Jamie Bonk

Guitarist | Composer | Producer

Category: Gear

  • Studio Gear Update – Part 1

    Every now and then I take a look at my studio gear and try to figure out better ways to use everything.  Mostly my studio is ITB (in the box), meaning it’s pretty much all computer-based.  Other than my guitars, a few pedals, some mics, an audio interface, speakers, and headphones, everything is zeroes and ones and lives inside my Mac Studio.  I’ll do a couple of future posts on my guitars, pedals, and other gear, and in this post, concentrate on the computer side of things.

    I’m still a Logic Pro guy and probably always will be.  At this point, it feels like home and by and large does what I’d like it to do.  All of the editing (MIDI and audio) is great, terrific automation, creating lead sheets and notating parts is a breeze, and the plugins are first-rate.  The overall performance of Logic on my Mac Studio (M1 Max) is incredible, so in terms of computing power, for what I do, I don’t need any more horsepower than I already have.

    If you’re just starting out, I think you can do great work with just the stock Logic plugins.  Even with all of the third-party plugins I have, I still use many of Logic’s stock plugins — the Session Player(s) sounds and loops are great, Alchemy is first-class, the reverbs get a lot of use, and the Gain plugin, as simple as it is, is always handy.  That said, I have lots of third-party plugins that are my first choice.  I keep thinking one day I’ll do a whole track using third-party plugins and then redo the track using stock plugins as a comparison.  My guess is it would sound pretty darn close, but it would be nice to actually do the “experiment”.  So here are my go-to, third-party plugins (in no particular order) broken down by category:

    MIDI

    • Spectrasonics Omnisphere — Reach for this one on everything I do.
    • Spectrasonics Trilian — For the times when I don’t have a live bass player.
    • Spectrasonics Stylus RMX — An oldie but a goodie.  This plugin needs an update, but it’s still incredibly useful.
    • Toontrack EZDrummer 3 — Fantastic sounds, great drum part editor, and terrific grooves.
    • Plugin Guru Unify — This plugin is slowly moving its way up the ladder.  I’m more familiar with Omnisphere, but Unify really does live up to its name — pulls together all of my plugins and more.  Looking forward to their new release with multi-outs.
    • Spitfire Audio Originals – Intimate Strings — Gorgeous textures and blends well with other string libraries.
    • Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra — I have the free version, and it sounds terrific.  This is another library that layers/blends well with other orchestral plugins/samples.
    • Modartt Pianoteq 4 Stage – I need to update this guy, but if I need a piano sound, this is the one I reach for.
    • Kirk Hunter Symphony Orchestra Emerald — This is an older sample library that I still use all the time blended with other libraries/plugins.

    AUDIO

    • Brainworx bx_console SSL 9000 J— I have a few console-type plugins that all have their strengths.  The SSL 9000 J is the one console that I keep coming back to and use it on just about every track in every project.
    • SPL Iron — Great compressor.  If I had to choose just one compressor, this would be it.
    • SPL PQ — This EQ works the way I hear.  I have no idea why it sounds better than most of my other EQs — it just does.
    • AMEK Mastering Compressor — A top-shelf compressor that I primarily use on my mix bus, but it sounds terrific on just about anything.
    • Brainworx bx_limiter True Peak – I’ve been using this as my final limiter for the last few years.  This limiter sounds fantastic on just about everything, so I don’t know if I’ll ever need another one.
    • Black Box Analog Design HG-2MS — One of the best saturators out there.  For me, a little goes a long way.
    • ADPTR MetricAB — A beyond useful plugin.  It does all kinds of monitoring from LUFS to stereo info and it lets you easily compare your track to other releases.
    • iZotope Ozone 11 — I was trying to remember when I first picked up Ozone — probably 15-20 years ago.  I’m sure I could do mastering without it, but it wouldn’t be as easy or sound as good.
    • iZotope Tonal Balance Control 2 — Great for a quick check of the frequencies in your mix/master.  I find it particularly helpful for bass/kick levels in my mixes.
    • PSP Xenon — One of the best limiters I’ve heard.  Set up correctly in “C” mode and not pushed too hard, this limiter is amazingly transparent.

