GUITARS I’VE OWNED OVER THE YEARS INCLUDE:

* FENDER MUSTANG (1972) – NOW VERY COOL AND RETRO, IT DID A GREAT JOB AS A FIRST ‘SERIOUS’ GUITAR.

* GIBSON SG (1974) – BECAUSE ERIC CLAPTON PLAYED ONE IN CREAM. FOR SOME REASON, I COULDN’T GET IT TO HAPPEN FOR ME.

* FENDER STRATOCASTER – 1961(1975), SOLD TO ME BY A LITTLE OLD LADY WHO FOUND IT UNDER HER (DEAD) HUSBAND’S BED. I HAD THIS GUITAR FOR YEARS BEFORE THE ‘ANTIQUE’ MOVEMENT STARTED IN STRATS, AND MANAGED TO BUTCHER IT TOTALLY – HUMBUCKERS, MORE SWITCHES ETC. IT WAS GREEN, AND I STRIPPED IT BACK BY CHIPPING THE PAINT OFF WITH A LARGE SCREWDRIVER!

* HAGSTROM SWEDE (1976) – BECAUSE ONE OF MY HEROES, JAN AKKERMAN (FOCUS ) PLAYED ONE. FOCUS WAS A DUTCH PROGRESSIVE ROCK/FUSION BAND, VERY MUCH AHEAD OF THEIR TIME. JAN WAS A HUGE INFLUENCE, MAINLY BECAUSE HE DIDN’T SEEM TO PLAY FROM A BLUES BACKGROUND.

* FENDER TELECASTER (1975) – I WON THIS BY ENTERING A COMPETITION ON A TV SHOW. I NEVER PLAYED IT MUCH, AND PAWNED IT IN NEWCASTLE AFTER GETTING THE SACK FROM THE FUNK BAND. I THINK I GOT $100.

* FENDER STRATOCASTER – (1976) – I SWAPPED THE HAGSTROM FOR THIS. IT WAS BLACK, AND A VERY NICE GUITAR. IT WAS EVENTUALLY ‘STOLEN’ FROM A SHOP IN SYDNEY WHERE I HAD PUT IT IN TO BE SOLD. SOMEHOW THE THIEF ALSO MANAGED TO STEAL THE CASE (WHICH WAS STORED IN ANOTHER PART OF THE SHOP). I MANAGED TO CONVINCE THE SHOP THAT IT WAS IN THEIR BEST INTERESTS TO PAY ME.

* HAGSTROM SWEDE (1978) – YES, ANOTHER ONE. IT WAS SO IDENTICAL TO THE FIRST ONE, I WAS PRETTY SURE IT WAS THE SAME.

* GIBSON 335 (1979) – FINALLY! IT FELT LIKE I’D OWNED IT FOR YEARS, AND IT WAS THE FIRST GUITAR WHICH FELT LIKE I WAS PLAYING WHAT I WAS HEARING IN MY HEAD. A GREAT GUITAR, WHICH I OWNED FOR YEARS, AND STUPIDLY TRADED IN BRISBANE FOR A -

* WASHBURN (1987) – THE DAYS OF THE 335/BOOGIE WERE GONE. IN WAS BIG HAIR AND WHAMMY BARS, SO I THOUGHT I HAD TO GO THAT WAY. IT WAS A GOOD GUITAR, AND WAS THE FIRST ONE WHERE I SCALLOPED THE FRETBOARD MYSELF. THIS WAS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, AND I HAVE TO PLAY A SCALLOPED FRETBOARD TO THIS DAY. I CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHY SCALLOPING HASN’T BECOME MORE POPULAR.

* JOE PASS EPIPHONE – (1998) – I GOT THIS BECAUSE I WAS WORKING MORE AND MORE IN A BIG BAND DOING JAZZ/SWING STUFF. NOWADAYS I USE IT ONLY FOR TEACHING.

* YAIRI CLASSICAL WITH A CUTAWAY (1984) – I ENDED UP USING THIS A LOT AT THE CONSERVATORIUM BECAUSE I WAS ALSO DOING CLASSICAL GUITAR, AND IT HANDLED THE JAZZ STUFF NICELY AS WELL.

* PATRICK EGGLE BERLIN (1999) – A TRULLY GREAT GUITAR, AND MY MAIN GUITAR NOWADAYS. IT’S A HANDMADE PRS-TYPE FROM COVENTRY IN ENGLAND IN 1992. IT WAS GREEN, BUT I STRIPPED IT BACK (PROPERLY THIS TIME) TO A LOVELY PIECE OF CURLY MAPLE, AND SCALLOPED THE FRETBOARD. IT HAS NO VOLUME CONTROL AS I USE A VOLUME PEDAL. IT ALSO HAS NO WHAMMY BAR, WHICH BOTHERED ME A BIT A FIRST, BUT NOW I THINK THIS IS A GOOD THING. IT ALSO HAS A SHORTER SCALE THAN MOST GUITARS, ALMOST LES PAUL JUNIOR-ISH, SO ITS GREAT FOR THE BIG STRETCHES AND RUNS OF FUSION MUSIC.

