An Old Metal Head's Home Setup

That's me in 1996! LOL

As a kid learning to play guitar and for the majority of my 20's and early 30's I was a gear snob. I believed that I'd never be a good guitarist or have a shot at anything outside of playing in my bedroom without first owning a high end modded Marshall Tube amp and of course the most expensive effects units money could buy. I certainly knew the value of practice but I attached a certain prestige to high end gear and because I frequently saw musicians and bands of a lesser quality playing clubs with that stuff my young mind saw that and said "that's why they're here! That's what I need." Fortunately the ignorance and stupidity of my youth gave way to reason. Now at 42 years old I know that great music can be made and heard using even a modest setup.

My Home Practice And Recording Setup

From the moment I picked up my first guitar I've longed to play in a band with people that have the same musical goals and influences as I do. For whatever reason this has yet to happen one single time in 30 years so when I buy gear I typically make purchases that will work well in my home and/or in my home mini-studio. I also buy gear that works well in teaching scenarios as well since I give guitar lessons in Corona.

My guitar gear is fairly modest and simple not only because I don't have much money but because I'm a minimalist when it comes to guitar. I love my overdrive, wah, and chorus but that's pretty much it. I don't have much use for phasers, delay, flangers, or anything else. That said here's my setup:

My current guitar setup

• Marshall MG100HCFX - Yes it's a solid state amp but I've yet to play through any Marshall that sounds subpar. Sure it doesn't give me the super warm bounce and crunch/bite of a tube amp but when you only play in your home well a tube amp doesn't make much sense. This amp has some serious balls as does the 4 x 12 cabinet that came with it. It produces high end clean and dirty tones and the boost channel is fantastic. I'd be confident stepping on stage with this amp behind me. It'd work just fine in the studio too, provided your not the type of player who plays direct.
• JC-95 Crybaby - The Jerry Cantrell wah pedal is awesome. It's not for everyone but if you want a wah pedal with a huge range of sounds this one is for you. Here's a sample of me using my wah.
• Ibanez TS9 - The classic Ibanez Tube Screamer is a must for any metal head or hard rock musician. I've played countless other boost and full on overdrive/distortion pedals though none of them deliver quite like the Tube Screamer does. It's affordable and extremely effective. If you've got a shitty amp with even an even shittier overdrive channel turn the gain down and use the TS9 to boost your gain with a more natural and far less muddy or fuzzy tone.
• Boss TU-3 - I've already reviewed this tuner pedal here on my blog so I'm not going to say too much more about it than this; every musician needs this pedal in their lineup. It's simple, effective, accurate, and quick. Get one now.
• Voodoo Labs Pedal Power ISO 5 - I used to use my TU-3 or some other Boss pedal to power all of my other pedals until another musician introduced me to this power supply. Nothing beats having a dedicated power source for your effects. I used to have all sorts of nagging issues using a tuner pedal to power my other effects. Those issues ceased the moment I started using this bad boy. The ISO 5 is affordable, built like a tank, and can power just about any pedal.
• My Two Les Pauls - Sure they're both Epiphone's (do you want to give me money for a Gibson?) but they're still Les Paul's and well...I've never played another guitar that plays or sounds as good as a Les Paul nor have I seen one that's better looking. I have an Ebony Les Paul Standard and a Blackback Les Paul Custom. Both are great guitars and serve me well here at home. I have no doubt they'd do just fine live too.

My pedal board

While my guitar rig isn't high end its certainly not at the low end of the spectrum either. Point being is that you can create, play, and even record good music with modest and even cheap gear if you've put in hours of practice and prepared well before hand. I'm fortunate to own the gear I do because I don't make much money and have 5 kids but I have gotten by with much less. Young musicians and those without any money at all shouldn't let shitty or cheap gear discourage them from playing and creating.