Favorite Gear and Why

[C Hutcheson]

Ok, slow thread here. Let's get it going a bit...

Here's some of my favorite equipment and why I like the gear I do. Feel free to post the equipment you use and why you like it.

Nord Electro 2 - BEST keyboard for classic Hammond B3 sounds and classic electric pianos! I love this thing in the studio and live! The great thing about this keyboard is that everything is right in front of you... Distortion knob, rotary speaker simulator, effects, split key... Very user friendly. I see where Nord has a split version now (for all you classic Hammond B3 players who require two rows of keys!)

Audio Technica wireless horn mic & receiver - As a horn player, I've used this setup for almost 3 years, and it still sounds awesome. I have a guitar cable which is interchangeable, and there is also a head-set mic you can use with the receiver.

ART TPS-II 2-channel tube mic pre - GREAT for when I've used it live with my wireless horn mic! And a really good value coming in at under $200. It might not be the best studio mic pre, but for live sound it adds some depth to your sound.

Yamaha Motif - I just gave away an ES8 to a church - great sounds! I'm always impressed with Yamaha's electric piano sounds. Their rotary speaker simulator stinks for organ sounds, but the effects are great, and most other sounds are killer. The flute sound on the Motif is incredibly realistic! Hook up a midi-wind controller or breath controller, and you can sound like Justo Almario in no time.

Roland Fantom X7 - Awesome piano sounds, and great variety of synths! Not as heavy in the low end on piano like Yamaha's or especially Korg. For recording, this is good, because you can always go back and add lows via EQ.

Peavey KB/300 keyboard amp (4-channel) - My main live amp for 4 years now. LOUD and clean! Peavey makes great products.

And of course, I'm a Pro Tools user (LE 6.9.2 - haven't upgraded to V.7.0 yet). I'm looking into getting a high end mic pre (i.e. Avalon, Universal Audio, Focusrite, Summit) and more DSP. Anybody for discussion on plug-ins & setups? I'm looking to add 4 or 8 more mic inputs for my studio setup. I've read about the Universal Audio plug-ins & DSP accelerators, and am considering that purchase.

Schecter Elite 5-string bass - Great electronics! The action is good, but I'm not a bass player. A true bassist could probably set it up optimally. The electronics are astounding for the price, though. Lots of tonal variations.

Yamaha DTXtreme II electric drum kit - GREAT kit! My only beef with it is that one of the crash cymbals has a tendency to choke itself if you don't hit it just right.

Ok, gotta run - at work! Looking forward to other replies.

[russhutto]

sadly, I have no equipment, and never have...haha.

My resources are all wrapped up in grad school, my wife's that is!

We're just plugging along, and counting down the days until she gets out of school and gets a job! I'm sure I'll be able to grab a piece here and there as our income streams increase!

I do have a pretty sweet ovation guitar (on loan) that I like to play. It's an older model, and a little banged up, but it's great unplugged and plugged in. I play it through an inexpensive boss digital pedal, can't think of the model off the the top of my head.

Use the Korg Triton LE at church.

And that's about it...

[C Hutcheson]

I was "gearless" for a looooong time. Finally, one day it dawned on me to get a job so I could buy something other than food. (Ahhhhh, revelation!!!)

Seems as though I'm in a very fruitfull and productive time in life right now (after years of wandering and pleading, "Why, oh, WHY don't I have a record contract yet??? Where is that provision that the prosperity preacher told me about???")

Praise God for patience, tools & toys!

[El Ben]

Since I utterly HATE leading worship and playing at the same time, let's assume for a moment that I was JUST playing keys. My dream gear would look something like this:

A double stack with a Yamaha Motif ESX 8 on bottom and a Korg Triton Studio Pro on top with a vintage Rhodes on one side and a Hammond B3 on the other. Granted, this kind of setup would cost something like $20,000+. I better start saving, huh?

[C Hutcheson]

Go with the Yamaha MO series (basically the same as the Motif without the sampler & sequencing stuff), get a Korg Triton 61 key version (cuz you won't be using it for pianos anyway - or at least I wouldn't with the Motif), and buy the Nord Electro 2 keyboard for electric EP's and B3 organ (KILLER organ sounds & Lesli simulator!). Do that, and you'll be well under the $20,000 budget.

