Interesting Discussion Board question

Hm!


On our course Discussion Board, one of my students asked, "I am interested in your current guitar set up, and a fellow course member and I can't decide if you would rock a Flying V or a Strat."


And another one asked,

Hi there, I'm just wondering what kind of pedals and effects you use Travis? Perhaps you don't use any at all and are a pioneer of pure unadulturated tone? Maybe I'm completely off the mark and you're a modern shoegazer.

Furthermore, are you a marshall, orange or VOX kind of guy? And have you found a correlation between playing a marhsall amp and criminality? Moreover, who would be in your 'perfect' band (allowing both the living and deceased)?


Not surprisingly, both posted as Anonymous. :)


I could've just ignored those questions. But -- here's my reply:


L...O...L...!!!!

(Okay - **that's** a new one that hasn't been asked on a Discussion Board!!!)


My first, favorite guitar was a Ibanez Roadstar II -- which I named "Gypsy". Two humbuckers, whammy bridge which I hard-bolted to the body (never used it; locking down the bridge reduced tuning issues).

Sadly, it was lost in a burglary, just a few months after we moved to Brisbane.


I'm pretty agnostic on guitars. I try to have a wide range to choose from, to suit different purposes (different sounds). I tend to be a "bottom feeder" (i.e. <$300), and go more for "interesting looks" and "character" than "brand name".

Thus, no Fender Strats or Flying V's (although they're on my "To Get" list).

However, a fake Les Paul, two fake Strats, a fake Telecaster, a fake Jackson, a weird '70s cheapy Japanese, and a few others. Plus three acoustic guitars, three electric basses, and some other weird stuff (banjo, balalaika, a Chinese lute thingy...).


No hollow-bodies yet, for some reason...


Effects pedals: Love 'em! Like guitars, I have a bit of a palette of pedals - mostly various flavors of distortion, fuzz, overdrive... Mostly DOD or cheaper.


Amp tone: so far, I've only played through solid-state. Just after I bought my tube head, I got preoccupied with my Thesis, and then having kids. Haven't played for a few years.

However, I do have a preference for Gorilla amps over Peavey.

I need to sit down and try Marshalls, Orange, Vox, etc.: I can't honestly say. But I tend to get my sound through pedals, more than the amp.


Marshall amp and criminality: Possibly. Maybe I should apply for a grant... :)


Perfect band: Jerry Agustnyk (drums, 10,000 Maniacs); most of the guys from The Smithereens; Buddy Holly; a lady named Vanessa Veselka who was the singer/songwriter/guitarist from a Seattle band called "Bell", which is one of my all-time favorite bands, but never went anywhere; my cousin (we were in our first band together).


Bell: http://www.musicscene.com/bell/ar.html -- various mp3 links on the yellow column on the right!!!


--GG