sabbath to Doom it is that versatile.

It has been available for 11 years already. Others come and go. Why? because the Okko works in a band ...not just in 

the bedroom.

SMART GATE

STONE DEAF NOISE REAPER

If you have not tried the best you do not know anything about them. Period!!!

They not only get rid of noise they can tighten you sound and even fatten it by changing the 'release' time on your dirt sounds. I use four Smart gates and two single end gates.

By doing this I do exactly what happens in Post production at a studio. BUT I get it all live.

CHORUS

NUX ANALOG CHORUS

Are there better? Yes but not enough to justify the price.The Nux is an excellent take on the old BOSS CH-2. So if price is no object or you use one as part of your basic sound than get a Boss Waza Craft or the Jam Pedals Waterfall. Both are killer. But be aware they too started life with the Boss CH-2 blueprints too.  LOL

PHASER

MXR PHASE 95

You get a Phase 45, a Phase 90 and a the modern upgrade Phase that all the gourmet guys put in their pedals. This is a little gem and has a list miles long of big name guys who use this. There are even name guys that use it to replace there antique Uni-Vibe because the Phase 45 setting does a killer impression. Dave Friedman has one on his board and he ONLY uses what is the best no matter the price!

Yes guys that is where I got the heads up.

FLANGER

RETRO-SONIC FLANGER v2 

This is a dead perfect clone of Andy Summers Electro Harmonix '78 Flanger minus the scary noise floor. lol I thought the v.1 was perfect on video but some reviewers compared them side by each and the EHX had a teeny tiny bit more highs. Not now!!! The 9.9 rating just went to a 10.

Flangers are very hard to get right. If you check on a lot brands that sell a Chorus and Phaser they do not offer you a Flanger.

So a good Flanger is often pricey. There are others that are not only good but have a million bells and whistles. Mostly unusable lol. Ol' Andy used his a lot. Things I thought were his Jazz Chorus amp were actually 

done on the EHX Flanger.

DELAY

FLAMMA FC03  DELAY

This little mini pedal has only 3 voices. Digital Delay, Analog Delay and Tape Delay.

You simply do not need more!!! It covers everything but a U2 tune.. lol The specs are better than a Strymon! It is well made, looks great and $40. 

I forget  ...did I say $40? ...I did  ...I said $40.

OR ?

DUNLOP/MXR EP103 ECHO-PLEX

This pedal gets mixed reviews as many reviewers find other versions better

In actual use a bullet proof way to see just how good this is set up a rig that

is a clone of EVH's gear when he used the original tape one and compared.

Another tip from Dave Friedman. He has several high end delays but when he

goes for that classic 'brown sound' this is IT.

I do what Eddy did. Leave it on my all the time ...just pull it back when it too much effect for a particular tune.

Yes ...I thought like many that this pedal was hype and a pedal for guys that listened with there eyes. WRONG!!!

REVERB

FLAMMA FS02 REVERB

It covers the basic noises and a few of the hot ambience sounds. My Neunaber Immerse is NOT better sounding! This thing is $70!!! It is probable that FLAMMA will bring out a mini. If so I will be back here to delete this choice and put it here. All you need is a good Spring, Plate and Hall. 

In fact I expect I will leave it on Plate (says Dave Gilmour)

CAB SIMULATOR

SHIFT LINE A+ CABZONE LE

There are two statements that should never be said together "I do NOT NEED a Cab Simulator" with "Why yes! I do use a Combo Amp."

What is an ir? In plain language it is one dimensional sound of speaker cab. It fools the ear though it is one dimensional. It is no more real than a digital delay is real echo. 

Now let me tell you a well kept secret. Put a Marshall Stack ir at the end of your pedals going into your 'whatever' Combo Amp and listen to the sound you hear where the audience is standing. Please bring a change of underwear ...you will need it!

This little miracle is $100 and sits in the palm of your hand. It has 8 of the worlds best cabs. I use the MESA 4x12 Recto Standard. It is the biggest and deepest 4x12 that you can buy! If you get get a bigger gig with a sound guy coming up to stick a mic on your rig just get him to tap off from the CabZone.

SINCE YOU ASKED

All these pedals will fit on a board 2'x1'.

MY BIG RIG

I would hate to go this small. It requires a switcher that you can plug in 15 pedals. It would than need a lot of programming. Gig Rig G3 at $1400.00 USD does 14 I have yet to see more. 