Why go vintage if you have to haul it around? Weight is bad. Light-weight is good!!! (Yeah, easy for me to say... A 255 lb. weightlifter...)

I swear by my Nord Electro2. In the past few months I've recorded a gospel group with a B3 organist who toured Europe when he was younger, played Royal Albert Hall and many of the famous European venues as a B3 specialist, and he loves the Nord Electro2. The Nord is light, portable, and super easy to use.

By the way, I just put in my order for a Korg MicroX for a missions trip I've got coming up. The software looks really cool, too, which can be used seperately as a plug-in for your DAW system. I've needed a MIDI controller for my home studio, so this keyboard will come in handy. I'm also about to order a Roland VP550, which would be great for my live gigs as a backup singer, and also very useful in my home studio! I find myself recording a lot of choir type tracks lately, especially with solo artists and gospel projects.

[SeanMichael]

Great topic! I've been told I'm a bit of a gear nut many times.

Drums & Percussion
My primary instrument are drums and various percussion. I own a couple kits but my main is a 6pc Pearl Masters. I have is mounted on a rack w/ a small army of cymbals. I also have a set of congos, bongos, and a djembe and doumbek to round out the hand percussion.
I'm with El Ben when it comes to playing and leading worship at the same time. I'd rather not do it! Lately I've been having another drummer sit in while I lead from the "normal" up front position. I have to say that leading worship while sitting behind the kit has been a challenge, but w/ the grace of God it has been rewarding.

Guitar
I just purchased a Martin guitar which sounds amazing! It's my first guitar and I am picking that up more and more.

Pro Audio
I own a lil PA setup which includes:
x2 JBL 125 cabs
x2 Cerwin Vega subs
x3 Yamaha monitors
Various Shure mics including a couple of headset mics for leading and playing at the same.
A couple of mixers one 24 channel and a little 12 channel that I use to create my own monitor mix at the drums,
Various signal processors and power amps to run everything.

Recording
For my own personal recording I have a little setup centered around a Fostex 16 digital recorder. I use this to lay down song ideas and rough demos.

I love gear...

[dan_tone]

While it may not sound that exciting. Right now, my favorite piece of gear is the Peterson Strobostomp Tuner (http://www.petersontuners.com/) my wife got me for my birthday. It takes a little getting used over your standard LED tuners, but it's really pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and man is it accurate. Built like a tank too.
Another nice feature is that it mutes my guitar when I'm tuning too, and yes I know a lot of stompbox tuners do this (e.g. Boss TU 2), just pointing it out. Also it's worth mentioning that there is a newer version of this pedal out now, though most of the improvements seem minor.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/502625169_e0d0223418.jpg

[El Ben]

I know this is off-subject, but I can't help but think that tuner looks a lot like an old hand-held video game I used to have back in the day. I think it was Virtua-Racer or something like that. Very nice.

[twc_admin]

Hey -
I wanna just echo what Chuck posted earlier about the Yamaha MO ... got it, love it. I dont' think the grand piano sounds are as good as the S-Series, but you win some and lose some.

[dan_tone]

I know this is off-subject, but I can't help but think that tuner looks a lot like an old hand-held video game I used to have back in the day. I think it was Virtua-Racer or something like that. Very nice.

You know, it's funny you mention that. This past Sunday, one of the vocalist on our worship team grabbed the pedal and basically said the same thing and started making car noises (e.g. vvrrrooooomm, errrrrr, vrrrrooomm... well, not exactly like that, but you get the idea ;) ). If I remember correctly, the box does indeed have a checkered flag racing stripe or something like that.

[russhutto]

Still gearless. Still putting my wife through grad school...

Hopefull she'll get a great job and we can buy all the gear my heart desires.

[The Tone Guru]

Favorite gear purchase I've ever made in the last 15 years: Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic (http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/effectsdescr.shtml#twin_tube). I've been through most of the slightly-better-sounding-than-a-screeching-cat overdrive pedals out there and nothing satisfied me like this all tube overdrive pedal does.

[dan_tone]

Favorite gear purchase I've ever made in the last 15 years: Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic (http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/effectsdescr.shtml#twin_tube). I've been through most of the slightly-better-sounding-than-a-screeching-cat overdrive pedals out there and nothing satisfied me like this all tube overdrive pedal does.

