As guitarists, most of us spend a long time developing our voice on the instrument.
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The look and sound we present on stage is a part of our musical identity, and it's honed over a period of
As guitarists, most of us spend a long time developing our voice on the instrument.
The look and sound we present on stage is a part of our musical identity, and it's honed over a period of years.
One of the biggest challenges for the multi-genre musician can be in building a rig that maintains the player's personal stamp, yet can sound convincing in any style. We want to connect with the audience on an emotional level in any context, yet never dilute our own connection between fingers, guitar and speaker.
So, how do we avoid the hype and build a personalized rig that covers all the bases and—more importantly—makes us want to play?
Route 1: "Pedals and Combo"
There are so many advantages to working this way, not the least of which is that very little is required of the amp other than to function as as a clean, loud, reliable platform for the pedals of your choice. Simply choose your brand and wattage/breakup characteristics—Fender Deluxe, Fender Twin, one of the delectable Dr. Z amps, a Mesa/Boogie Lonestar, or maybe an inexpensive yet effective Peavey Classic. Some of these amps have a great distortion channel as well, which you might stack with pedals of your choice. Although I've nominally called this the "pedal and combo" section, you can get all the same results with a medium-sized head and cab, which may prove to be more portable. You then have the choice of open, closed, or a hybrid cab to tune the feel and response under the fingers vs. projection in the room.
Because you are placing all your favorite drive pedals in front of a clean amp, you don't even particularly need an effects loop (unless you're bringing the amp's drive channel into