Guitar Rigs: Twenty-one years of gear

About my gear photos:
Here are years and years of my guitars and guitar rigs. I always seemed to have a camera around, and always shot photos when I reconfigured my stuff. I made this page to show no matter how many times things change, things still remain the same. Sometimes I miss some of this stuff. Many times, I am GLAD its gone!! Vintage does not always equal good.


1986 Rig

1986

This was my rig in 1986. It contained a Peavey 4 x 12 cabinet, 1971 fender Twin Reverb (with 15" JBL), Bi-amp rack EQ, DOD rack analog delay, 1981 Ibanez UE-400 Rack system, 1980 Fender Bassman 135 head and 2 x 15" cab, 1982 Ibanez FL-9, 1981 Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff, Memphis Wah pedal, 1971 Univox Super Fuzz. A Hondo Les Paul copy and Mako Shark are on the right.


1987 Rig

1987

The rig is basically the same as above, with the addition of a Boss Heavy Metal HM-2 and a Boss Noise Gate (for that damn Bi-amp EQ)!


1987 Rig

Guitars 1987

The main upgrade for 1987 was the Gibson Flying V shown here. At the time I could not trace the serial Number. I believe it was an early/mid '70s mahogany model. I bought this for $400 at the time from a buddy who blew up his 1969 Chevelle SS. He needed the money to rebuild it. It had the original case with purple lining. The guitar was mint. I traded it for a Honda Interceptor 500 about a year later. The 1982 Ibanez Roadstar II behind it was my first "real" guitar. I got it new in 1982, and still have it.


1991 Rig

1991 Studio Rig

Well, I needed a rig at my parents house in Denver when I came home on leave to do recording. I pieced this abomination together with spare junk I had around the house. It contained a Marshall 9000 pre-amp, an early '80s Yamaha 650 112a, half of a 1979 Fender Bassman Ten, and a hodgepodge Fender Strat. The Strat was a 1971 neck on an '82 body. the guitar played great, but sounded horrible. I traded it for my Hamer in 1995. The rig worked good in the studio, however.


1993 Rig

1993

Believe it or not, I had this rig in the barracks! Other soldiers complained to the First Sergeant about the noise. Luckily, TOP was a guitar player, and he cut me some serious slack. He let me jam, but would comment on "those damn Marshalls" in my room from time to time. The complaints ended when I became the floor sergeant! This rig was versitile. I could get just about any sound out there by mixing and matching cabs and amps. I had a Champ for practice/recording, Marshall 9000 pre-amp/Digitech RDS 3.5 digital delay/Ibanez UE 400 in a rack, Marshall Jubillee 2 x 12 Cabinet, Fender 4 x 10 Cabinet, 1986 Marshall JTM 45 50-watt reissue head, 1986 Marshall basketweave 4 x 12 cabinet, 1980s Marshall JCM 900 4 x 12 bass cabinet, 1971 Fender Twin Reverb. I traded the rack system and Fender 4 x 10 cabinet for my '59 Reissue Bassman in 1995. I sold all of the Marshall stuff and put the Twin Reverb in DEEP storage when I moved to Korea later that year.


1997 Rig

1996/1997

This was my rig for two years. Stripped down to the basics. 1992 Fender '72 reissue Strat, '59 Fender reissue Bassman, '61 Fender reissue Reverb Unit. I added overdrive with a Sans-amp GT-2 and a 1982 Ibanez Sonic Distortion SD-9.

Believe it or not, I still have ALL of this gear. The '72 RI Strat gets used a lot in my shop and occasionally on stage, and the RI '59 Bassman is one of my rental pieces now. The Reverb unit gets occasional use, and the SD-9 is my distortion pedal during my bass solos with the Feral Cats.



More Guitar Rigs



Guitars | Amps | Effects | Home