That pedal has caught my eye recently. Just curious, but what amp and guitar do use it with?

[The Tone Guru]

That pedal has caught my eye recently. Just curious, but what amp and guitar do use it with?

My primary guitar is a '62 Reissue Strat with Vintage Noiseless pickups into a Vox AC30CC. I had been using an SG with Seymour Duncan stacked P90 humbuckers, but sold it on ebay recently. You can see some pics on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/jaysellers).

[WorshipCity]

Wow another fan of the Strobostomp. I got excited about it and trialed one out from my buddy who owns his own guitar company (shameless plug for theperfectbass.com!) The biggest draw for me was that it was a tuner AND DI box for us acoustic players. Needing only pedal now to travel with instead of my TU2 AND a DI. BUT I HATED IT! Hahaha. I mean it's cool and works GREAT but to tune on the fly like after breaking a string or needing to drop tune or something quickly, I couldn't concentrate on the correct column of spinning bars! AND it's nearly impossible to perfectly tune all 3 of the lil columns! and that weirds me out.

The irony in this lil story is that my electric guitarist loved it so much he bought 2!! 1 for his pedal board and 1 for his spare pedal board that I use!

[WorshipCity]

Whoops my favorite gear! I sold my old electric gear and tried to 'perfect' my acoustic rig:
Benito Grand Auditorium - alerce/rosewood
Boss TU2
Avalon U5

My electric guitarist greatest friend lets me use his electric rig to keep my GAS at bay :)
'89 Fender Strat Plus
Fender Blues Jr.
Favorite pedal on the board is probably the Boss DD20.

[walkerjerry]

For church I mostly use a POD XT Live. If you really spend the time tweaking it, it sounds great.

The rest of my gear:
Guitars:
- Fender American Standard Telecaster (modified with: Seymour Duncan Vintage '54 and Alnico II Pro pups, bone nut, different orange drop cap, etc).
- Gibson Les Paul Studio (chambered body type).
- Taylor GSRC w/Expression System (being made actually).

Amps:
- Peavey Windsor Head
- Mesa Boogie Custom 4x12 Stiletto Cab w/Greenbacks
- Peavey Classic 30
- Mesa Boogie Stiletto Deuce
- Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special
- Krank Revolution Custom w/Krank 4x12 Cab (modded with Vintage 30's)
- This amp is not really for worship :) (For sale)

Effects:
- Boss NS2 (invaluable)
- Dunlop 535Q Cry Baby
- MXR Dyna Comp
- Maxon OD808
- Line 6 Roto Machine (in stereo)
- Line 6 DL-4 (in stereo)
- I use these all the time in my main rig
Other Effects
- Ibanez Lo Fi LF7
- Boss BF2 Flanger
- Boss SD1
- Boss RV3
I really love all this stuff, I have had a lot of other stuff too. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions as to why. :)

[free_by_grace]

Bass Guitar- I fell in love with the Ibanez Soundgear back in the late '80's when I saw somebody playing one at a camp. I later bought my first bass guitar - a natural maple Ibanez SR505 while in college with a little bit of spare change. I love this bass, but I am hoping to eventually go to a bit higher quality 5-string that is still lightweight with great sound quality.

Bass Head- I bought a Peavey 400 watt bass head a few years back and just love it for durability and power. It's heavier than the cabinet I use, though.

Bass Cabinet- I don't yet have my own cabinet yet, but I drool over the SWR 4x10 cabinets with a tweeter horn. Gonna need to save some good money to buy one used.

Acoustic-Electric Guitar- I currently play an Epiphone ElDiablo... a fiberglass-back shallow acousti-strat. I play it with a Korg G-2 digital effects pedal board (which I use for my bass, too). My "when I get rich and famous" drool guitar would be a Rainsong WS-1000. Carbon-fiber body that resonates beautifully, weather-immune, and the best thing I've ever played from a music store. Again... need to find some money somewhere in order to get one.

