Guitars
THE MAIN AXE - Godin PASSION RG-3
Godin "Passion RG-3" #1 (22 frets, chambered spruce body with maple cap) - 2008 (original owner) Maple neck (25.5") with Rosewood fingerboard, double cutaway "Strat"-style body but - I have two of only three protoypes they made in the H/H configuration, rather than the final S/S/S version. Amazing workmanship and wood, very cool sounds with the H/H set-up. I have put in the new Seymour Duncan P-Rails pickups (2 assemetrical alnico single coils joined to be a humbuckers). With 2 mini-switches, this gives 12 different sounds all through passive electronics (changes in impedance). The best sounding/playing guitar I have ever owned. I call it the "Godin Passion H/H Convertible " - though the model is not available commercially. John McGlaughlin uses this rare, protoype model, though he uses the stock pick-ups.
"Godin Passion RG-3" #2 (22 frets, chambered cedar body with mahogany cap) - 2010 (original owner) Maple neck (25.5") with Rosewood fingerboard, double cutaway "Strat"-style body. I discovered that Godin made another prototype of my favorite guitar (see above), with slightly different woods. So I bought it, to have a back up. Put on a cool Trem-King whammy bar and my favorite Seymour Duncan P-Rails pick-ups. Another "Godin Passion H/H Convertible " - sounds just a bit different (slightly darker) than my #1 guitar, but still an amazing instrument.
Godin
"Montreal" (22 frets, semi-hollow body, dark mahogany) - 2005 (original owner)
Rare prototype of model with binding on F-holes, Mahogany neck (one of my two "Gibson" scale guitar at 24.75"), with upgraded Benedetto A6 (neck) and PAF (bridge) pickups, built-in LR Baggs piezo-electric "acoustic"
pickup. Covers jazz, blues, rock and even experimental remarkably well with just a bit of tweeking of EQ. Set up .012 - .052, for a jazzier feel.
Godin "LGXT" - (22 frets, maple body, mahogany neck + AA flame maple top) - 2002 (bought: 2010) A rare "transition" model from the old to the new Godin LGXT series, this
one has a very rare but gorgeous dark red colour, older style locking tuners
(knob at back of tuner, not on top), no Godin logo painted on the guitar body,
but the "new" (current) Godin logo on the headstock and the "new" ergonomic neck joint.
Nice whammy and an amazing piece of maple for the body give this 25.5 inch neck
a huge and detailed sound, dark and warm but with good clarity. LR Baggs piezo bridge, plus MIDI
out (plus electric!), came with very nice Seymour Duncans Custom humbuckers, but I modified it to put in my favorite Seymour Duncan P-Rails so I have 12 electric sounds (via 2 push/pull knobs) + the acoustic sounds!
GODIN – Core p-90 – prototype (22 frets, mahogany body, maple cap, non-carved) (2011)
I was at the Godin offices in the spring of 2011 and I spotted this black beauty – Les Paul shape, non-carved maple top, 2 Seymour Duncan P-90s, set-neck (24.75" - "Gibson" length). I usually don't like the LP shape, and I find the sound too dense, but….within 10 seconds of playing it, I knew I had to have it! The neck is super comfortable (Godin's specialty), the P-90s sound amazing on the LP-style body, does blues, jazz, very flexible but with lots of character. Just swapped SD pickups for Lindy Fralin humcancelling p-90s - all the sound, none of the hum! Too much fun – this is a prototype, the final production model will be out soon!
Godin Velocity – (22 frets, maple fretboard and neck, maple/poplar body) (2011)
For certain sounds, that special transparency of a maple fretboard is essential. So I got this very affordable Godin, set it up with light strings (.010 - .046), put in some Seymour Duncan Classic Stack Plus pickups (humbucking single coils), put a series/parallel switch on the bridge humbucker, added Gotoh locking tuners and voila – an amazingly versitile, rich yet transparent S/S/H-style guitar with the added flexibility of the Godin High Definition Revoicer, fully humbucking single coils, and that amazing Godin woodwork!
I have owned several other Godins - Flat Five, Freeway Floyd, Summit, LG Signature, xtSA,
obscure early S/S/H unfinished S-Style, they all played very well and sounded great, but I only have so much room to store guitars so I am just keeping my absolute "best" pieces.
