Pieces of gear that changed your life

[Neeklaus]

Rocktron Chameleon

 

[crabby]

a good guitar pick and the right strings!

 

[MichaelG]

Great thread Gene!

Motor City Pickups
V-picks
Friedman modded MTS modules
Learning how to PROPERLY boost an amp.

These things have got me to a place of really, really good tone. Nothing in this list breaks the bank either.

 

[GITTarzann]

Axe-Fx Ultra.

I have crossed at least one plateau and maybe 2 since I have gotten mine...

No more tweaking my rig every day to get a sound I like and having ear fatigue then going in the next day to shrillness.

I have a rig that I have approximately $15,000.00 invested in it sitting right next to my Axe that hasn't been turned on in months and months...

Just a note...my favorite patch right now is a dupe of rareguitars Soldano Klon video he made.

I copied the settings the best I could and blamo....killer 80's tone !

Thanks Brad !

 

[blackba]

#1 for me was my first tube amp a Fender Hot Rod Deville, it actually took me a while to come around to the tube sound, I used to prefer SS believe it or not.
#2 Putting a hot rails in my MIM strat. It instantly made my strat much more versatile. Sure a humbucker in a strat is supposed to be wrong, but it worked well for me....

 

[DET1973]

TC Electronic Booster/Line Driver

Add this to almost any rig and I can get that high gain tone that is on a shit load of old school metal albums. Love it

what are your settings for the pedal. i have one and want a starting point to boost my 1980 JMP 2203 with KT88s

 

[saxxamafone]

axess grx-4
axe-fx ultra

 

[jesserides2005]

The Holy Bible. KJV.

 

[Sam Laming]

The Diezel VH4. It really opened my eyes to what could be achieved with an amp.

Likewise with my Herbert My 7 has changed me more I think though, just opened up so many new ideas and possibilities, I'm sure my 8 shall do the same...

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

Lots of stuff really, but most importantly learning to build amps. Nothing like being able to take a pile of parts and make whatever tone you're after. It's not quite that easy but it's a lot cheaper and more rewarding than buying and selling high end stuff in the quest of tone. Most recently it's been Hamer guitars, effing wonderful instruments in every aspect, and priced in the range of mere mortals if you buy used.

 

[Zachman]

My '79 Les Paul Standard, that I got new. I still have this one, and will NEVER sell it.

Then it was the discovery of rack gear, and we know where that leads. lol

Then it was my Mesa/Boogie discovery in 1980. My 1st Boogie was a MKIIB, and I've had several other MK series amps since then. Currently the 2 I still have are: a MKIII Simul-Class Combo (Blue Stripe), and a MKIII Simul-Class Coliseum head, that I got new back in '86.

 

[philb]

My first Les Paul
My first marshall half stack.

 

[just42dave]

I have to go back to '88 when I bought my ADA MP-1...absolutely revolutionary for its time and opened up a whole new world of tone tweaking.

and an ampeg vl-1002 i bought new when i was 19
specially when Id run the ADA through the power pf the VL

 

[mincy]

This might seem odd, but it was what I got rid of that changed my life. I used to have an array of pedals (5-7 at any given time) that I couldn't live without. Always had an EQ, compressor, delay and/or chorus going. One day I just got rid of it all (which I'm killing myself for now since this was the mid 80s and I had all original MXR pedals at the time). But, despite that, it forced me to play better. I was using the pedals as a crutch to cover up my lack of ability. I became a much better guitarist because of it.

After that, it's a Diezel Herbert.

 

[Meathead]

P90 pickups
Marshall with greenbacks
Vox with blues
effects other than delay and boost...don't need 'em.