Assessment of my Equipment for the Year.
Gear acquired, used and appraised for the year 2022. It’s been an eventful year and hopefully, sets the tone for 2023.
I know that video is the preferred medium for most people, but I can’t face putting all this in a video. I’ll never make it as a “Superstar Youtuber”, which suits me fine. In fact I’m not sure that even a video document of what is written below would even get watched, seeing as the preference for short video clips of less than a minute or two seems to take precedent over everything now.
So for anyone who actually still likes to read, especially about guitars and gear, who has any attention span at all, this post might help you pass a few minutes of your time.
Acquisitions in 2022
PEDALS
Nu-X Optima Air acoustic preamp pedal
It’s pretty good at making an under-saddle, piezo pickup sound like a mic’d-up acoustic guitar and has a balanced, XLR output. I found it works well-enough to make my piezo-equipped Telecaster-style guitar sound like an acoustic, especially when strumming chords.
It doesn’t get used that much, but it may do in 2023 if I there is more call for me to play acoustic-style music or sell it on if it remains unused for much longer.
Musiclily US Dream
A distortion pedal loosely based on a Suhr Riot (I am led to believe). It’s pretty good considering it was so cheap. It’s good for modern-ish distortion sounds. I have plenty of distortion/overdrive options now, so because of its low-price (and resale value) I’ll keep it on my pedal shelf for whenever I fancy a change of distortion on one of my pedalboards (I have several options now).
Aroma Liner A/B/Y box
For switching two signal paths on my pedalboard. I did have a board set up with an acoustic signal path and an electric one. I dropped that when I found that I had very little use for both at the same gig. It is a handy pedal though, so it currently sits on the pedal shelf. Another handy, cheap pedal.
Mooer P1 Prime multi-FX
The smallest multi-FX/amp modeller that I know of. I haven’t used it that much, but it’s very handy and is controlled by a bluetooth footswitch. I’m not going to go into much detail here because it is mostly covered by possibly my biggest gear acquisition of 2022 (under “GUITARS”).
DemonFX Precision Drive (x2)
A little controversial, seeing as this pedal is a blatant copy of the Origin Effects Precision Drive. Sadly I do not have the budget for the original pedal, but the DemonFX copy is so cheap I decided to try it out. The reason being that it has a built-in noise gate and is aimed at modern, high gain styles of music.
I put it on my first pedalboard as the pedal for playing solos and yes… it is possibly the most ideal pedal I could have for such a job. It checks every box for me, so I got a second one to put on my other pedalboard rig.
DemonFX Filtration II Noise Reduction (x2)
Another controversial copy of the ISP Decimator II G-String pedal although it doesn’t try to look like one. It has a signal path for the guitar signal, which it then uses as the reference signal for gating the noisy pedals in a separate, noise-reduction signal path.
It works perfectly, so I got a second one of those too; one for each board. Both my pedalboard rigs are totally silent when I stop playing, even at extreme, maximum gain thanks to this very effective noise reduction pedal and the built-in noise gate of the Precision Drive.
Mosky BP Booster
Another copy from a cheap pedal brand. This time an EP Booster copy. It adds some nice saturation and harmonics to my signal going into my amplifier. I leave it on all the time.
AMPLIFIERS
Quilter Superblock US
I got the UK version in October 2021 and the US version arrived in February or March. Which one do I like better? I can’t decide. Some days I like one better than the other, so I decided to build a complete, separate pedalboard rig for each amplifier.
That is why I ended up with two Precision Drives and two Filtration II Noise Gates. Both my Superblock US and UK have been taken to gigs and both did a great job.
GUITARS
GTRS S801 “Intelligent” Guitar
This is the most significant piece of gear I have had for a long time, if not ever. The reason? Well, the way I came to acquire it and how it has helped simplify my general, performing workflow.
I knew of this guitar in late 2021 and had no real interest in it at that time, but after starting a new, weekly gig playing in a duo in February I was reminded of it again and decided it could possibly be the perfect guitar for my new situation. I also jam regularly at a friend’s house and this seemed to be a good option for that too because I wouldn’t need to carry or set up any extra equipment. It’s effectively a guitar, amplifier and effects all in one.
However the price, while excellent value was not something I could afford, so I made a decision to try and save up for one. I committed my mind to acquiring that guitar for a very specific and practical purpose. I was certain of it and that was it.
Within about a week a friend of mine who I had not been in contact for several years got in touch with me asking me how I was and if I’d been continuing to make music all these years. I directed him to my website and a day or two later I received a message that he had bought my discography on Bandcamp for an extraordinarily generous sum. Way, way above the basic, asking price. It just so happened that the amount came very close to the sum I needed to get my GTRS guitar, so guess what I did in the days that followed?
For the first duo gig of April I excitedly turned up with my guitar in it’s case and my wireless unit and nothing else then proceeded to fill the venue with what I’d call a “Complete” guitar sound.
The GTRS guitar includes effects and amp/cab models, all built into the guitar itself, programmed by an iphone app and controlled by a bluetooth footswitch. It is time I did a full review of it, but needless to say, it is the ideal guitar for a gig like that.
Almost zero setting up and tearing down time, a refined, recorded-like guitar tone and direct to the sound system. No amps or speaker cabs required. Also perfect for jamming at my friend’s place along with an electronic drumkit and a Roland piano, straight into an audio interface.
