Let's Talk Guitar Setups!!!

[Av's Dad]

Besides jazz, I play blues, country and fusion; so have a mixed arsenal of weapons depending on the occasion. I also rely on some of my other guits for jazz too for a different flavour.

For jazz:

Eastman 803
Roland Cube 60
Dr. Z Maz 18

Other Guitars:

Gibson Les Paul Classic Antique with Vintage Vibe P-90s
Edwards Les Paul with Sheptones
Tokai Les Paul (P-90s)
1990 PRS Custom
American Deluxe Ash Strat with Kinmans
Fender Baja Telecaster
Fender acoustic

Effects:

Diamond chorus
Marshall reverb
Timmy
HBE Power Screamer
Tonefactor auto wah
TC Juarneg boost
TC Juarneg tremolo
Boss OD-3
etc., etc., etc.

[wizard3739]

Currently using my Sadowsky "Jim Hall" signature model through a 1977 Polytone Mini-Brute lV for my weekly jazz gig. Also have a Stroup Benedetto copy and a Polytone Teeny Brute I use for acoustic-electric sounds (small rooms, low volume gigs). I am just starting to put together my Telecaster project guitar. (I have always wanted to do this)

wiz

[David B]

I'm thinking about picking up a Nanoverb lately, they seem to sound really great. I like my Verbzilla but you know guitarists, 1 is never enough.

Any thoughts on the Alexis nanoverb?

Hi Jake

I've no direct experience with the Nanoverb but opinions on it are mixed at best. One thing you need to bear in mind is that it can't be used with line-level devices (the input impedance is too low), meaning that you can't run your guitar straight into it. You would need to run the unit in the effects loop of an amp or after a buffered pedal (for example a Boss pedal - I assume that's how Kreisberg uses his).

If you can find one on ebay at the right price, I'd recommend an old Lexicon LXP-1. Monder uses one and Rosenwinkel and Frisell used to. I've got a tatty old one and the sound is fantastic. It can do some delay and chorus sounds but the reverb is what I bought it for.

In pedal format, the Digitech Hardwire reverb pedal (uses Lexicon algorithms) and the TC Electronic Nova Reverb (Rosenwinkel's current choice) are both well-regarded.

[JohnW400]

Jake,

I used one when I had one of those BOSE radiator systems. The original version did not have any DSP and the sound was dry. I believe I ran it as David B says. But I only used it on two gigis and it sits on my shelf (next to my Presonus Blue tube, Maxon AD8 and OD808, all virtually unused) in the original box. I remember thinking it was easy to use and sounded ok.

I've since sold the Bose so I don't need it. PM me if your interested.

[Jake Hanlon]

thanks for the tips.

I'll look into it.

[TieDyedDevil]

I'm thinking about picking up a Nanoverb lately, they seem to sound really great. I like my Verbzilla but you know guitarists, 1 is never enough.

Any thoughts on the Alexis nanoverb?

You'll either need a buffered pedal to run in front of the Nanoverb or an FX loop on your amp. You shouldn't plug your guitar directly into the Nanoverb. It won't hurt anything, but it'll drastically change the sound of your pickups.

[skei]

And after all this struggling to get the jazz sound I said to myself; 'enough is enough.'.
And as they had a evening sale at the music store I took the bus and as the micro cube was only 90 € i took it. And it sounds great. The JC clean is superb, and the boss chorus and reverb is there if wanted. I mean, it's a sample of the JC 120, it sounds great. No more fiddling around. Plug in, play. What computer geeks call 'plug n play'. And there is also the rock sounds if wanted. Which of course it isn't, but anyway, it's all there. Line out, possible to go battery if pick nick time summer yeah, riverside jazz. Line in for back up music if wanted.
Let me tell you this; coming from the shitty sound I have been struggling with, this is paradise. The only thing I must do in the morning is get another guitar cable for the line into macmini.
Heavenly. That's how it sounds...
Peace
Skei (the happy microcube owner one)

[showbiz]

Good one Skei. I am please you got yourself a Micro Cube and that you are very happy with it. Have lots of fun with it and later if you want something for gigging just aget a bigger cube, but until them you will get an enormus amount of use and pleasure out of this little ripper. I live in Australia and sit on my verandah palying through a Micro cube. By the way I can now be contacted on richard@archtopguitarsandbooks.com so if you want to chat to me your welcome.