I run my whole rig from 4 loops on my Boss ES 5 switcher. I could use the Joyo PLX 4. the Boss is overkill but it is both dependable and can be repaired or replaced word wide but it is $435.00 USD. The Joyo is $150.00 USD but at this price you could keep a spare.

The way I do it now on my big rig of two boards linked together is by using a switcher to plug in 4 loops. Each loop has a group of 20 pedals. It is just like having  4 separate and self contained boards with its own comp, verb, delay and gate. Two have effects. All have dirt pedals. You can see right away you need 4 comps, verbs, delays & gates but WTF.

It is simple to use, easy to set up your sounds and you will not need a high end switcher. Even they have a limited number of loops. You

still end up with more than one pedal in a loop.

Yes you could just settle on a digital multi FX board with all the bells and whistles. BUT if I have a pedal go down I do not lose my whole rig. I do not have to go without it for weeks while it is repaired. I can cherry pick every pedal for that  perfect sound. 

I only need to upgrade a single pedal if I change my mind a certain 

sound. Furthermore 

analog pedals still sound best for all but a few things like  delay and 

reverb. 

I have yet to see a guy with even a Fractal Audio Axe fX 3 without  a few analog pedals in front of it ...WTF!!! 

I may need 4 of some things but I can choose different brands. For example one of my 4 loops is for low gain and clean sounds and I like a optic comp so for that so I use the Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone. Another one is primarily medium gain drives and they sound killer thru a Dunlop Echoplex instead of the Flamma Delay. I now use 82 pedals. But I get a killer live sound. 

I also use 9 guitars live. All are different looking in shape and color. Most have a PAF at the bridge except for one with a Tele and another with a P 90. My semi & SG have two PAF's. Others use a P90, PAF, Ric, Gretsch, Gold Foil and another has an old Magnatone 50's PU although I see a Firebird PU in it's future.

MY GUITARS

Most of my guitars are heavily modded by a luthier who I have known for years who is known worldwide for his restoration of pre war Martin, Gibson, D'angelico, etc. guitars. He has more work than he can keep up with so he only takes references from a handful of clients from the past. Like Clapton and Dave Gilmour.

He said years ago he got a guitar sent not in a box but in a heavy wood crate and it was delivered by an armoured truck just like they use for shipping large amounts of cash or gold etc. On another occasion Clapton sent a roadie with a round trip airline ticket to fly thousands of miles just to deliver a guitar than get back in the cab and go to airport and fly back.lol

About 30 years ago he worked in a small store and anyone could walk in. I went in and said what I needed my guitar to do. I told him if he found anything that needed to be done to just do it. Do not phone me to discuss options  ...just do it. He never forgot. He also knows I like my guitars to look cool. I will also wait months to get just the right part. 

A good example is the neck PU on my Silvertone. It has a cover over it to disguise it to look like an early 50's DeArmond. If it had a Strat cover it would destroy the ascetic. The cover is made in Germany by some small place and I had to wait months. The bridge on my Airline is bent metal and adjustable The original was a rosewood acoustic style. Once again it is upgraded but does not look like it.

The pickguard on my Duo Sonic is made from a piece of plastic that is about 50 years old. The new tortoise shell plastics use digital photography for the look. When you get a magnify glass you can see the pixels.

Bottom line I only pay for parts not the labour. We both have great fun with my guitars. 

Trust me I can't make this sh@t up. He is a about 80 years old very reclusive and eccentric character :-) If he needs to get online he uses the PC at the public library. He lives in an old Victorian house with very neat rows of busted up guitars that are in long rows stacked to the ceiling. He buys this stuff up for their parts.

So my point is there is lot of work done to my guitars that you can only see but do not notice because he makes the mods look like the guitar is not modded but came the way you see it from the factory.

I owe the guy a lot so I help him find more busted up old gems and parts. Some beyond garbage old Japanese guitars have unique parts like switch plates heavily chromed etc. Even the knobs are often really cool.

Airline H-44 DLX
converted to an 
Airline H-88 Stratotone
Doublet w/ mods + to look like
a snowflake but sound
like an avalanche

2009 Ibanez Jet King JTK-30
A re-issue of the first Ibanez. It started life as a Guyatone LG30T in the 50's
Then some new upstart company that did not make guitars got Guyatone to put their Ibanez name on it. Retro looking yes but those P90's
remove walls pushing my Marshall.