    So that’s a quick look at my current favorite plugins.  I’m sure in six months the list will have some new names on it, but this is where I am in Spring 2025.  I’m always interested in trying out new things, so I’d love to hear what your go-to plugins are!

  • Battery-Powered Electric Pedalboard

    Put together this battery-powered electric pedalboard yesterday:

    Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 + Korg DT-10 Tuner + Outlaw Effects Nomad = A sweet-sounding, ultra-light and portable, play anywhere pedalboard. #oldgearnewlife

  • New Acoustic Pedalboard

    Last project of 2023! Put together a new acoustic pedalboard. And not without a few hiccups… I wanted to keep the small form factor of the Pedaltrain Nano+… and I wanted this combo of pedals… so, more than a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle. And to top it off I used an under the board power supply. Bit of a challenge and I’m not happy with the cabling, but the most important thing is it sounds killer! Happy New Year everyone!

  • Neumann NDH 20 Headphones

    Studio Shot with Neumann NDH 20 Headphones (November 2020)

    Very occasionally a product works pretty much exactly how I would like it to. Checks all of the want/need boxes and actually goes beyond what I was hoping for. The Neumann NDH 20 Headphones that I picked up a little while ago are just about perfect for what I do (whether that’s writing, recording or engineering).

    First off, the NDH 20’s are extremely comfortable, so I’m able to wear them for long periods of time. If headphones are uncomfortable in any way I just can’t use them — simply can’t concentrate on the music I’m working on. The build quality is also incredible. They feel rock solid and substantial. My guess is unless you are really hard on gear (I’m not), these headphones will last for a long, long time.

    The NDH 20’s are closed back headphones, which is important for me. My studio is by a somewhat noisy road and the NDH 20’s cut out quite a bit of the stuff I don’t want to hear. This isn’t to say the headphones completely isolate me from all of the V8 pickups, muscle cars and leaf blowers, but they do help me to better focus on my music.

    Obviously, sound quality matters a lot and can be very subjective. Some people want headphones (and/or speakers) to give them a hyped vibe (i.e. boatloads of low end, sizzling high end, etc.). I’m the opposite — I want whatever system I’m listening to to be as neutral as possible. This is where the NDH 20’s really shine. I have an Apogee Element 24 and when using the Neumann’s with that interface, the sound is very flat and remarkably clear. The headphones are also loud — they have way more output than I need.

    So what’s not to like? Well… I don’t like the sound of the cable rubbing against my shirt. Neumann used a texturally rough cable and you can definitely hear the cable when it touches your clothes. The sound transfers inside the headphones. Also, they flipped the cable output — put the cable out on the right headphone instead of the left. Not a big deal and it actually works better for my setup, but still it’s different than I’m used to.

    Would I recommend these headphones to someone? Maybe. Really depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re primarily a casual listener, then I’m not sure these guys are for you. I find the NDH 20’s to be very revealing — I hear details in music I’ve listened to forever that I never noticed before. Personally, when I’m listening to music for enjoyment, I can find it distracting to suddenly be aware of amp hiss, weird edit points, etc. On the other hand, if you’re working on the creative/production side of the equation, the Neumann NDH 20’s are an amazing tool and I’m happy I have the opportunity to use them.

  • Little Things and Why They Matter

    More often than not, whenever I learn about someone who is good at what they do, I see some similar patterns. Sure the patterns are somewhat specific to their own area of expertise, but many (all?) care deeply about not only the bigger picture, but also the little things. I think it’s pretty rare to find a hockey player who doesn’t care about their stick or a violinist who is totally indifferent to their bow.

    I’m certainly not immune to the battle between the forest and the trees and I’m never sure if I’m getting the mix just right. I have boxes and bags full of different bits of gear — all kinds of strings made out of a multitude of materials, picks in just about every shape and, of course, in a huge variety of thicknesses. I also have tons of stuff that I can’t even remember why I bought it. Must have made sense at the time and I probably thought I really, really needed it.