[skei]

Yeah Showbiz, it's a pleasure to play it, nice sound even today when I plugged it into the mac! I didn't change particularly much in the settings, mainly fixed level etc. and recorded a blues for Charlie p.
Just improvised to try the sound, and I'm satisfied, that's for sure. And I also found out a new thing about garageband, something I've just missed; there is a bass amp to select in the settings, several in fact, so on Charlies blues I have a nice bass sound too!
If you want to hear the sound, it's at my jazz matrix, it's Charlie's blues, it's nice...
Peace
Skei (the microcube one)

[JazzyJim]

Apologies for digging up an old thread, but this is great for me, since i'm looking for a touch of inspiration for what will soon be my "final" (haha) rig...

So far, this is mainly what i'm using, with my apologies to the purists :

Fender Lite Ash Tele, strung light with Rotosound Yellows, medium action. A solidly made Korean Tele, weighs next to nothing and has a lovely tone.
I occaisionally use my Stratocaster or Partsocaster, or my Tokai Love Rock, but the Tele is my main guitar.

Pedalboard:
Fender PT100 Tuner - Nothing to shout about, but it works well enough.
Dunlop Hi Gain Volume pedal - it's noisy, and it has a bit of a strange sweep to it, but it's the volume pedal that sounds most like a guitar volume pot to me. I use the guitar volume all the time, so I just use this when I can't reach back in time to get there.
Dunlop CryBaby Wah - Again, very noisy. Been in every rig i've ever had. In dire need of replacement for something a little quieter. I rarely use it.
RPG Blue Flame - a Tubescreamer clone made for a music store in Milwaukee. It has more gain and volume than a regular TS, and it doesn't have such a pronounced midrange, which I really like. It's also super-quiet which I like considering my rig generally makes a fair amount of noise. My favourite OD pedal ever, and I played a *lot* of them when I was in rock bands.
Boss TR2 Tremolo - absolutely not the best tremolo ever, but i've had it for nearly 10 years. I did the C4 capacitor cut mod which really helped, but i'm still on the lookout for a good tremolo.
Boss DD3 - An early Japanese model. I use it a lot for self-oscillation and quick repeats.
Digitech Digidelay - I mainly use this for reverse delay or long repeats.
Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai - a very new addition for me, and I love it, being a delay nut. I use this for medium delays and odd sounds. From here my signal is split into....

Amps:
Fender Blues Jr Tweed - the older one, with the Jensen speaker. I like Mesa and Harma tubes. Depending on application/room, my settings are generally: Reverb @ 3, Master @ 12, Treble @ 5, Mids @ 7, Bass @10, Volume @ 4. I love it for recording, but it can be a little boxy, hence I run it in stereo with...
Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue 60R - the non-DFX one. Speaker is a Celestion. Without a doubt, the best solid state amp in current production for non-clean only application. Cheap, portable, lovely warm faux-tube sound, hugely reliable. Takes pedals really well, too. I only use the clean channel and my settings are normally: Clean @ 6, Bass @ 9, Mids @7, Treble @ 7, Reverb @ 4, Master @ 7.

So... apart from the other fuzzboxes, delays and OD's I own, and a whole bunch of other junk laying around, that's basically it! Sorry that was so long!

Oh, and I use Clayton 1mm small teardrop picks and Dunlop slides. If I must use a capo, I prefer Shubb's .

[Jazzarian]

archtops:
Gibson Super V CES (Custom Shop Master Model)
Gibson ES175
Ibanez GB10

solidbodies:
Gibson SG Standard (korina)
Gibson DC Les Paul Plus
PRS Custom 24
Fender Strat (american)
Fender-Roland Strat

Washburn d25 acoustic
Fender Jazz Bass MIJ

Amps and Preamps:
Boogie Mark IIC+
Boogie Mark IV
Boogie DC3
Boogie Formula Pre

Polytone MegaBrute
Acoustic 450

Line 6 POD X3 Live
Johnson J-Station

TC Electronics G Major
Yamaha I88x firewire A/D unit

Roland GR33 Guitar Synth

[Jazzarian]

I haven't gigged in a while but I still have my stuff (except for the Bose 'stick' that was a pain to carry around)

Jazz Guitars:

Gibson Super 400 CES
Gibson Custom Shop ES350T
Mark Campellone Custom oval hole archtop
Vince Colletti custom oval hole archtop
Cheap Samick with neck mounted pup (for sheding scales and such)

