GEAR
Guitars
Left to right, top row: BC Rich Prophesy w/ Floyd Rose, Jackson Soloist w/ Kahler, Seymour Duncan Distortion and Sustainiac (this is the guitar used on Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar recording), St. Blues w/ Seymour Duncan Custom and "self scalloped" fretboard (this is the guitar used on Metal Lead Guitar Vol 1 and 2 recording), Washburn 5 string bass.
Left to right, second row: EVH Wolfgang, Schecter 7 string Blackjack, Schecter Diamond w/ Floyd Rose, Ibanez 7 string.
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Bottom left to right: My Chibson army (3 "Les Pauls" cough, cough), the red McCarty PRS (the only free endorsement guitar I ever got, received while filming the Fret12 Sound and Story DVD), and last but not least, the custom built Dimis!
Amp Rigs and FX
I use the Fractal Audio AxeFx III unit, pictured below on the left. And for live situations I use the FM9 floor unit. The two can fairly easily swap presets. You just can't beat these tones. And it's super easy and convenient to switch sounds in the studio. Also pictured is my Boss RC300 looper, used for my Variations on Amazing Grace composition, found at the end of Total Picking Control.
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On the right is my endorsement amp--Engl Special Edition with EL34s. It has a great high-gain tone with lots of options. This was my primary recording amp when I'm after a heavy tone.
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For live situations, I will run the FM9 into a Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp, then into either the Genz Benz 2x12 (if I don't feel like hauling a bigger cab), or my Vader oversized 4z12, with custom cut TSS logo!
"Of course no storage unit would be complete without a bunch of old-school pedals. Here's the stash I've collected over the years. Sometimes I still use the wah and the Digitech Whammy pedal.
In the Recording Studio
For music recording and production I use Steinberg's Cubase. I prefer it to Pro Tools. I use Steinberg's Groove Agent for drums (at least at the demo stage) and sometimes Halion. I use a range of different plug-ins depending on the need, including Waves and others. I like Native Instruments' Battery, Massive and ABsynth for industrial and modern synth sounds. I also use Final Cut Pro for video editing. Currently running on a MacBook Pro M1. This pic of the studio was taken when it was first setup in 2020. Hasn't been this clean since...
My Original Amp Rig - For recording Metal Rhythm Gutiar, Metal Lead Guitar, and Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar.
The two Marshall half stacks used to record the original Heavy Metal Rhythm Guitar and Heavy Metal Lead Guitar methods all the way back in the 1980s are pictured to the right!
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These days they sit quietly in the storage room as silent guardians of rock, their work now completed.
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The bottom head is an early '70s 100-watt Lead Amp with master volume. It is paired to the slant front 1960 model 4x12 cabinet with vintage greenback 25s. It's certainly seen better days.
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The upper head is an '80s JCM800 50-watt Marshall. This is the one I used on the Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar recording, completed in early 1990.
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Lower right is the Boss PD1 Rocker Distortion pedal I used to front end the Marshalls. It is also retired. A pretty noisy pedal, but it offers good, crispy tone with plenty of bite!