    And that’s the point — those little things are part of the process for me. Every bit matters even if I can’t tell you now why something had value in the past. What’s important to me, is continuing to have some of my focus on the building blocks of my music — both on the gear and technical side of things and on the compositional and performance elements.

  • Partial Capo Versus Alternate Tuning

    I have to admit, until maybe a few years ago, I had never played around with any kind of partial capo. I didn’t have a specific reason for not looking into how useful it would be for my own music, I just never felt drawn to it. In some ways, I was also not pulled towards alternate tunings, albeit for a different set of reasons. Two sides of the same coin? Maybe. Both a partial capo and alternate tunings change your relationship to the guitar and, until relatively recently, that wasn’t something I was super interested in. Probably that has a lot to do with my training on the guitar (read classical and jazz) and how I vastly prefer to know the fretboard as well as I can.

    Now before I go on, if you’re reading this and new to the world of guitars and guitar accessories, what the heck is a partial capo anyways? Partial capos are a subset of capos. See, cleared that right up, eh? Now seriously, partial capos work just like any other kind of capo in that they clamp onto the neck of the guitar and raise the pitch of a string or strings. Where a partial capo differs from a standard capo is that a partial capo allows certain strings to not be clamped down. A partial capo allows some strings to have their pitch raised and others to perform and sound in their “normal” unaltered state. I use a SpiderCapo for the times I want to use a partial capo and it allows me to capo each of the six strings individually.

    So why did I get interested in partial capos? For a lot of things artistic for me, I can’t truly point to a single reason. I’ve been moving towards incorporating folks elements in my music for quite some time and open tunings play a role in some of that music. And then a friend online suggested trying out a partial capo. Seemed like a good match — I could get some of the open tuning sound I wanted and still retain my knowledge of the fretboard.

    The partial capo certainly has opened up new sounds and colours for me. It’s pushed me to think differently about the guitar and challenged some of my preconceptions. But it hasn’t become an all or nothing type of thing. I still play in standard tuning without any kind of capo most of the time. I still use an old “regular” capo as well. The partial capo has just increased the number of possibilities for me as a player and as a writer and I sure am happy I found it.

  • New Acoustic Pedal Board

    Acoustic Pedal Board (2019)

    Put together a new acoustic pedal board yesterday.  Pretty much in line with my ongoing quest to simplify/streamline my gear, this board is even more refined than my previous one.  Just four pedals (Radial StageBug, TC Electronic Polytune 2, Mooer Radar with IR from 3 Sigma Audio and a TC Electronic Hall of Fame) all mounted on an Outlaw Effects Nomad Rechargeable Powered Pedal Board.  It’s light, battery powered and most importantly, sounds amazing!

  • Restrung

    Watched “Restrung”, a very cool documentary on Wyn Guitars last night. It was great to hear Abraham Laboriel and James LoMenzo playing the basses, but just as interesting to me was getting to see and hear about Wyn’s workflow. He’s incredibly organized and deeply considers the ergonomics of his shop. I try to do the same thing, albeit on a lesser scale, in my studio. Also, Randall’s comments on efficiency versus enthusiasm hit home. I’m sure sanding necks for three days straight can’t be a ton of fun, even though it maybe highly efficient. I come up against similar issues when recording an album. Do I do all of the MIDI stuff for the entire record first? Record all of the rhythm guitars in one go? That sort of thing is more efficient, but it’s not nearly as exciting as taking a song at a time from nothing to a finished master. Anyways, the documentary’s good, so if you have about an hour to spare, check it out!

  • New Acoustic Pedalboard

    Jamie Bonk - Acoustic Pedalboard - 2016

    Yesterday I put together a new acoustic pedalboard.  I was hoping to keep my gear to an absolute minimum and just have a Radial PZ-Deluxe on the floor, but I found I needed a few extra pieces of the puzzle.  The only real effect on the board is the TC Electronic Hall Of Fame Reverb and I’m going to use that mainly as a way to compensate for room acoustics.  Right now, I’m into playing pretty much as effect free as I can be.