JV Custom Origin-S
A Strat-style guitar that appealed to me after getting into the modern-feel of the GTRS guitar. The JV Custom was half the price of the GTRS, so was easier to acquire. It wasn’t long before I had made a few modifications though. I replaced the bridge humbucker with a lower-output one (the original was just a bit too dark-sounding for my taste). I also modded the wiring a little. I got rid of the coil-split push/pull switch and I did a resistor mod to make the 500k volume pot look more like a 250k for the neck pickup, so as to tame the brightness of it.
More recently I decided that the lower-output, PAF style humbucker was still a little too dull-sounding, so i replaced it with a humbucker-sized P90 style pickup from Artec. This nailed what I was after. The guitar managed to retain the fatness it had with the humbucker with bite I always like from a typical Strat pickup. Using the tone control with a very small-value capacitor on the bridge P90 I can get it to closely emulate the sound that I was getting with the PAF-style humbucker, so I have the best of everything now.
For such an affordable guitar, this thing is incredible. I replaced the mint-green pickguard for a black one to give it a striking contemporary look, which I like so much, it has led me to change the look of my most cherished guitar!
NOTABLE MODIFICATIONS
Fender Japan Jaguar 60s Traditional II
My Jag didn’t get used all that much for its first couple of years and the original white colour had started to yellow quite extremely with some unsightly greyish/brownish patches around the edges. I re-painted it myself in stark white without a clear coat (to minimise the prospect of yellowing with age) and I added a piezo Tunomatic bridge too.
Once I had the piezo saddles on there it highlighted a problem. The low break angle over the smooth surface of the saddles meant that the strings didn’t stay in place and the guitar was basically unplayable. The solution was something else I was already considering; a fixed tailpiece that fits where the original vibrato plate goes and increases the break angle significantly.
It works and it still sounds like a Jaguar. It feels a little less bulky and cumbersome now though. It just feels really comfortable and streamlined now. It played its first gig in November and it was great. I am considering however getting rid of the piezo bridge as I don’t really use it.
I added a black pickguard as I am now becoming obsessed with this colour scheme.
Paramount Telesonic
A new neck pickup (still hidden under the pickguard, but this Artec one has big pole pieces and a stronger magnetic field, which helps increse the output without having to resort to overwinding with copper wire (which generally results in a muddier sound). The uncovered Artec Alnico 5 pickup works very nicely hidden under the pickguard and with no tone control. It’s still quite a subdued result, but has some more clarity than the previous pickup in that position.
It is very well balanced now with the bridge pickup. It’s a simple case of Clean – Neck, Dirty – Bridge. The piezo saddle-unit remains. I changed the pickguard from black to a single-ply white. I really love the look of it this way.
Squier Classic Vibe 60s Strat
This has been modified and refinished so many times that I’ve lost count. It’s hardly a Squier Classic Vibe anymore, but it still feels like the guitar it always has been, so the vibe is still there! A problem developed in the paintwork this year and I refinished it in sonic blue again for the umpteenth time! I also put in a lower output (more traditional wind) bridge pickup from Wilkinson. The original pickups are long gone. The ones in here now (except the bridge position) I already demo’d on Youtube in another guitar a few years ago titled “Can Cheap Pickups Sound Good?”. They are cheap and wonderful-sounding.
However, that was not the end of it because after becoming so obsessed by a white guitar with black pickguard and white pickup covers/knobs it was inevitable what the fate of the Classic Vibe would be. Because the headstock had already been colour-coded to the sonic blue body I gave that a refinish too. The result is great. I love this colour combination. To me it’s about the best look for the stage.
A white guitar takes on the colour of whatever light is shining on it and with the contrasting black and white elements it doesn’t really clash with whatever colour I may be wearing (which is normally black or white anyway). The same goes for a black guitar with white pickguard, which is my other preferred colour scheme going forward, but I only really like a black guitar with a maple fingerboard.
EXTRA STUFF
I got a couple of cheap, but good guitar wireless systems. They are actually both the same, but different brands – Ammoon and Lekato (both 5.8GHz digital units).
I did a great deal of experimentation with my existing speaker cabs like trying them closed-back, open-back, stuffed full of foam etc. That’s still an ongoing process to see what is the best setup for my rigs because they sound so different at stage volume to home volume. I’ve decided that speaker changes are not my priority due to there being too many unknown factors to consider.
I’m just as well going with what I have, especially when I’ll be the only one who really cares or notices the nuances of my tone anyway. With the gigs I play the main objective always ends up being to hear myself on stage, so I can play the songs properly. That’s it! Everyone always seems to enjoy the show regardless of what I thought of my performance or tone, so as long as I focus on my performance I should be ok. Just gotta let go of trying to match my tone on stage to the ideal tone in my head!
One mod I did to all my cabs, which I like though is to decorate the front with bandanas. I think it’s a great look. That will probably make more of a difference to my setup than the sound of a particular speaker as far as the audience goes as they will notice how they look far more easily than what they sound like. It is the audience’s perception of the show which counts after all, so whatever makes the best impression, no matter what it is, is the aim of the game.
That’s the biggest lesson of 2022 for me. What I hear in my head is all well and good, but it doesn’t mean anything out there to those who are listening and the less attached I am to my setup being or sounding a certain way in the moment might even save me some money by not spending it on things that nobody else notices, including me in the heat of the moment!
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