| These are the key pieces of gear that I use to play and record the blues, either at home or at open mics. |
 | Liberty LO100
I've had this Liberty resonator for just over 3 years. It's heavy and built like a tank with a really fat rosewood neck. The sound is loud and crisp, but not quite as "raw" as a National. I have a Barcus Barkley pickup mounted on the top with plain old double-sided tape, but I had it rewired so it is buzz-free and the plug is now in the body. I play with an end-wieghted brass slide.
Web: www.libertyguitars.com/default.htm |
 | Seagull Series S6+ Folk
This guitar was recommended to me by my instructor, Charlie Hayes, as a great starter guitar. It was less then $300 bucks and I thought it would last me for a year or two. As it turns out, it's an awesome guitar that I just can't stop playing. The neck is a little wider than usual, but it feels great. I love the matte finish and cedar top and it's aging and showing wear very nicely. The sound is deep and rich and better than the Martin I had a while back. I had it fitted with a soundhole pickup and it's my main "take it anywhere" guitar.
Web: www.seagullguitars.com/ |
 | Phillips Nouveau 16
I first saw this guitar in an ad in an accoustic guitar magazine and checked out the site. These are great archtop guitars all hand-made by Kraig Phillips. I took a chance and ordered one a little over a year ago and it's the most amazing guitar I've ever played (and SO cool looking). The feel and action are great and the unplugged sound, while not loud, is very sweet. Plugged in, this guitar really shines and it's become my main at-home guitar. I'm still a little too protective to take it out in public.
Web: www.phillipsguitars.com/index.html |
 | Gibson The Paul solidbody
I bought this guitar in the early 1980s from a Chicago drug dealer on his way to a pawnshop to sell it. It's solid as a rock and weighs a ton, but plays great. Unfortunately, it stayed in its case for most of the last 20 years until I checked it out again earlier this year. The condition was great and I cleaned it up, had it refretted, new knobs and tuners put on and a matched set of Seymour Duncan blues pickups installed. Now, it's way better of an electric that I could ever afford and it plays and sounds awesome.
Web: www.gibson.com/ |
 | Martin Backpacker
I bought this guitar late last year to replace a Dean guitar that was lost in Mary's studio fire. I wanted something portable. The Backpacker is a strange little guitar--it's built like a tank and has really rich sound. It uses very thin strings and had a very fat neck. I'm used to sitting down with the guitar on my lap, but this guitar is neck-heavy, so you can't do that--you need a strap. Still, it does travel great in planes and the sound is killer--great for what it is.
Web: www.martinguitar.com/ |
 | Roland Blues Cube
I’ve had the Blues Cube for about 9 months now and it’s a very solid, great sounding amp. The sound is rich and full even when it’s not too loud, which is great for the rest of the family. It has a processing circuit that does a fairly good job at recreating some older, overdriven tube amps, but I hardly use the overdrive any more.
Web: www.roland.com/index_f.html |
 | Zoom H4 Handy Recorder
I've used a mini disc recorder, a Fostex digital recorder and an M-Audio audio interface--all sounded fine, but it was such a hassle to do simple recording.
This Zoom recorder sounds just awesome, and recording is super simple. Equally as simple is connecting it to my PC (it mounts as a disc drive). I just drag and drop the song files.
The interface is odd and clunky, but for what I do, it's serviceable (even easy), and the sound is stellar.
Web: www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h4/ |
 | Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive
I picked up the Sparkle Drive a few months back—I was trying to recreate the Jimmy Vaughn sound from the first Fabulous Thunderbirds album on my The Paul. I managed to get the sound I wanted and I was a happy camper. Just for fun, I plugged my other guitars into it—and didn’t get anything to write home about—until I plugged in my Nouveau 16. OMG! The sound was a perfect recreation of the overdriven acoustic guitar sound I’ve heard on a few of Lightnin’ Hopkins albums. I’m hooked now, and use this pedal all the time with the Nouveau—it’s a match made in blues-heaven.
Web: www.voodoolab.com/sparkledrive.htm |
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