    There were a few “challenges” putting together this board.  The first one is size.  It was tough getting everything to fit on the Pedaltrain Nano +, but I wanted the board to be as compact as possible.  The second one was powering the PZ Deluxe.  I’m a huge fan of Radial gear — it’s built like a tank and sounds absolutely first rate.  But I’m not a fan of their 15v 400mA power requirements.  Tough to find a power supply that can meet their needs.  Thankfully, Radial came out with the StageBug, which is a signal buffer and 9v to 15 v converter.  Basically, I’m taking one 9v 400mA and one 9v 100mA from the Pedal Power ISO 5 and feeding those into the StageBug.  The StageBug then powers the PZ Deluxe.  Works perfectly and keeps the board neat and clean.

    The third challenge was learning about true bypass pedals.  I was surprised to find that having a true bypass pedal first in the signal chain would cause a level increase when I engaged the pedal.  When I use the StageBug to buffer the signal there is no level change. I’m also not really into the “pop” you get when you engage a true bypass pedal.  This is not going to affect me as I’m going to either have the pedal on or off for entire gigs.  The Hall Of Fame lets you switch the pedal from true bypass to buffered via a DIP switch inside the pedal.  I think my board sounded and felt better with the Hall Of Fame left in true bypass, so that’s how I’m using it.

    The TC Electronic PolyTune Mini 2 is great for my needs — small, bright and most importantly accurate.  I’ve used the PolyTune app on my phone for years now and love it, so it made sense to get the pedal for this board.

    This is best pedalboard I’ve ever had/made. Truly sounds incredible!

  • New Pedalboards

    Over the last 35 or so years, I’ve gone through quite a few pedalboards.  From literally having pedals velcroed to a piece of plywood in the 70’s/early 80s to a rack of gear with MIDI switching in the 80’s/90’s to having four different pedalboards until recently.  I lost those four boards this summer.  The upside (if there ever is an upside to getting robbed) is that you are forced to look at what you need.  And right now, I need less.  My two new “pedalboards” in the photo below (acoustic on the left and electric on the right) are pretty darn minimalistic and I’m going to try to keep them (mostly) that way.

    New Acoustic and Electric Pedalboards

  • Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina

    Received my Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina yesterday and man do I ever love it!  Sounds as great as it looks.  I need to play around with it for a bit to figure out what its strengths are, but my guess is, it’s going to give me exactly what I was hoping for — a natural, unhyped sound.

    Jamie Bonk with Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina Jamie Bonk -- Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina (1)Jamie Bonk -- Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina (2)

  • Takamine P3FCN

    It’s fun to get a new guitar and even more fun to celebrate with a nice single malt scotch!

    Jamie Bonk with Takamine P3FCN

  • LR Baggs – Lyric Acoustic Guitar Microphone

    I was so impressed by the LR Baggs Lyric Acoustic Guitar Microphone demos I heard on the LR Baggs site that I made the leap and had one installed in my Seagull Artist Studio CW.  I think I made the exact right decision.  I’ve never been a huge fan of under saddle pickups (or internal mics) — the sonic compromise has always been too great.  Yes, you can get a good tone from under saddle pickups, but it takes work.  Lots of work.  I have a Fishman Spectrum that truly helps get a “better” more realistic sounding (read miked) tone, but I never found it completely satisfying.  And internal mics always seem to be less than ideal too.  You get some “air” in the sound, but you also get a boxy tone along for the deal.

    Now the Lyric is an internal mic — LR Baggs calls it a bridge plate microphone.  The Lyric behaves much like an external mic in that your guitar feels and sounds like it’s being miked by a mic sitting a foot off your guitar.  You get all of the good stuff that a mic brings to the game and none of the boxiness that internal mics usually have.  Basically, it sounds fantastic!  Well, it sounded fantastic after I adjusted the Mic Presence Control.  When LR Baggs say the Mic Presence Control is “responsive” they’re not kidding.  I spent a bunch of time recording different parts into Logic and then adjusting the control.  Once I got it set right, the Lyric really did a great job of representing the sound of my guitar.

    Of course, feedback can be an issue for acoustic instruments and the Lyric is a mic.  I haven’t had a chance to gig with the Lyric yet, but I did crank my studio monitors (Yamaha HS80Ms) and play directly facing the speakers with no feedback issues.

    The Lyric has impressed me.  I’m definitely going to be using it live and I’m sure it’s going to end up on one of my future albums.

  • EZ Drummer – Indie Folk

    There’s nothing like a great drummer and I’m lucky enough to work with one of Canada’s finest, Dave Patel.  But for writing, EZ Drummer has been an amazing tool.  I just picked up the new Indie Folk add-on and it sounds incredible.  I particularly like the Slingerland kit in the 4 mic configuration — truly massive tones.  Getting lots of ideas for the next Sixteen Different Minds record!

  • StrapKeeper

    I love it when a piece of gear does what it says it’ll do.  Yesterday, I came home from teaching and the StrapKeeper I ordered from Tapastring Guitar Care was here.  For those of you who don’t know what a StrapKeeper is, basically, it’s a little add on device that helps keep your strap on your acoustic guitar.  Other than getting the little nylon retainer on the end pin, installation (if you even want to call it that) was a breeze.  With the StrapKeeper on my guitar, I think it would take A LOT to get the strap to fall off.  Terrific solution for not much money!

  • New Gear

    I’ve been updating my studio and I thought I’d write a short post about the hardware and software I’ve picked up.

    The biggest change has been the addition of a brand new Mac Mini.  I bought a 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7 with 16 Gigs of RAM and a one terabyte Fusion Drive.  To say the computer has some serious grunt would be an understatement.  A massive understatement.  I seem to have no real limits now when I use Logic.  I haven’t been able to bring the computer to its knees and that’s a very, very freeing feeling.  Logic is showing eight cores on this quad core chip (which seems odd), but I’m not complaining!

    I also updated Pianteq Play to Pianoteq Stage and purchased the Blüthner Model 1 add-on.  I’m not a piano player, but the Blüthner Model 1 is truly inspiring to write with and I’m positive it’ll be on the next few albums I’m working on now.

    And lastly, I bought the new Sweetone from Sonimus.  Just a gorgeous, simple and effective eq/filter.  I’ve already used it on some liners for radio stations (i.e. This is Jamie Bonk and you’re listening to X radio station…) and it worked beautifully.  I used the Sonimus Satson and SonEQ plugins extensively on my last solo record (Necessity) and Sweetone is sure to become a go-to plugin for me in the future.

  • Blue Chip Picks

    Just received two new Blue Chip picks in the mail today… A TD 40 and a TP-1R 40.  Basically, they’re backups for Blue Chips I already have.  Yes, I know, Blue Chip picks are INSANELY expensive ($35 each).  So if you’re a player who likes to fling picks into the audience or you regularly lose picks, Blue Chip picks are not for you (unless you happen to be a rock star with a boatload of disposable income that is!).  I almost never lose picks (still have picks from high school) and I can’t think of the last (or the first) time I flung a pick into an audience, so I can kind of rationalize the price.  Cost aside, Blue Chips are hands down the best I’ve ever used — terrific tone, almost indestructible and they stick to my fingers like no other pick.  Love ’em!

  • The Making of Necessity

    NecessityWhen I started writing for my seventh release Necessity I didn’t, like I never do, have a clear idea of where the record would end up — didn’t know what songs would be on the record, didn’t think the album would feature the electric guitar and certainly didn’t anticipate the overall vibe of the album.  But in retrospect, it all seems very obvious.

    A few years ago I started going back to my “old” way of writing.  For the most part, I now write everything down on paper.  I have a sketch book (one of those little Moleskine manuscript paper books) that I write down all kinds of ideas — chord progressions, melodies, licks, etc.  I had been writing directly in the computer, but going back to writing on paper just seems to work better for me right now.  A little while ago, I also started documenting ideas into a portable recorder (a Zoom H2N).  So between the manuscript paper and the recorder, I feel I’ve streamlined my writing process.  I know this may not seem like big deal, but this “new” way of working really has helped me to be more creative.

