So I'm guessing a lot of AD'ers are musicians or at least own something that makes sound

What do you play?

What do you play it on?

And by all means make this a brag fest of obscure gear and wacky uses!

BaphometAdovcate's list of noise makers:
1990 Les Paul with Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge
1968 (possibly 1972 Gibson isn't sure) SG all original (except for the tuners)
1995 Tele (stripped to bare wood)
2007 Breedlove 12 string
1994 Washburn 6
2005 Deering Goodtime banjo (I have a porch now)
2007 Mesa Boogie Lonestar
199~ Marshall JTM30 (so heavily hotrodded it has two settings Off and Ohmygawdpleaseturnitdown!)
Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

There's other stuff in my house (like a 3/4 Strat and Fender Verb amp for my son) but that's the stuff I sit down with daily. I play a lot of alternate tunings and a bunch of slide stuff. In the days of my youth (I was told what it means to be a man) I was a shredder a la Steve Vai, EVH, Vernon Reid but I only pull that trick out in guitar shops now I play a lot of jazzy bluesy stuff now along with the requisite Beatles, Zep and such.

I don't play any musical instruments.

But I recognize some of those pictures from the stuff at my house...my husband has the same marshall amp and my youngest son plays with the same little fender amp (but his guitar is a cherry gibson).

Mr P plays the guitar...has played in about four-five different bands through the years.

What do you play?

The stuff I play ranges from DCfC, Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens kind of stuff to NiN, DM, Crystal Method sort of stuff to Chopin, Beethoven. Depends on the mood and what's in front of me.

What do you play it on?

2004 Norman B20 Cutaway (electro-acoustic, though I prefer using a mic to amplify or record) - handmade in Quebec... lovely.

I also use some software.

Reason 3.0
Logic Express

For some shows I learned to very crudely play some other instruments... mandolin, bodhrain, penny whistle, recorder. And if I'm around a piano, I'll play... but I don't have one.

I mess around in GarageBand some, it's OK. I thought the GuitarRig 2 software was stunning but quickly got overwhelmed with choices. I am a big fan of Reason for loops and such. We needs pix of your Norman.

When I was recording I mic'ed an ES-330 to pick up the pick clicks on the strings and the engineer ended up keeping that and using it in other things. He'd put it out of phase, flange it - whatever and get all sorts of interesting sounds from that.

I don't have a pic of mine, but here's a YouTube video of someone playing one. It's got no finish, which I also like. I don't vouch for the guy's playing, though... or the singing for that matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnPJrXUtpxk

And here's the website:
http://www.normanguitars.com/modelb20.htm

Mine's got the Fishman Classic 4 electronics.

What do you play?

I've played guitar for the past... uh... 17 years now I guess. I also plunk around on piano a bit, and mandolin on occasion.

What do you play it on?

My main guitar is a 1993 American Standard Strat. I just got it put back together a couple months back. New pickguard, all new electronics, new pickups (GFS, great pickups for the price). My backup is an Ibanez GAX70 that I picked up to play when my Strat was broken. For acoustics, I play a Fender DG22CE and an couple decade old Yamaha classical that I learned to play on. I've also got a Fender Mandolin as well.

For amps, I've got a Peavey Delta Blues, an Ampeg VH-140C, and a Roland KC-3 (I think).

For the keyboard, I've got an M-Audio Keystation 88es that connects to my computer USB so I can play VSTs or lay tracks with Reason.

The radio setup doubles as my recording setup, so for that, I've got:

2x Heil PR-40 dynamic mics (awesome mics, highly recommended)
2x CAD GLX-2400 condensers
2x Behringer XM8500 dynamics
Yamaha MG124FX mixer (nice board)
Symetrix 302 mic pre
Behringer T1953 mic pre
Behringer DSP-2024P effects
Behringer MDX-4600, MDX-2600, MDX-2100 compression
Symetrix SX204 headphone amp
Behringer HA400 headphone amp
Symetrix dual isolation transformer
Biamp EQ 140 parametric EQ
Samson PS15 power conditioner

Yeah, lots of crappy Behringer, but you get what you can afford that does the job and replace with better equipment as you go, which is what I'm working on doing now.

For my interfaces, I've got an M-Audio Delta 66, a Delta 44, and an Audiphile 2496, so that adds up to what... 10 analog ins and outs and 4 digital ins and outs. Nice cards with good drivers and low noise.

I've got tons of VSTi and VST plugins that I use as well, from compressors to channel strips to eq to delay to just about anything you can think up.

Have any of the guitar players checked out the Epiphone Valve Junior? 5 watts, class A, highly modifiable-- I want one to play with.