Other Guitars
Tele thinline with Duncan HB in the neck position and a Texas special - bridge postion

American Strat w Texas specials
Ovation Shallow Bowl acoustic (1990)
Yamaha C171 Classical

amps:

Fender Blues Jr
Carvin Nomad
Acoustic G120 (1970's)

Effects (don't really use 'em for jazz):

Maxon analog delay. (ds 800 or whatever)
Maxon tube screamer (808 " " )
Boss stereo chorus
Boss EQ ( I occasionally use this with the archtops and classical)
Alesis reverb and modulation effects unit (the cheap one)
old Zoom 500? modulation pedal

I really have way too much stuff for someone that only plays out a few times a year now. Its probably even too much for when I was doing 4-10 gigs a month.

You can alleviate all guilt by recording songs and putting them on the 'net. I try to knock out 9 to 12 songs per year.

Think of it as swapping "gigs" for gigabytes.

Equipment just loves staying at home, undented, undropped...........

[TieDyedDevil]

It has been nearly a year... things change.

I still play the Koll guitars. I have another (a true hollow body) in the works.

Mostly I play through an amp modeler (Digitech RP355) into a pair of powered speakers (QSC K10).

I still have the AER Compact 60, but don't use it as much. I also have a Phil Jones AAD Cub; that's my preferred amp when I have to carry an amp.

The pedals are on their way out or already gone.

OK, I'll play...

I play two Koll DL Thinline guitars. These were custom-made for me by Portland, OR luthier extraordinaire Saul Koll. The DLs are small-bodied instruments (roughly the size of a Gibson ES-336) with carved top and back and bent sides. The construction is a hybrid, halfway between a semi-hollow and a true hollowbody. Both instruments have maple bodies and ebony fingerboards. One has a maple neck, P-90 pickups and a Bigsby tailpiece. The other has a mahogany neck, humbucker pickups and a stop tailpiece with fine-tuners.

My amp is an AER Compact 60.

I prefer to play through the venue's PA when I play out. I bring along my own active DI just in case the venue doesn't have one. So far I haven't needed to use mine.

I keep a few pedals on hand in case I want to change the "color" of my guitar's sound or otherwise add a bit of sonic "spice":

- Boss RE-20 Space Echo
- Boss RT-20 Rotary Sound Processor
- Electro-Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai
- Digitech Digiverb Reverb
- Rocktron Deep Blue Chorus

I usually hook these up one or two at a time depending upon what kind of sound I want. I don't have (or want) a pedalboard.

That's it for the my gear that gets regular use. This is most of my gear. I have a few more pieces that I keep because I know that not having them will be an inconvenience at some point. As a rule, though, I sell gear that I don't use regularly.

[Innerurge1]

1967 gibson es-335
fender twin reverb
some pedals...

[P.J.]

Hello Everyone,

I'm just curious as to what everyone is using for guitars, effects, and amplifiers.

My current setup is the following:

Fender Stratocaster
Fender Telecaster
Fender Mustang
Ibanez Artcore AG75 Semi-hollowbody

From the guitar:

Morley Volume Pedal
TC Electronic Vintage Compression
Boss DS-1 Distortion
Boss Tremolo
Boss DD-6 Digital Delay
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler (coming out of right amplifier) --- for loops only
Electro-Harmonix Memory Man w/ Hazarai (positioned in the left amplifier's signal) --- for loops only

Rackmount:

Lexicon MPX-110 Multi-Effects Processor (for reverb only)
Sabine rackmount tuner
Furman Power Conditioner

From the Lexicon a stereo signal is sent to two amplfiers:

Jay Turser Classic 25RC (25-watts)
Fender Sidekick Reverb (35-watts)

When I'm playing over somebody's house or out live, my setup is very simple: Fender Strat, Line 6 DL4, Alesis Microverb, and a small amp usually a Crate Taxi 30-watt. This setup usually works well and since I don't hardly ever use distortion or have any need for it, I leave it at home. This setup also isn't a problem to setup like mine at home.

Alright, your turn.

I would put your compressor before your vol. pedal. I love my Morley vol. pedal. Have had it for a million years and it still works perfectly.

I have a Line6 DL-4 that I use for loops too. The switches are starting to get finnicky but it is great fun when it works. Gotta love the sped up/slow down backwards mojo that this pedal gives you. I wish my Digitech Jamman did that!

=-) PJ