[JimBusch]

I play a 1993 Fender Standard Stratocaster on my worship team. I run it through a Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9, which in turn goes through a DOD Tech 8 processing board. I set the drive and level knobs on the Tube Screamer to maximum position, and the tone knob to noon. I use the Tech 8 mainly for delay and for the volume pedal. I do not use any distortion on the Tech 8 because it sounds tinny. The Tube Screamer gives a very nice tube amp sound, and mixed with the delay gives a very nice sound overall.

I just discovered this website yesterday. I love it!

[Steve Lowe]

my current lineup is my favorite..

Electric Guitars:
'03 Les Paul Studio
'05 Epiphone Dot Studio
Cheap tele copy that's currently disassembled
'57 Les Paul Custom (doesn't get out much)

Acoustic Instruments:
'01 Larrivee L03
'63 Gibson J-50
Martin Backpacker
Rogue Mandolin (just got it, haven't learned to play it)

Bass Guitar:
Squire Jazz Bass

Pedal Board:
Korg DT10 tuner
Boss LM2 Limiter
Digitech Bad Monkey OD
Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde
Tonefactor Copperhead dual boost/OD
Boss TR2 Tremelo
SiB Mr. Echo delay
Jacques Meistersinger Chorus
EH Small Stone Phaser
Boss Pitch Shifter/Delay
Dunlop Volume Pedal
Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Amp:
Peavey Classic 30

Modeller:
Line 6 POD XT Live

Church playing:
For Acoustic I use a Zoom 504II into ART Tube MP direct to PA
For Bass I use the XTL with the Bass pack into the ART Tube MP direct to PA
For Electric I use the XTL into the ART Tube MP direct to PA

I just bought a set of Shure E3 in-ear headphones for use with our Aviom monitoring system - I love them!

[CCGDGreenwood]

I'm pretty sure my wife is going to make me sell something soon. Since I just received a Carvin AE-185 six string, I better say that's my favorite. Especially since it cost twice as much as any previous guitar purchase.

Tomorrow will be it's first use at church. The exact setup may evolve but here is what I'm going to try:

The Carvin has two 1/4 inch outputs, one from the acoustic Baggs pickup in the bridge one from the two electric humbuckers.
Acoustic output->SKB ps45 pedalboard using Korg AX1500G multieffect. This will add stereo chorus and some hall reverb and go to PA via Behringer direct box which has a 4x12 cabinet emulation.

Electric output->same pedalboard using (optionally) Boss OD3 overdrive pedal into a digitech RP50 multieffect. RP50 adds compression and delay -> Carvin vintage 16 tube amp on stage which is mainly for monitoring. I may mike the amp into another PA channel - undecided at this point.

I also have a 1974 Fender Strat with lace sensors, an Ibanez AG75 archtop with aftermarket pickups ( probably selling that ) and an Ibanez Artcore acoustic electric.

Randy

[Klampert]

I use:

Breedlove AC25/SR Plus (amazing sound and really warm but still cuts through)

Epiphone Les Paul Custom in white with Sperzel tuners, Dimarzio custom pickups and push pull splitter (great guitar...heavy and rockin..and with the customizing I can get a tele sound also)

Gretsch G5120 hollow body orange (absolutely gorgeous and sounds so sweet)

Parker Nitefly SA (Killer electric sound, close to les paul and versatile strat sound along with piezo pickups very close to acoustic sound. Also has a really thin neck)

POD XT Live (very versatile stop box..perfect for switching sounds on the fly in worship)

Ebow Plus (great for souring flute like leads)

Sennhieser E835 vocal mics. beautiful

AKG C1000s vocal mics. very dynamic and powerful

Intelitouch tuner (great live and with non plug in instruments)

Behringer 32 channel board

Behringer and crown power amps

Bose 902's

[herose1]

I play a custom Carvin Claro Walnut LB76. I had it wired with coil taps on both the neck and bridge pick-ups. This, with the piezos in the bridge, affords me tons of tone possiblities without the use of effects. At this time, I run direct at church but soon hope to own a Yamaha BBT500H and a SWR Triad cab. I also use a Line6 XT Live for compression.

[KingsCourt]

My best and most prized equipment is my Taylor 615CE, and my Bose L1. If God plays live acoustic music, He's doing it through a Bose L1 and playing a Taylor.:D

[cnreng]

You guys have listed Lots-O-Great gear here. So many goodies, so little playing time.