We should all collaborate on some sort of a song... an AD theme song... heh. Can anyone sing...?

Mike

Ha. My list of gear is actually quite embarrassing.


I have an old Kramer, year unknown.
I also have another guitar - model unknown. And I'm too lazy to look.
I play those on a Crate amp through a Roland RP-350 processor board.

I have a Yamaha drum set, tho it's a beginner's set.
Also a Yamaha keyboard. Scaled down, a'la Best Buy.

Soon to have a Ibanez bass (please wife, please!)

And for recording gear, I have two Samsung T8 .mp3 players, which is a line in, and then line out, through the processor, back to the line out.

So I record the drums and background guitars, and then play that and add track by track as I go.

Here's some of my music, if anyone is interested. Feedback, (praise, insults) welcome.

I have a Yamaha keyboard that I play around with and I used to play the drums and piano, but now, mostly I play the radio.

Aquilla

Current stable consists of a National Steel Delphi, 1998 in the teal wrinkle finish. It's the model with one hub cap. Also a Yamaha APX-6N, an A/E nylon string that I pipe through a street rig (Zoom A2 preamp, Pignose, 12V lead-acid battery, inverter) or a 30-W Crate acoustic amp for inside gigs. Those are the primary boxes.

Sold so many guitars along the way that I've lost track. For many years the workhorse was a Guild cutaway with a crack in the back that I picked up in Minneapolis for a song. Sold it to a friend for a whistle. Also a Martin 12-string that another friend just gave to me because she had stopped playing and I was gigging.

My style is all over the map for acoustic music. It's melodic and arranged, the odd stuff is there for a reason. Open G and D are the tunings I use for the National. Used to do standard too and all the repertoire, but my fretting hand couldn't take it. Huge crippling cramps.

Used to play harp (harmonica) along with the guitar but now it's one or the other. I like Bushmans and Lee Oscars, a blend of Chicago and country styles, diatonics. Learned to do that from a guy named Max. We had a duo thing going like Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, the Piedmont style. James Cotton was Max's hero. Then he drifted off to rock and I stayed in acoustic.

In the 1980s I ran the music part of a bar/restaurant/lodge place near Nederland, CO. That was great fun. It attracted all these really good singers and pickers from all around and got some attention from the people at a commercial recording studio up there. Then other places began featuring live music. Had to leave for a technical job in Memphis, but dang if it had only paid enough I would have stuck around.

My father had warned me about trying to make music a career. Guess I listened. Still, he gave me my first box, a Sears Silvertone archtop, when I was ten. Mixed messages there. My old man could yodel to shake the house, built his own electric guitar in the 1930s, and that led to his career in electronics.

They say that studying music keeps the old beaner in shape. There's something to that but also a whole lot more. You can also drive yourself nuts with it. I stopped playing for five full years, then took it back up after meeting my current squeeze, Lydia, who is a classically trained pianist. Her piano is a Korean-made semi-grand acoustic, Young-Chang. She of course sight reads like reading a book, like touch typing with rhythm. I can do that with simple classical pieces but anything more takes a lot of simmering, having learned to play by ear instead. Then messing around with a tune until it's somewhere that's performable, and then it'll change too as other ideas or insights come in. I'm improv, she's by the sheet, which is one other reason why we shouldn't be compatible. But we are.

The only other guitar that I'd like to get is an A/E classical with the standard 2-inch (50 mm) wide fret board. Some of my stuff gets the fingers so close that I'll dampen a string when I need that sucker free to ring. With melodic music, that can be a tune breaker. I've got a couple of unwired classicals with the wider fret boards that work great but don't amplify well, and the cost of wiring them right is more than a new guitar. So . . . got this tech writing gig coming up in January, pretty good pay too. Will need to dump the acoustic classicals and maybe the Yamaha. Here we go again

What a neat thread.... lots of stuff I had to google... I have no real clue about instruments.

I play an acoustic Yamaha guitar that my wife bought when we were dating years ago. I had lessons, but haven't ever left the comfort of my back porch or a pool now and again if people tell me to bring it to a party.

It's usually a few beers into the night that it comes out, and all I know how to play are a few Black Crowes songs, a few Skynyrd songs, some CCR, and I've been trying to figure out a couple of Texas country songs in my free time (which is slim to none). I forgot, I've got most of Jerry Jeff Walker's Sangria Wine down pat. It really requires a second guitar player or really drunk people listening though...

I usually find songs on tab, and try to pick them up... but in all I probably only know like 8 or 9 songs all the way through.

I also played the drums in Junior High and was really good, but in High School I couldn't be in the band and play football... so football won out for sure. I kinda wish I'd have stayed with the drums. Dangit...

Geez...where to start...

As far as guitars, that's the only thing I don't have a lot of. I find one that sounds good and stays in tune, and don't use any others.

I played a Gibson Les Paul for about 25 years - no other guitars. But after 25 years of 40 weekends a year with 4 hour gigs a night, it was hurting my lower back. So, I retired the old girl and got me a Paul Reed Smith CE22 that sounds almost is good, is a fraction of the weight, stays in perfect tune even when I'm constantly dive bombing (no kidding - all the way until it stops. Although I do have the whammy bar blocked so it will only go down), and has switchable coils (I can make it sound like a lot of other guitars).

So, when I'm playing an electric show, I play my PRS through a Marshall JCM2000 60 watt triple lead combo (trust me, it's plenty loud and I can crank it up enough for the tubes to saturate - I've never had to go above 7) stacked on top of a 1960B 4x12 slant cabinet. If I need more, I run an XLR from the amp (it has a direct out that does a good job) to the PA mixing board. I play that through a Line 6 POD XT Live Guitar Multi Effects Pedal, but for electric shows, I only use it for effects (delay, chorus, etc). So, my "chain" is my guitar into a BOSS SD-1 distortion pedal, through the Line 6, and into the amp. I turn the gain almost all the way up on the SD-1 pedal, but the distortion down as low as I can while keeping a strong signal. This gives me a ton of pre-gain so I can turn the amp pre-gain way down, get a very nice Marshall tone that cuts through the mix very easy, but is full and ballsy. I use PRS .010's for strings and Dunlop 475 Big Stubby Guitar Picks. I believe they are made out of bullet proof glass and last forever. Although I have a Corcidin slide, I rarely use it because I have to play rhythm too. So, I use a pinky glass slide for tunes that need it.

For our mid-week gig, we play at a very small club that doesn't have room for a full band, so we do what I call an "electronic" show. The drummer uses a digital drumpad and runs it into the PA and I use the Line 6 pedal for different amp modeling with the effects directly into the PA. It's too processed for my tastes, but it doesn't sound bad and is an easy setup.

Me and the singer have an acoustic act where all I use is my Alvarez AJ-60 jumbo acoustic with Elixers directly into the PA. It plays very, very nice and has a rich, full sound. I only use thin picks on it because I really beat the hell out of it when we're really into it. Thicker picks cause too much buzz and distortion.

I do harmony vocals for everything and I don't get much help. So, I run my mic through a TC Helicon Voice Live unit. Very expensive, but it rocks. It gives me the effects I like (reverb and a little slap back delay), it makes my voice sound fuller when doing high harmonies, and I can throw another harmony vocal into the mix with it on some songs.

The PA is mine, but it's nothing really special. I use a Mackie CFX12 mkII Mixer through Behringer effects (vocal processor, feedback eliminator) and into a QSC PLX1804 Lightweight Professional Power Amplifier (only weighs like 10 pounds - the greatest thing Man ever created) with two Harbinger HX152 Dual 15" 2-Way Speaker Cabinets that absolutely freaking rock. I think Behringer makes great equipment as long as it's not powered. So, for effects and the like, I love Behringer. But for powered stuff (mixers, etc), I wouldn't use it because the film on their boards is way too thin. That's not a problem with low current, but very unreliable for anything else. Heck, my feedback destroyer actually "finds" the frequencies (usually, 3 frequencies cause most of the feedback - the trick is finding which 3. A 31 band EQ will do it, but the feedback destroyer does it on it's own) that will cause feedback even though it's not happened yet. You press a button to "teach it" and it figures it out. Special note: If you do that and it starts howling, back the volume down. If you let it continue, you will either fry your crossovers or blow the cone out of your horn. Don't ask me how I know that.

My lighting pretty much sucks, but I hope to upgrade this year. I use the Chauvet PK1-BANK Rock-N' Lite Stage Lighting Package for everything and it really doesn't do that bad of a job, but another rail of some decent par cans is on my list of crap to get this year.

I use an old Nady wireless system for my electric guitar, a Shure wireless for my acoustic which is a total piece of crap, and a Shure headset mic system since I have to run sound on top of everything else. The band I was in before (the one in my profile pic), I used that because we all jumped around like a bunch of idiots, but I still had to sing my harmony parts.

