Hey folks, been a while. Recently started playing out again last year, and decided that a major rig renovation is in order. Here's the new setup for home, studio, stage... everything.
Not the best photo, but I'm somewhat underequipped in the camera department (no thanks to all the headphones and guitar gear I'm buying). Anyway, have quit my Gibson habit (for now), and switched to Reverend. Had been rocking a Gibson Nighthawk for a few years (after rocking a Les Paul and SG for many more), mainly because of the wide variety of tones I can pull out of the Hawk. That said, there's a nasal twang to the Nighthawk that just annoys me, and it just doesn't have enough cut for me. Have also shaken up my pedalboard a bunch. Previously rocked a Timmy > Jetter GSB > Tech 21 Boost DLA > Malekko Chicklet > Mesa F30. But decided to take a different route after playing with this setup for a few years.
So here's the rundown on the rig:
Reverend Reeves Gabrels II > TC Polytune Mini > Walrus Audio Jupiter (Black Friday edition) > Tech 21 Oxford > Eventide H9 > ZT Lunchbox
Bascially, with this rig, I can pretty much cover a lot of ground tonally, plus run direct if I have to - the Oxford puts out a line level signal. I'm pretty much a dirty amp, roll off volume for clean tone kinda guy now. Most of the time when I play out, I don't bring my own amp and just use whatever's been catered for backline-wise. If the amp gets me where I wanna go, great. If I get a Jazz chorus, or some solid state thing, no worries - I'll run the amp in clean, and run the Oxford as a preamp to put me in my preferred tonal ballpark. Speaking of which, the Oxford gives me a wide range of Orange-flavoured tones - the knobs are amazingly dynamic and interactive, and a slight twist brings about a dramatic difference. Spent hours just experimenting with tones. Amazing. Sounds best run into the front of an amp, but it'll work for DI to a PA (didn't try), or direct into an audio interface for recording (tried, sounded decent but a bit too dry).
With the H9, I get to run more effects than just a delay and reverb (as I had on my previous board), but the single effect restriction forces me to really use these effects sparingly and make them count. I don't stack effects anymore, not like when I ran my monster 10-pedal board years ago. Have long repented of my many effects sins.
The ZT is really something else though. Its tiny size belies its huge, huge sound. It's solid state, puts out about 200W (Class A/B). It's got a lovely, lovely Fender-y clean tone. Brittle overdrive as you turn the gain up - not my thing, though might suit some raunchier blues players. Slightly mid-ish response which I had to dial out with the Oxford.
OK, I think I've gone on enough.Here's another pic of the Reverend. Because, flame maple top.
It's a super huge amp for being only 5 watts