    For Necessity, I also changed how I record.  I suppose my current approach is a little (or a lot) more traditional, but it feels very freeing to me.  If you think of 70’s style recording (write a song, record bed tracks, then overdubs, then leads, then mix and finally master) that’s how Necessity was made.

    So here was the basic workflow for the record.  After I wrote the tunes, I created bed track templates in Logic Pro 9.  Essentially, I did mockups of the songs using loops from EZdrummer and wrote rough basslines using Spectrasonics Trilian.  Sonya (Mitlewski) played all of the keys with piano/Rhodes/Wurlitzer sounds coming from Modartt Pianoteq Play and pads from Spectrasonics Omnisphere.  I recorded my rhythm guitars using my Seagull Artist Studio CW into two mics and my Godin Freeway SA into a Line 6 HD300.

    I then bounced stereo stems of the bed tracks as: drums, bass and harmony (keys and rhythm guitars).  Those stems, along with charts, were sent off to Dave Patel (drums) and Henrik Bridger (bass).  Dave and Henrik then replaced the MIDI loops/parts with their original parts in their respective studios (Dave’s studio is called DaWG Studios and Henrik’s studio is called Château Juliet) and sent their parts back to me.

    After I had all of the bed tracks done, I recorded my leads, which were all recorded with my Godin Freeway SA into a Line 6 HD300.  The outputs of the HD300 went into an Apogee Duet and were recorded in Logic.  One of the reasons the album is called Necessity is that I basically HAD to record leads directly.  Right across the street from me there are three 30-50 storey condos being built.  It’s non-stop noise.  Recording the electric directly eliminated any noise “concerns”.  That said, I’m truly happy that I used the electric (rather than an acoustic) for this record!  I think there’s a saying about necessity…

    One other recording “change” with Necessity is that I went back to bouncing individual tracks down as audio files.  For instance, all of the MIDI keys were bounced as audio.  When it came time to mix, everything was an audio file. I’m not sure how that affected the sound or feel of the record, but it helped me to focus and continually move forward.  And finally, I mastered the album in iZotope Ozone 5.

    So that’s the somewhat techy description of the making of Necessity!  For those who want even MORE tech, check out the list of gear/plugins I used below.

    —————-

    Apple MacBook – 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo | 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

    Logic Pro 9

    Apogee Duet

    Yamaha HS80Ms

    Godin Freeway SA

    Seagull Artist Studio CW

    Line 6 POD HD300

    M-Audio Axiom 49

    Modartt Pianoteq Play

    Spectrasonics Omnisphere

    PSP Audioware VintageWarmer, oldTimer, Xenon, EQs, PSP84

    Sonimus Satson, SonEQ

    TC Electronics M30 Reverb

    iZotope Ozone 5

  • Gear

    Here’s a somewhat up-to-date list of the gear I’m currently using…

    Guitars

    I use and am endorsed by Godin Guitars

    • 2010 Eastman MD515 Mandolin
    • 2010 Seagull Artist Studio CW
    • 2008 Godin Freeway SA
    • 2006 Godin Glissentar
    • 2004 Godin Multiac Grand Concert SA
    • 1997 Takamine CP-132SC
    • 1981 Ibanez AS-200

    Studio

    • MacBook
    • 22 Inch Acer Display

    Software and plugins

    • Logic Studio
    • Spectrasonics Omnisphere
    • Spectrasonics Stylus RMX
    • Spectrasonics Trilian
    • PSP Xenon
    • PSP Audioware Vintage Warmer
    • PSP 84
    • PSP Oldtimer
    • PSP ClassicQ
    • PSP ConsoleQ
    • PSP McQ
    • PSP NobleQ
    • PSP PreQursor
    • PSP RetroQ
    • Sonimus Satson 1.2
    • Sonimus SonEQ
    • u-he Zebra (CM)
    • Nucleus Soundlab MultiBoost Pak
    • Izotope Ozone 4
    • Izotope Alloy
    • IK Multimedia Amplitube 2
    • IK Multimedia Amplitube Jimi Hendrix
    • ManyTone ManyBass
    • Toontrack EZDrummer
    • Toontrack Nashville EZX
    • Toontrack Vintage Rock EZX

