Instruments
I traded guitars around a lot from 2008 – 2010. As a minimalist, I now only own two guitars:
- Carvin HH2: My only electric. Fits me extremely well.
- Ibanez AEG10: A classical guitar with acoustic appointments. Easy to play, built-in tuner.
- Fender short scale bass with flatwound strings. Very fun to play.
- Hohner Kid Ukelele: $10 at a yard sale. Great for camping and shredding around the house.
- Various Irish whistles I bought or made out of PVC. I have three in the key of D, one in G, and one in C.
Amps, Cabs, and Speakers
- CustomTones Ethos Overdrive Amp: An analog emulation of the famous Dumble ODS. Not only forms my “base” tone but covers all my clean, overdrive, and distortion sounds. Has a 30W solid-state amp built into the pedal which is plenty for even outdoor rock gigs.
- Tech21 Trademark 10: Little workhorse amp I use for teaching. Great sounds for a tiny thing.
- Custom 1×12 Cab: Extremely light, open-back, pine cab made by a local MA guy.
- Celestion Creamback Neo: Sounds excellent with the Ethos. The neodymium magnet makes it 4.2 pounds. Combined with my lightweight cab, headless guitar, and small pedalboard, I have a laughably portable rig that still does everything I need.
Pedals
- MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe: Classic analog delay goodness. Beautiful degredation, dark and syrupy.
- Strymon El Capistan: Authentic-sounding tape delay with tons of features. I switch this out with the Carbon Copy for variety.
- Walrus Aetos: Pedal power supply with a “courtesy” AC outlet for the Ethos adapter.
- TC Polytune Mini: We tune because we care.
- MXR Phase 95: Tiny phaser with lots of options. This is only on my board when I have extra space.
Other
- M-Audio Keystation 49e: MIDI keyboard I use to play piano/drums/whatever in Ardour. Feels kinda cheap but has lasted many years with nary a problem.
Some photos of my rigs and musical projects over the years:
