I’ve been pondering buying a new guitar amp for a while now. I currently use this old Crate Guitar Combo Amplifier that I bought off a friend like six years ago. It’s good and all, but the clean channels crackle and the effects are only fair. I want to begin recording some tracks in my basement and the sound from the Crate just isn’t what I am looking for. I’ve had it for years, driven it hard, and it owes me nothing. I guess it’s time to move on.

Over the years I’ve developed what I consider to be a unique progressive funk-rock style of playing. When it comes to electric guitar, I primarily play my Gibson Les Paul Studio. For my sound, I like strong mid-range, a decent amount of gain, and rarely use any effects aside from reverb. I’m not sure why, but I’ve had this mental block about muddying up the guitar tone with needless effects. It’s strange, I’m a huge Joe Satriani fan and he uses a bunch of effects. I guess I’ve always thought that he just uses them with a certain level of “taste” that other guitar players, myself included, just can’t seem to be able to duplicate. For me, too much effect can ruin the sound. For example, in my opinion Steve Vai just seemed to pile up the effects layers as high as he could, like someone buying a big truck or fast car to make up for something. Needless to say, I was never a big Steve Vai fan. (Go ahead, start the hate mail… )

Continue reading →