    Samples 

    • Kirk Hunter Studios – Emerald Symphony Orchestra
    • Spectrasonics Backbeat
    • Spectrasonics Liquid Grooves
    • Spectrasonics Burning Grooves
    • Spectrasonics Retro Funk
    • Spectrasonics Metamorphosis
    • Spectrasonics Bass Legends
    • Spectrasonic Supreme Beats – African/Contemporary
    • Ilio Ethno Techno
    • Ilio Stark Raving Beats
    • Sonic Reality Vintage Timetraveler
    • Best Service Ethno World
    • Best Service Hallelujah
    • Best Service Dance Mega Drum-Kits
    • Zero-G Ambient Volume 1
    • Zero-G Ambient Volume 2
    • East West Orchestra
    • Wizoo Acoustic Drums
    • Beta Monkey Drum Loops

    Hardware

    • Apogee Duet
    • M-Audio Axiom 49
    • Line 6 POD HD300
    • Roland GR-20
    • Fishman Spectrum
    • Fishman Aura – Nylon String
    • Tech 21 Blonde
    • Line 6 POD
    • Yamaha HS80M
    • Audio Technica 3035
    • Rode NT1-A

    Live

    • Big Namba Studio Backpack
    • SR Technology JAM 150 Plus
    • Tonebone PZ-Pre
    • Fishman Spectrum
    • Fishman Aura – Nylon String
    • Yamaha Magicstomp Acoustic
    • Ernie Ball VP JR.
    • Korg DT-10 Tuner
    • Yamaha MFC1
    • Roland JC-120
    • Shure SM-58
    • Shure SM-57
    • Mackie 1604
    • Mackie SRM150 (2)
    • Yorkville Y112 speakers
    • Yorkville speaker and mic stands
    • Hercules Guitar Stands
    • 
Planet Waves cables

  • Acoustic Pedalboard (2012)

    I don’t think I’ve ever met a guitarist who wasn’t on some kind of a gear quest — on that never ending torturous yet joyous search for a particular piece of gear that you absolutely know will present the perfect tone. Or feel. Or really anything good.  And you will finally be able to calm the dark voices in your head.

    Those voices do stop — for a few minutes, maybe an hour or if you’re really lucky a day, but the inevitable rears its ugly head.  You actually do truly without a doubt need the next piece of gear. It matters. Cue the quest redux.

    When I talk about those on the quest, I’m not talking about the “others”.  I’m marching right along with everyone else.  Ask my wife about my affliction and she’ll tell it’s in no way a subtle thing.

    But I do recognize that too much “stuff” gets in my way — artistically speaking.  Smarter people than myself have labelled it option anxiety and I think that’s a pretty good term.  I started noticing a few years ago that having more plugins (synths, compressors, delays, etc.) wasn’t helping me to write better or more efficiently.  It was slowing me down and sometimes to a crawl.  So I started looking at what really mattered to me, chose the plugins that resonated with me and focused strictly on those.

    A little while later, I started applying the same philosophy to my guitar gear.  What didn’t work was out.  Didn’t matter how much I thought a piece of gear was really really cool. What mattered was — does it work for what I do.  How will this new guitar or effect pedal help me to get to the core of my music in a more elegant manner.

    So this leads me to my current acoustic pedalboard. It’s a simple affair in my opinion: a Fishman Spectrum into a Tech 21 Boost D.L.A into a Tech 21 R.V.B.  Yes, it’s not an acoustic straight into a nice mic, but for my kind of music that’s not really possible in a live setting.  And I absolutely love playing with delay and reverb. The last piece in this pedalboard puzzle was the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus I added about a week ago.  I suppose it’s weird to buy a pedal to take away sound, but that’s exactly what it did — it took away the noise issues I was having.  Everything sounds a lot cleaner now and for lack of a better term “nicer”.

    I’m truly happy with this board and I think it’s going to stay like this for a long while.  It has to — I have no more space for any pedals! Of course, I could always get another board…