THESE DAYS I HAVE THREE GUITARS – THE EGGLE (MY PERFORMANCE GUITAR), THE JOE PASS EPIPHONE AND THE YAIRI CLASSICAL FOR TEACHING. ALL THE GUITARS I’VE OWNED WERE ALWAYS FOR WORK, AND IF THEY DIDN’T CUT IT THERE, I TENDED TO GET RID OF THEM. SO I GUESS I’LL NEVER BE CLASSED AS A GUITAR COLLECTOR AS SUCH.

AMPLIFIERS

MY FIRST ‘PROPER’ AMP WAS PART OF A MATCHED SET THAT MARK, MY BROTHER, AND I GOT IN THE SEVENTIES. IT WAS A 200 WATT SAVAGE AMP, WITH TWO 4X12 CABINETS. IT WAS INCREDIBLY LOUD, AND TOTALLY CLEAN! IT WOULD NOT DISTORT! I WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH WAH AND DISTORTION PEDALS.

AROUND 1976 I TRIED A MARSHALL 100 WATT HEAD. THE THING BLEW UP ABOUT THREE TIMES BEFORE I GOT RID OF IT, AND I HAVEN’T TOUCHED A MARSHALL AMP SINCE.

ACOUSTIC 100 WATT (2X15 AND HORN) (1977) – A WEIRD AMP, DEFINITELY MADE FOR DISCO STUFF. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO MIC IT PROPERLY BECAUSE OF THE HORN.

ROCKIT 100 WATT VALVE (1X15) (1978). VERY MUCH LIKE A BOOGIE, AND I HAD THIS ONE FOR A FEW YEARS. I USED TO USE MY WAH AS A TREBLE BOOST TO COMPENSATE FOR THE 15” SPEAKER, AND IT WOULD DISTORT BEAUTIFULLY.

MESA BOOGIE MARK 11 (1979). I GOT THIS IN SYDNEY TO GO WITH THE 335, AND THE COMBINATION WAS EVERYTHING THAT I EXPECTED IT TO BE. IT WAS VERY VERSATILE, VERY LOUD, AND VERY RELIABLE. THIS AMP LASTED ME UP TO THE NINETIES, WHEN I FELT I NEEDED TO UP DATE INTO A MORE HEAVY SOUND.

TWO 4X10 MARSHALL CABS (I DON’T LIKE MARSHALL AMPS, BUT I LOVE THE CABINETS),DIGITECH GSP 21 ARTIST PREAMP, STEREO 16 BAND GRAPHIC EQUALIZER, 150 WATT STEREO SCORPIAN POWER AMP (1997). I PUT THIS RIG TOGETHER BECAUSE I WAS STARTING TO PLAY MORE ROCKIER STUFF IN BIGGER VENUES, WITH LOUDER DRUMMERS, AND I WAS GETTING TIRED OF HAVING TO HAVE THE BOOGIE EITHER AIMED AT MY HEAD, OR RELYING ON THE SOUND GUY. THIS RIG GIVES A VERY NICE SPREAD ON STAGE WITHOUT HAVING TO BE OVERBEARING. I WILL PROBABLY GET SMALLER CABS, AND ANOTHER POWER AMP SOON THOUGH.

EFFECTS

I’VE NEVER BEEN ONE TO USE A WHOLE HEAP OF EFFECTS, ESPECIALLY THE FLOOR UNITS. I USED TO HATE HAVING LEADS ALL OVER THE JOINT, AND BATTERIES GOING FLAT. ALL THROUGH THE EIGHTIES I JUST USED A BOSS OVERDRIVE AND AN MXR DELAY, AND MY TRUSTY BOSS VOLUME PEDAL WHICH I GOT IN 1977 AND STILL USE.

IN 1996 I GOT ONE OF THE FIRST PROGRAMMABLE EFFECTS, THE BOSS ME5. THIS WAS A TERRIFIC UNIT. I FOUND THAT IF I CUT OUT THE 8K FREQUENCY, THE DISTORTIONS SOUNDED MUCH MORE REAL – I TRICKED QUITE A FEW SOUND GUYS DOING THIS! IN 1999 I GOT THE DIGITECH GSP 21 LEGEND, AND I STILL USE THIS. I FIND IT DOES EVERYTHING I REQUIRE, THOUGH IT WOULD BE NICE TO EXPERIMENT WITH A SMART PITCH SHIFT. I HAVE MY VOLUME PEDAL IN THE EFFECTS LOOP, AND I RUN THE LOT INTO THE STEREO GRAGHIC TO SWEETEN IT A BIT.......

SO THESE DAYS MY SIGNAL CHAIN LOOKS LIKE THIS:

PATRICK EGGLE GUITAR (NO VOLUME CONTROL) INTO

DIGITECH GSP21

LEFT AND RIGHT OUT INTO
SONIC 16 BAND STEREO GRAPHIC

LEFT AND RIGHT OUT INTO
SCORPIAN 150 POWER AMP

LEFT AND RIGHT OUT INTO
TWO MARSHALL 4X10 CABS

I ALSO HAVE THE ROLAND GR300 GUITAR SYTH AND CONTROLER, BUT I ONLY USE THIS OCCASSIONALLY FOR RECORDING. THE AMOUNT OF LEADS REQUIRED IS BOTHERSOME, AS IS THE THOUGHT OF STICKING THE PICKUP FOR IT ON THE EGGLE, OR HAVING TO HAVE TWO GUITARS TO WORK ON STAGE.