John’s gearhead page

I love reading about other peoples guitar gear so I thought I'd share mine with you.

I carry way much too much gear with me for most of the venues we play, but unlike perhaps someone who owns a Picasso painting and then sticks it in a vault, I'm lucky enough to own some decent vintage equipment and I want to get it out on the road and use it!

Since 2009 I have been using this rig:

My main amp is the fantastic Fender Vibro-King (as used by Pete Townshend)

Prior to 2009 my rig looked like this:

Amps

• Mesa Boogie 100 watt dual rectifier solo head into a Marshall 2 x 12" cab with vintage Celestions loaded
• Vox AC30 top boost, 1964 JMI model with silver Alnico speakers

In the rack (top to bottom)

• Digitech IPS33B harmonizer – used for Leslie sounds, chorus and string effects
• Boss GX700 guitar processor – for reverb, tremolo and occasional delay sounds
• GCX switching system – the brain which controls the whole damned thing
• Korg A3 – vintage 80’s processor used by The Edge on many Zoo-era tracks
• Korg SDD3000 – classic vintage delay, again used by The Edge as his main delay
• Furman Power Conditioner

On the floor (left to right)

• Foot controller for Vibro-King (Fat switch and Vibrato)
• Napalm Loop. (This acts as a dedicated "true bypass" effects loop for the Vibro-King and allows me to switch the rack in and out without having the signal passing permanently through it, which is what would happen if I used the built-in Vibro-King effects loop. The Korg SDD 3000 for example, is notoriously noisy, and by having a separate switchable loop I can keep the signal completely clean when I’m not using the rack effects )
• Digital Music Corp Ground Control Pro – a midi switcher to control the rack effects through the DMC GCX controller.
• Custom built pedal board (see below for details)

• Pedal Board (signal routed in following order using George L cables):
  • Vox 847 Wah Pedal (on right of board)
  • MXR Dynacomp (compressor)
  • BK Butler Tube Driver
  • Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer (green)
  • Peterson Strobostomp Tuner (blue)
  • Loopmaster ABY Amp switcher (out to AC30, Rack and Mesa Boogie)
  • Boss FV 300 expression/volume pedal (on left of board)

Guitars

I have a bunch of different guitars; mainly the classic stuff like Gibson, Rickies and Fender, but I usually only take three out to gigs:

• Back left to right
  • Fender USA Telecaster (5 strings and tuned to open G like Keef)
  • Fender USA Stratocaster 1976 (all black)
  • Fender USA Stratocaster Plus 1989 (red)
  • Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster Eric Clapton signature (pewter)
  • Gibson Les Paul Custom (black)
  • Takamine EN10C Acoustic
• Front left to right
  • Rickenbacker 330 12 string (red)
  • Gibson ES 335 (cherry)
  • Rickenbacker 330 6 string (Fireglo)