I know that some people have very specific rigs for their tones. Just curious what you guys are liking these days. Are most people using amp sims? For me I am an amp and mic kind of guy. I need to cover a lot of ground so I don’t have one specific rig. I have pieces that I put together to get what I need for each project.
Top 3 amps
Mesa single rec that I run through a 4x12 cab.
Fender deluxe reverb
Vox AC30 head and Cab. (New not Vintage)
Favorite Guitars
Gibson, es335
Blade tele
Fender Jazzmaster
Custom built electric guitar
Aria dreadnaught acoustic,
Favorite Pedals
I have a collection of vintage Boss DS-1’s and a hot roded new one.
Zake Wylde wah,
For amps I use a Mesa single rec as well :beerbang: and a Marshall Dsl. As well as a pod HD for modeling.
Guitars- Epiphone es339, Gibson les Paul studio, Fender Strat with a Duncan invader, epiphone les Paul gold top, fender showmaster, and others but I seem to be using these the most lately.
Pedals- I have a bunch but mainly just use a mi audio crunch box and a tone-wicker big muff.
Standard rig has been Marshall DSL 401 combo (40W, 1x12), and sometimes “Speaker Emulated DI Out”, and sometimes speaker out to Egnater Tourmaster 212x. I have quite enjoyed the Vox Valvetronix too, though a relatively low end product (12AX7 preamp + modeling amps) it makes some pretty decent sounds, especially for coming up with all kinds of different tones.
Favorite guitars are custom Carvin DC150 (neck thru, birds-eye maple neck) and Gibson Nighthawk (a Gibson/Fender hybrid if there ever [U]was[/U] one), BC Rich Bich (vintage), and Ibanez RGT42 (SuperStrat shredder, neck thru).
Don’t use pedals much, but I like the Fulltone OCD and use it on the Marshall clean channel sometimes.
However, after the “Purist vs. Pragmatist” Tone Thread debate on RR right before “the crash”, I decided to finally upgrade Guitar Rig (to GR5) so I could use it on my newer Windows machine. Wow, what incredible options and capabilities! I have been exploring that for weeks, and may well end up just going with GR for many things recording-wise. I was also still able to use my RigKontrol 2 (from GR2) foot controller with GR5. I’m really impressed a Mfr continued to support older hardware going forward! Really impressed with what they have done.
Solely ITB here, nothing but sims. I use my amp (a Peavey Vypyr 30W modeling amp) only for practicing. My go-to sims are Scuffham SGear-2, Amplitube 3&4, and CLA GTR. Also have the free LePou set but rarely go to them anymore. Ditto for some one-offs, like the Marvel Shred simulator that is built in to Mixcraft.
Electrics are a Heritage 535 (same as Gibson ES335), Les Paul '60s Tribute (P90s), and James Tyler Variax 59S (modeling). Acoustics are Martin DCPA1 (6-string dread), Martin GPC12PA4 (12-string grand concert), Pimentel custom steel-string and classical (luthier in Albuquerque NM). My closet also holds a Loar mandolin and modded MIM Fender P-bass.
I can’t say that there is any particular setup I go to more often than others… I reach for the Martin 6 most often when I want to just play, but when I have something to record I decide based on what I’m after (well duh!). I’m not a live performer except when I bring the Martin to a party or family gathering.
Heavily customised Yamaha RGX312 (the 80’s rocked didn’t they???), fitted with two Entwistle Nemesis pickups, and a Roland GK3 pickup internally wired, feeding into a Boss GP-10 guitar effects and synthesiser. The sounds from these are then fed into Logic Pro X, where I have Guitar Rig and the built in effects of Logic.
Wet/Dry/Wet aka…Left/center/right rig here. Mesa Triaxis/Mesa Simulclass 290 for the wings. G systems switcher and controller. Bradshaw pedal rack…Analog Man King Of Tone, Fulltone Fulldrive (Hardwired 20th anniversary version), Screddy Screwdriver for stomp boxes. Center amp switches between a Budda Superdrive 30, Matchless Phoenix, Badcat HC30, and Dr Z Maz 38. Shure ULX wireless, unless I’m in the studio. Then I run it strait.
I’ve built just about everything I own, gtrs, basses, amps and pedals. But I do have an old fender 85, a mesa studio 22 (modded) and an old silvertone twin… Also a couple of old peavey amps an cabs for bass. My main gtr amp is actually pretty ridiculous and with one or 2 pedals I can do whatever I want.
BUT…
When I record, I stay in the box. Even before I went “in the box” I was in the box of my Tascam 24 track… I used the sims in there for years. I found that no matter what amp/cab/mic I used, I still sounded like me. So I dug into the onboard dsp of the 2488 to find “unique” tones and went with them.
When I moved onto the laptop, I tried a bunch of sims and ended up using mostly free stuff until I bought Waves GTR3.
Also, even though I have upwards of 30 axes to play, 90% of everything I’ve recorded has been done with same axe. It’s probably the first “strat” ® I ever built from like 1990 or so and it gets the job done. It just happens to be the gtr that I decided would be my “upstairs” axe way before I even thought about mixing up here in my loft. I save the “room filling” sound for when I have company…
When I had my two custom acoustics built, I was able to visit the luthier many times while they were in work. Absolutely fascinating! My hat is off to anyone who can actually build a guitar… Rich, if I ever make it to Jersey, I sure would love to pay you a visit.
Yeah… I didn’t actually build those particular acoustics… all 3 of those were epiphones bought from MF’s damage bin… same with the jazzmaster peeking out on the side. I was mainly trying to find a pic of the amps :beerbang:
These days, An Axe FX 2 with A Mission Gemini 2 Studio Cab.
JCM-800
Gibson SG, Gibson Firebird. Fender Tele,Maton Acoustic. Ibanez Studio Bass. Ibanez 550.
I ever built from like 1990 or so and it gets the job done. It just happens to be the gtr that I decided would be my “upstairs” axe way before I even thought about mixing up here in my loft. I save the “room filling” sound for when I have company… 
Rich, if I ever make it to Jersey, I sure would love to pay you a visit. 