Bass:
My Tacoma Thunder Chief is awsome. Next best thing to an up right bass for tone.
My Rogue LX406 (6 string) for the money, hard to beat. The electronics are just ok (I use it mostly in passaive mode though a POD XT Live) but when I got the setup right it plays fantastic. You can pick these up for about $250 or less. I was a skeptic at first but now it is my 'do anything' bass. When looking at bass's, don't discount this one. One draw back i found was the first time I played it at church no one could hear me. Turns out the FOH eng saw all six string 'guitars' on stage and turned the bass level off :o
I play direct (through the POD XT) for the most part but I have played throught a SWR Workingmans 15 and wish I had one. Those things are so sweet.

Guitar (I mostly a bass player but do switch hit on occasion)::rolleyes:
'79 Takamine F390S: A very very sweet box. I have had this for over twenty years and would probably get rid of everything else before I parted with this. I keep wanting to add a pick up to it, but I am so protictive that I haven't been able to do it. (yet)
Line 6 Variax Acoustic. I was out looking for a travel guitar when I stumbled upon this. Sat down played it and walked out with it. What happened there:confused:. I also play mandolin and the instrument this thing models are incredible. My mandolin and 12 string spend most of their times in cases now. Plus most of the models allow you to have alternate tunings (electronic). I have one custom setting with an open A5th tuning and another one down an octive. (another time the sound guy did not see a bass and he turn my levels off). Plus when coupled to the POD XT Live settings are selected through the POD XT. Pretty cool.
'76 Takamine 12 sting: not a fav and am thinking of parting with. (see Variax above)
'83 Custom build mandolin. I friend of mine built this for me and I have abused and played (sometimes at the same time) this forever. Just wish we would we would use it in worship.

Effects:
POD XT Live. You can go up in price and get a Roland VG or down to a Yamaha Magic Stomp (both of with I think are great), but the POD is hard to beat. I downloaded some custom tones and tweeked them to my liking. Add that I can select which patch the Variax uses from it also. Aux input, nice for practice. Headphone jack, I use for my in ear monitor. USB port which you can record through (I don't think I have even tried this feature). Built in tuner. blah blah blah blah. I use it with my bass's also.

BBE: I would like to have one of these. Like instant EQ. I have not heard a bad sound through this guy.

Lexicon 110 stero effects: Used manly for warmth. A little reverb, A little echo. I mostly use the 'Concert Hall' on lightly. For < $100 used a good deal. I use this mostly on vocals.

Mix:
Yamaha MG16/4. Basic mixer. Good price. Good for live & practice. Ok for recording. I went with this one over the MG12/4MX as I wanted more busses and the effect eats one of them. No choice. We used this at a recent mens retreat. Main outs to FOH speakers and aux to guitar/vocal monitors. Worked well.

Sound Renforcement
I don't currently own a PA setup yet, but I do like the Carvin stuff. looks like a good $ per value.
Berhinger ACX1000. I do allot of acoustic type stuff at lower volumes and this fit the bill nicely. two channel X 60 watts each.

Recording
Mackie Onyx 400F: Great unit for my needs. probably allot more than I will ever use. And very simple to setup.
Tracktion 2 software: Simple, easy to use. I've done allot of transposing recordings into the key we play in. Nice when learning a new song on the bass.

[Klampert]

Thats some great gear...
the high end variax acoustic is so sweet with the internal alternate tunings...

[cnreng]

I have been blessed with an understanding wife (to a point:o) and a love for peanut butter and jelly:rolleyes:

[Klampert]

I am right there with you...MMMMM PB&J...i dont think its possible to be effective in ministry without an understanding spouse

[walkerjerry]

BBE: I would like to have one of these. Like instant EQ. I have not heard a bad sound through this guy.



Yea I also use an older stereo BBE Sonic Maximizer in my rack. They are great when used right.

[Wildwind]

PODxt - most fun guitar toy I've ever owned. Capable of some great sounds (takes a while to master it, but you can yank some truly fine guitar tones out of one) and lots of fun to play with.

If you're interested, POD owners, try this - grab the manual. Go the section where they talk about the modeled amps. The manual will often tell you how to set up POD go get that amp's original tone, like for an old Champ or something. PODs have way more knobs than some of these old amps. Set the knobs like they say to hear the original. It's kind of cool "walk in the past" with these great old amps and maybe inspire some new tones.