I record demos of tunes we cover on my BOSS BR-1180CD digital recorder. It sucks because it only has 2 inputs, but I cheat like hell. I have a supplier that sells drum and bass tracks for popular songs for $8 a pop. He pans drums all the way one way and bass all the way the other. So, I just run them from my laptop into my recorder and have all the drums and bass ready to mix on 2 tracks. Then, I dump all the guitars whenever I feel like it it onto a few tracks. When I have all the music done, I call the singer over to put down all his vocals. I put down the harmonies after he leaves (or he'll stay and help if we have enough beer handy), mix it, and save it to the CD. It's not misrepresenting the band this way because the bass and the drums are really not that recognizable from band to band. But the guitar tones and vocals are what people (from a demo standpoint) are really listening to. So, the demo reflects who we are - we sound just like the demo no matter who is playing bass and drums (unless either of them suck). I know - it's still cheating. But I don't have the time, equipment, or talent to mix a full set of acoustic drums adequately.

For break music, I download mp3's from lavamus.com because I can play them on anything. So, I have a directory full of music on my laptop and while using Windows Media player, set the mode to shuffle and let it pick the songs to play. I bought some small utility (I don't have it here at work) that adjusts the gain so older and newer tunes are the same volume level.

Finally, I learn all my tunes (I'm giving away all my secrets here) with a Line 6 Guitar Port and a program called Slowdowner. The Guitar Port outputs through my computer speakers so I can blend perfectly with the output of the Slowdowner media player. I can slow the music down as slow as I like and loop it wherever and however long I want to. Since it's digital, the pitch doesn't change. But if I do need to learn a song that is a half step out or whatever, I can change the pitch of the song to match my standard tuning. I play drop D on some stuff, but avoid whenever I can. People don't want to stand around and wait for me to tune/retune. I have to do it on some tunes needing slide, but 95% of playing is in standard tuning.

My CRV can't hold everything anymore, so I have to borrow the mom-mobile for the electronic and acoustic shows. I rent a small trailer from U-Haul for $10/day for the electric shows.

It's a lot of crap, but I make a couple hundred bucks a week on it which sounds like decent money until you see my bar tab. All the music I play (for all 3 types of shows) is modern and current pop/radio rock covers with a healthy mix of classic rock thrown in. We don't do any country, but we do rock out a few classic hip-hop tunes (Eminem, 50 Cent, etc) depending on the venue. The band I'm in now is the first one I've ever been in where I'm the only guitar player, but I've grown to like it. However, it gets pretty busy trying to keep all the guitar parts correct, sing backup/harmonies, run sound, and basically, try not to suck. By the end of the first set (we do 3 hour long sets instead of 40 on/20 off), I have everything dialed in.

As far as playing, I'm no shredder. Although, I can shred on a few major or dorian runs when I need to, I prefer a melodic bluesy leads when I improvise. I don't read music and only have had a couple lessons, so, I would consider myself a decent player that can easily be outdone by any 12 year old that pays attention.

I just have more toys.

Heh, yeah DR, there's the difference between electric and acoustic. You can do it all with one guitar in electric, given enough electronics to massage, shred, crank, wah, fuzz, chorus, sustain, compress and on and on. I see that Gibson is coming out with a model that has robotic tuners. That's for open and altered tunings, plus standard. Little robotic motors, a computer, way too whiz-bang for me.

The acoustics all have different personalities. Guess I've been quite promiscuous when it comes to them. My preamp is supposed to model various kinds of instruments and mics, but I'm not convinced. Just keep it in one setting that brings out the honey richness of the A/E classical. The National is directly opposite with its metallic bite and echo. I like the contrast.

Really, just one more acoustic and that's it. I promise.

I've gone through a number of acoustics. I almost never plug them in even though many of them have had some kind of pickup. My mom has a fairly old Takamine that is concert sized (pretty small) and it has crazy great tone. I have a 80s Ibanez acoustic (maple backed) that was outstanding until the neck turned into a bow - although I can shoot an arrow pretty far with it

The Breedlove 12 is far and away the best acoustic I have ever owned (including Taylors, Martins and Guilds). It is literally stunning to hear and an utter joy to play. I have long lusted a Gibson SJ-200 (think the giant guitar Elvis played - uh hung from his neck) but I can't imagine it could be better than the Breedlove. Here's a sound bite of it - please note in every band I have ever been a part of we don't even put a microphone on my side of the stage

At home, I keep a guitar stand in my home office and one in my family room. My acoustic sits in one of those depending on what I'm doing that day. I can honestly say, I play my Alvarez more than anything else. Off and on, probably an hour a day on average. If I'm learning something new, usually a couple hours a day. I don't pick up the electric unless I have a show or need to learn a lead note for note.

When I use the acoustic for a show, I have to use a hole plug. And it sucks the life right out of that guitar - I have to EQ it to death. But pull that hole plug out, and it sounds pretty awesome. So, I know what you mean. The entire tone of the guitar can change with even the smallest differences.