1999 Godin Radiator
This was Godin's take on a late 50's MAGNATONE MkIII
even down to the PU's  I put in a Duncan Pegasus Prog Metal PU
A Ric style PU cover hides it and keeps the 50's look.
The quality of build makes even American Fenders look bad!

Lace Cybercaster
Designed by Grover Jackson and modded by
Billy Gibbons himself (long story)

...

Silvertone 1449 re-issue
In 63 Dano made the original for Sears...this limited
2 year run re-issue has a solid mahogany neck and body.
my mods? ...PAF & '64 Strat PU ...sounds killer!

Washurn HB 35 S

MIJ 1989 retailed for $2400.00 USD ...for serious Jazz Players
the quality is Gibson Custom Shop! I bought it mint for $275.000 USD
It got killer reviews but no buyers. It was immediately discontinued, ...resurrected years later from China...but the quality dumbed down 
...better than my old 1959 Gibson ES335
Keep in mind the old Gibson PAF's were scatter wound hand made
and if a few were crap ...they were checked that they worked but nothing more
My 335 sounded crap. When I got it in '67 no one made gourmet PU's.

Fender Duo Sonic
I ordered the guitar and without playing it took it straight to my luthier buddy
he removed the original pickguard & everything on it and started from scratch.
a new pickguard cut to fit a Duncan '55 Tele and a '66 Ric pickup.
The best Tele I ever owned ...lol

Gibson SG Standard
A Ltd. Ed. of a '74 with a NOS set of Classic 57 PU's
With this thru my Plexi it nails the sound of the 70's
I bought it used but it was new. A 'found under the bed' story
I paid $800 ...a total steal!!!

1990 Fernandes Native Pro
The Edge & Radiohead made it famous.
 Duncan Pearly Gates PAF & TV Jones Gretsch Filter'Tron
the whammy holds tune!!!
used $235.00 USD

_______________________________________________________________________

LENARD F-4G
My prototype. I expected to already have it manufactured and available for sale by now. C19 put a lid on that. It was scheduled in Nov. 2019 for an early 2020 introduction. But ready or not I can l bring it to a gig to show it off. 

In 1951 Leo Fender had notes and rough sketches on a new guitar for 1952. I found by threading together a lot info from different sources it could have looked like this. If you want the whole  story.

Go to the Blog ...The Second Best Guitar on the Planet. 

BUT the real purpose of this guitar is to give a Gibson guy the perfect Fender.
The scale and feel of the neck is from a Les Paul. With a Tele PU at the bridge and a Strat PU for the neck and middle both a Tele and Strat are covered.

THE WAY I SEE IT 

...is that all my guitars are set up to perform and deliver. None EVER need to be discarded for the hot new and better for issues of performance. I am 74 and not once has an really old guitar not been cool. They cannot get dated. They already are. lol. They are literally 'keepers' for life. The hot new models will be dated in a couple of years and who wants to wait 20 years before they may become cool again.

LAST THOUGHTS

If nothing else one thing every famous player has done is pick instruments and gear that no one thought were cool and made their unique character, sound and look their own.

There are a lot of cool old guitars that can be found for around $350 or less that may require as much or more to make a serious guitar. Yes they have terrible resale value. But are you in the retail business or are you an artist. If guitars are a hobby then follow the leader. I have a Fender Custom Shop Strat up for sale that I bought in 2006. Sure I was proud to own it but I hardly ever played it. On the other

I just look at my 'crazy' guitars and want to pick one up.

FOR THE DREAMERS ONLY

If you are a virtuosos or brilliant entertainer or maybe Mr. Gorgeous then ignore all this and get a Strat or an LP. But you are not going anywhere if you do not stand out. These days there are so many guys that are born with talent coming out of the pores of their skin. You can work hard and even surpass them. I did! BUT I am not a natural. When I was young I new Geddy Lee. He was already as good then!!! He may have got more creative over the years BUT not better ...he was already that good! 

If you see yourself as being a 'somebody' as an artist if nothing else you can pick the paint and canvas that others do not. In the end the audience judge the band and the music not by how it was constructive but by the impact of what is delivered. I could accomplish being an Andy Warhol but never a Leonardo Da Vinci if painting were my craft. Both have equal esteem! Just do it different but do it well!