One of my favorite subjects! I’m a gear nut, ask Becky.


As I’ve stated before the first CD was done on a Digi 001, using a PC, and one mic. For the guitar sounds I used a Boss VF1, (which is a little red box with a lot of guitar sounds and studio effects). It was all okay, but I like what I have now much better.

First of all I switched to a Mac G4 computer and upgraded the recording interface to a Digi 002 rack mounted unit. The software I use to record is ProTools LE 6.7.


My Mac G4
 
For my guitar sound I use a Line 6 PodXT Pro, which is also rack mounted. I purchased a Focusrite ISA 220 mic preamp with the digital converters for anything that I needed to mic. Along with the 002, that really improved the sound of the vocals and acoustic guitar tracks. For special effects like reverb, chorus, echo and different types of rooms etc., I use a rack mounted Lexicon MPX550. I also upgraded the monitors from Alesis M1 Actives to Mackie HR 824’s.
 

I play an American Deluxe Stratocaster with a custom Warmoth neck. This neck has three advantages for me over the Fender neck: First I chose a shorter “Gibson” style scale, (24 ¾”) to accommodate my stubby fingers. Second, I chose large stainless steel jumbo frets, which make for easier bending. Third, the Warmoth neck has a compound radius. That means that the fret board itself is more curved at the top, and flattens out as it goes down to the pickups. For me this makes a much more comfortable playing surface. My acoustic guitar is a Larivee D70, which Becky bought for my birthday a few years back. That birthday present is really what got all this started again. The bass is a very nice Ibanez 990 something or other.

The only guitar amp I have right now is a tiny Brian May Special made by Vox. I use a Route 66 compressor pedal, a Strobo Stomp tuner, and a Roland Vwah for pedals.
My Guitars
 

Andrew on the Cajon		 MICROPHONES:
Studio Projects C1 Vocals, acoustic guitar, drum-overhead
Rhode NT1 Vocals, acoustic guitar, drum-overhead
Sennheiser e602 Kick
Shure SM57 (x2) Snare, general mic


Note to Santa: I need more mics. :)

I beat on a Meinl Cajon, (a little wooden box with a hole in the back). It’s mucho fun.

The piano is a Kurzweil digital with a Roland sound module. On the songs that we couldn’t mic up drums, I played the drum parts on the keys.

The drums are Pearl and belong to Andrew, my son. He bought them when he was very young. Thank you, Andrew.



For now, that’s about a wrap on gear.
 

My Control Room