What I'd really, really, REALLY like to have is a thin body acoustic that plays like an electric. I think Taylor has a T5 or something like that. I can't do soaring leads on my acoustic like I can my electric. But if I could find an acoustic that I could, I'd probably drop our electronic show and go all acoustic.

BA. I've noticed too that within one brand and model, some boxes are better than others. Not so sure about electric solid body. Seems there are fewer variables. But I remember distinctly trying out a Spanish hand-made and then a much cheaper factory model with a plywood top, and the factory thing was sweeter. When I sold it to a used guitar shop, the guy there agreed that it is was far superior to most student models, so I got a special price. Not super special, but better than usual.

Guess there's probably some sort of organic magic going on that might be scientifically explainable, but screw it. It's organic magic, like the Red Violin idea. Sometimes machines can crank out something remarkable and sometimes the greatest luthier in the world can produce a clunky dog. This is why I prefer to hold and play a guitar I'm thinking of buying.



Yep, do I ever hate amplifiying acoustics. Nothing gets it right, but I see that the high end boxes have both one or two mics along with the bridge transducer built in. Seems like you'd be able to get enough of the overtones translated to electronic signals with that, but then there's the feedback problem, and I'm assuming that's why you're using a soundhole plug. You're surrounded by big wattage while on stage, hair standing on end, sparks coming off the fingernails, lightning shooting out of the eyebrows, the electromagnetic fields levitating the whole house. Gotta plug up the hole. Somebody could get hurt.

This is kinda funny, DR. You want an acoustic that plays like an electric and I want an electric that plays like an acoustic. Don't think we're at all alone in these desires because that's what the industry is trying to provide.

Micing the neck and bridge of the acoustic seems to work best for recording, but then you've got to sit real still which is hard for me to do. It's impossible while gigging. So I want the electronics built in for mobility and just to make life easier.

Well for now it's all moot. Too busy to gig, not enough money in it. Guess I'll just break out an unamplified classical with the 50 mm fret board and be happy with that. I'll play for the cats, which seems quite proper and right.

GEAR UPDATE

I have a guitar named Lynda. Lynda broke up with me and the headstock of Lynda broke off. I told her I'd get it fixed when she got married. Well she got married 12 years ago... to me! And Lynda (the guitar) is in the shop getting finished up as we speak.

Lynda:
1987 Ibanez RG550DY (with an 1989 neck)
DiMarzio Sea Sick green X2N (F-Spaced) [split-off-on]
DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Blues (single coil) [off-on]
DiMarzio PAF Pro [split-off-on]

This guitar is going to be used to kill woodland creatures and other interlopers on my 5 acres with brutal sound waves. It will be the most obnoxious thing I've ever owned. When I was using this guitar for shows I had it wired even hotter. Sound board guys hated this guitar. CBGBs wouldn't even bother running my rig through the PA.

I have never had formal lessons...

But I can play both the Piano and Guitar by ear... I really should learn to read music.. But something rewarding in being able to listen to a song then emulate it on an intrument.

What do you play?
I play the drums and my vocal chords and can play some piano, but not much. I can read music well, just don't have any formal piano training beyond a year's worth of lessons as a kid. I play a variety of percussion instruments, my favorite being the steel drums (in college). I played marimbas/xylophone and congas in my percussion ensemble in high school (performing arts high school so we had a ton of musical groups). Vocally, I am a soprano with a pretty great range in the lower register ('technically' I'm probably a mezzo soprano, but it's been years). My high school also had an opera company, of which I was a member. Jazz choir was definitely my favorite. I hate singing solo (not confident in my voice, though I know I *can* sing...being a perfectionist is SO annoying) but I am very good at vocal improv AKA scatting. Nothing like Ella Fitzgerald's genius of course, but I can hold my own. I don't sing in public these days, but I sing in the car constantly. One of my Christmas presents was the PS2 game Sing Star (80s edition of course) and Kaia and I play it all the time. DH sings also and Kaia definitely inherited the singing gene (wish she would have inherited the dance gene, but alas...she did not ). She is itching to play the flute and/or trumpet when she's old enough for band. I always wanted to play the sax in addition to the drums. My mom plays drums (she used to play with Joe Morello from the Dave Brubeck quartet...she has some great pictures of the two of them playing) and my bio father played the viola. His family was very musical.

What do you play it on?
I don't really play anymore since I don't own any of the instruments I play. I used to have a Tama drum set with Zildjian cymbals (was formerly my mom's) but I am not great at playing the set and it just collected dust.