Close second - my Melancon Pro Artist (boutique chambered Strat). Incredible instrument made by a great man in small numbers. It's a truly divine worship guitar and I'm so blessed to own one and to call Gerard Melancon my friend and brother in Christ.

Greg

[CCGDGreenwood]

Melancon Pro Artist I'll have to check that out, never heard of it. I just got a Carvin AE185 so I'm probably out of spouse credits for some time to come :-) I've always been interested in the Pod XT live, but am getting by on a combination of two multi-effects mounted on a pedal board. I use the chorus and delays of the Korg AX1500G for the acoustic pickup on the carvin, and run the other 1/4 inch output from the humbuckers through a Digitech RP50 into an amp on stage.

I tried my son's PodXT but it seemed to similar to the Korg I didn't buy one.

Randy

[Klampert]

You know I swear by my XTlive. We all know that buying individual pedals is way better, but uh...Im broke and this thing is amazing...It requires tweaking and creating with it to get the best sounds for your gear...and its well worth the time

[Stevie Nature]

I also have a Carvin AE 185. Love it. The only problem is that I don't have an amp anymore. Mine was an old Peavey and it finally gave out. I also recently picked up a Guild GAD 25 for settings where I don't need to plug in. I ended up putting a L.R. Baggs Element in it. It actually has a surprisingly good sound for the amount of money it cost. I use that mostly now. I'll probably go back to the Carvin when I get another amp, but who knows when that will be.

[AD(J)]

The electric set up begins with a purple, stop tail Peavey Wolfgang (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/silentman/wolfie/IMG_0481.jpg). I have no picture of mine readily available, so I linked. And don't think I'm fruity, because when I got it, purple was about the only colour guitar I didn't have, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. It turned out to be the perfect guitar for me, so it's the only one I kept all these years.

27 guitars later, that's saying something.

This is followed by the effects chain: Guitar > Morley Wah > Boss Compressor > Boss AC2 Acoustic Simulator > ABY Switch to route the different outputs from the AC2 > EH Big Muff > Kerry King 10 Band EQ > Line 6 Tap Trem > One or two Line 6 Echo Parks > Morley Volume.

When I go acoustic, I just use the volume, compressor and delay. You set the delay super short and keep the repeats at about 50%, and that thickens your acoustic tone and adds a lot of rich sustain. It's the same thing that guys like Santana do with electric guitar. For electric, that's why sometimes use two delays. One is dedicated to the sustain and thickness, then the other is used for the actual echoes and repeat effects.


The best piece of equipment on the floor is the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power II. It is a basic DC brick that powers all the pedals, but each power channel is shielded so it completely eliminates the 60 cycle hum. The result is just a plain, clean, crisp, beautiful signal to feed into your amp of choice.

(In this photo, they're not in the same order as I use now, and they're not all actually there, but you get the idea. This photo is from when I first moved up to a new, bigger pedal board.)
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2652/833385906lgd4.jpg

This feeds into a nothing special Marshall 60 watt, so meh. It's solid state, but I'm working on getting something with better tone. I do what I can.

My favorite amp right now is this old 8 watt Webster Chicago (http://irelocus.blogspot.com/2007/06/natural-part-ii.html) from 1947. It's a hand wired all tube amp with no mother board in the back, so it's a big mess of wires and capacitors and stuff. Scary. They were made to go with portable record players, so they're not super loud, but it's the perfect living room practice amp with incredible tube sound. It has the original tubes in it, as a matter of fact, which just adds to the ambiance.


I still need to install a grounded plug, so I get shocked once in a while if I touch something metal.



So, the Peavey Wolfgang, the Voodoo Lab power supply, the Echo Parks and the Webster Chicago amp. Those are my faves right now.

[Stevie Nature]

ireLocus,

We may disagree on some things, but I think we can agree that, that is a pretty sweet setup. And for the record I like the purple

*Stevie turns green with envy, looks at his equipment, begins to sob loudly.*

[AD(J)]

Rock on, Stevie.

