Line 6 Roto Machine

This is my first Line 6 pedal and I'm pretty thrilled with this one.  And for recording, it goes direct in and the sound is there.

Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer

I only use it at home when recording, mainly for the bass.  I love it.

Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner

Well, if you don't have a tuner of any kind then you can't be very bright.  Anyways, these are a little more than your $30 tuners but for playing out, you can't go wrong with these.

Maestro Phaser

O, how I love thee.

There is no better phaser on the planet compared to a Maestro phaser.

Now it may be noisy but I still recommend putting this before the Distortion pedal.

These are the best wahs.  But no matter what wah you buy, they never last too long. 

It sounds fine; nice sweep too.

I get in these paranoid moments where I don't want to take certain things out on the weekends.  I bought this to replace the Phaser.  It doesn't sound anything like a rotating speaker but it is an excellent chorus pedal.

Heil Sound Talk Box

I still say this was the best $200 I have ever spent on anything.

Guaranteed to turn heads.

Since batteries aren't getting any cheaper, especially 9 volts, I decided to try one of these.  Magic.  It's not compatible with all pedals but it is for the ones I use.  Highly recommended.

It's a tube preamp.  It was a gift and it's OK.  I haven't used it on vocals but it works wonders on a bass.

Tech 21-NYC SansAmp TRI-AC

Since my Fender Vibro Champ has been aging, I started to notice a high-end fuzzy coating over sound and I really started not to like it.

Also, currently being in an apartment I wanted to look at something that I could go direct into the 2488 and sound good.  I got what I paid for when I got this.  I just love it.  3 different amp settings too.

Amplifiers

Well, when I get some pictures of them I'll put them up.  What I do use is:

at home, a sliver face Fender Vibro Champ (pic coming soon)

out playing, a Vox VT50 since my Fender Deluxe (I think it's a Hot Rod Deluxe - late 90s) died.

still at my parents' house, a black face Fender Super Twin (no reverb but Parametric EQ)
 

Recording Machines

In early 2007, after coming to grips that the heads on the old 414 were wearing out, I himmed and hawwed about what to get next for recording. Since using my PC wasn't an option (principle) and cassettes were starting to be annoyingly hard to find - especially the chrome ones, I knew I had to go digital.

At the time there were 4-tracks, 8-tracks (which I almost went for) and what I ended up getting, a 24-track Tascam 2488 PortaStudio. And I love it.  The clincher was the price tag.  Since the Tascam 2488 mrk2s just came out, I picked up mine for $750 (about half price). Not bad since my old cassette 414 was still $600-something.

It changed my life.  Actually, that's not too far-fetched.  And still continuing on from the 4-track tradition, each one gets better and better.  Since I got it, I ended up with Hits The Spot, On Ice, Drives It Home, Blind Date and Gets Scared, as well as an unfinished re-recording of Freshly Squeezed, me doing Deep Purple covers "acoustic" and the latest that I'm working on at the time of writing.  I use it quite a bit.

When I first started this website almost 10 years ago, I only had a 4-track Tascam PortaStudio 414 (see right).  I loved that thing (it's been since retired) and it's been good to me.  And honestly, after having the 24-track over the last couple of years, I don't know why I stuck with 4-tracking for so long.

Anyways, I'm not embarrassed by the songs or the CDs; they're actually quite fun in spots.  The reason I had them made into CDs was basically to legally own my songs.  Yup.  And if I didn't think they had their own little merits then I wouldn't be selling them.

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