[stephen_can_man]

I own a Taylor 314CE that I play through a wireless shure transmitter. It is great at practice, because I can walk around the stage. I have the fishman pickup, and I intentionally purchased it without the Expression System because I think the ES sucks in a band mix. Sorry Taylor and thank God for Ebay.

I also use the PodXT Live and I actually purchased it after I read an article on Lincoln Brewster. He admitted that he was being "lazy" and only using the PODXT Live on stage and in the studio. Hmmm, makes you wonder...so I guess I'm lazy too.

My electric is a PRS Tremonti SE. Not a very good guitar, but it serves its purpose and I always look cool. I know its nuances and can still make its humbuckers sing.

I also have an Alvarez MD 90 that I installed a Fishman pickup in. I tune it down to D and use it occasionally (like when we did the Goo Goo Dolls cover "Give a Little Bit"). It's usually my beater, but I got a cheap Takamine for that now.

Key Note* Gear is important, but, if you are a bad musician, all the gear in the world can't save you. I have several rich friends that own PRS guitars, Fender tube amps, Marshall stacks, and the most expensive Taylors/Martins. They never get complimented or encouraged when they play at church or in their bands because, well, they aren't very good. I get 3 times what they get from their rigs at a third of the price. Why? I practice.

I practice whenever I can and I practice smart. When I bought the XT Live I also bought two books. One book was on vintage amps, the other on vintage stomp boxes. I liked to read, and it helped me a lot! If you know your gear, then you can get the most from it. Buy lessons before gear, you will enjoy your gear much more when others (and you) are enjoying what they hear.

Sorry I got on a soap box, but, it always bugs me to see my friends dump a ton of money into gear when they need to learn to play better. It's like giving a 13 year old keys to a Ferrari.

[Jimmy Purchase]

When i'm leading i play my Breedlove AC25 and run it through some of my pedals, just my delay, tuner and reverb

For Worship, i play a Fender Thinline Telecaster (with humbuckers) its an amazing guitar, made in mexico but has the same soft neck as the American strats and tele's.

My pedal board is this (in order): Erinie Ball Volume, Fulltone Full-Drive 2, Boss Blues Driver (i'm thinking of getting it Moded by Keeley), Boss DD-6, Boss RV-3 (an AWESOME pedal that boss doesnt make anymore Reverb+Delay), and to top it off a Boss TU-2. i'm also thinking about getting the keeley compressor or the compressor from MDX

I run them all on a SKB powerd board

Amps: i just baught a Stulce amps ( www.stulceamps.com ) all hand made amps, all tube and only 10watts perfect for getting awesome tone without the stage volume, its coming in the mail towards the end of the month, i'm really exctied get it!!!

[walkerjerry]

Yea I have an RV-3, it is a great pedal. Although I really never use it any more in favor of a Line 6 Dl-4. Gotta have those multiple delay settings ya know..

[jshizzle]

I used a taylor 714ce. But I wouldn't recommend it any more. If I had to buy another acoustic now, I'd get a breedlove. Seriously, it's made by a guy that used to work w/ Taylor, and it's made in the US, Oregon actually. The wood is quality, the neck feels like a taylor, the craftsmanship is top notch, and the price is half of what a comperable Taylor is. Check it out.

My electric gear is as follows: us strat hot rodded w/ seymore duncan pickups- hotrails in the bridge, quarter pounder in the mid, and little '59 in the neck. the switching is all rigged so I can use either humbucker as such or as a single coil, so I still can rock that sweet strat sound.

My pedal board has (in order) the boss tu-2, fulltone clyde deluxe (best wah pedal I've ever heard), ibanez tube sceamer, fulltone fulldrive 2 (best od pedal ever), line six delay pedal everyone has or should have w/ the 4 buttons, and the boss dd-5 w/ extention tap tempo pedal for stereo delays.

My amp is a 70's fender champ (6 watt tube powered 8" speaker) awesome. Also, my church has a vox ac302xcc (w/ greenback speakers). if I ever move and need an amp, I'll seriously consider this one. Built in tremelo is SWEET!!

[C Hutcheson]

So few bullets...

Just kiddin'. If I were really serious, I'd shoot the over-playing blues harp player.

Ain't got my Roland VP550 yet - trying to buy a new house, but now I'm thinking about the Korg M3. Lots of bells & whistles on that baby.