It is also important to play guitars regularly, and if I had 10 or more, some instruments
would suffer from "under-playing", and that does nobody any good!
and because Godin does not make headless, vintage acoustic,
double-cut set-neck, or 24-fret guitars...
Steinberger
GM4T (24 frets, black) - circa 1993
H-(EMG 89: non-standard)-S-H (EMGs) Toured the world with this in the 1990s - very tough, sounds good if a bit less tradtional. The original confiuration is S/S/H, but I replaced the neck pickup with am EMG splittable humbucker with gives the guitar a better clean, warm sound, when needed. A 25.5" scale makes 24 frets almost usable!
Gibson J-45 acoustic (20 frets, sunburst) - circa 1956
added: non-standard "clear" pickguard, added "cutaway",
new bridge for better intonation
I recorded with this in the 80s and 90s, it sounds amazing in the studio!
Too bad I don't play it more these days...
PRS Custom Semi-Hollow Ltd. (22 frets, mahogany body with quit maple cap) - 2010
OK, I did not actually need this one, but I was looking for a semi-hollow set-neck double-cut
(to complement my Godin Montreal semi-hollow bolt-on single-cut) and noticed this guitar. An amazing finsih, and quite flexible - a small-sized semi-hollow guitar (with F-hole) and with both a good whammy and a coil-tap (quite rare for semi-hollow). I'd say I still prefer a full 25.5" scale, but 22 frets on 25" scale is very comfortable. Though was a limited edition model for 2010 only, I found a good deal on a used one (gotta love eBay), it was a bit too expensive for me at full price!
SO, WHY NO GUITAR CLASSICS IN THE COLLECTION?
Funny you should ask that!
In my younger days I had a few classics (Les Paul Custom, ES-335, ES-335-12, ES-120), but, in fact, I always failed at sounding like any of my guitar idols. In retrospect, this was very useful (though frustrating at the time), as it forced me to find my own sound and create my own unique music. By late 80's I knew I needed to find "other" guitars, to find another sound. I had an 1985 PRS Standard for several years (when they were still unknown - used on albums and touring from 1990 to 1995 ), but I found it a bit too dense at times (perhaps why they eventually became so popular with hard rock and metal bands).
Then I had (and still own) a Steinberger GM4T - quite a different sound, almost too "clean", used it from 1995 to 2005 (CDs and tours). But when I found Godins in 2005, I knew we were getting close to what I wanted - a new platform that was clearly linked to the great
guitar tradition, but one that was not loaded with historic connotations and pre-imagined sounds.
I spent 5 years experimenting with different pickups in relation to different woods and different body shapes and I now have a clear image of what I want to hear, and how to get it, and it sounds like me. The "24 Frames" (2010 - 2011) triple CD project is the best example, and is in fact a result of, all this search for my ideal sound.
I love a great Strat or Les Paul sound, but that's for Eric, Stevie-Ray, Duane,
and Jimmy P., not for me.
I've now offically run out of guitar storage room in my studio, so we are into the
"one in, one out" principle for the collection from now on!!...in theory...
Strings: electric - D'Addario
light .010 - .046 / acoustic - D'Addario light .011 - .052
For several guitars I do .011 to .046 (replace the .010 with a .011 for a bigger sound on the high-E). A few electric guitars (Passion HH#2, PRS semi-hollow) are strung with .011 - .049, for a bit more density of sound. I now use .012 - .052 on the Montréal and it is now a total "jazz-machine"!
Guitar mods and maintainance done by Montreal guitar guru Al Gunn.
Amps
From 2007 - 2011 I tried about 10 different amp and speaker combinations, looking for "the sound" - the perfect balance of warm but detailed and transparent.
I now have it: one stereo pair is all tube with 10" speakers (Fender), the other is a pair of amp heads, both capable of being very loud but very quiet, a solid state/tube hybrid (Evans), plus pure 6L6 all-tube bliss (Groove Tubes), using 12" Eminence Neodymium speakers in custom Lopoline cabinets.
2X Fender
Super Champ (Paul Rivera era) - vintage 1983/84 (6V6 power tubes)
with upgraded Eminence "Lil Buddy" 10" hemp-cone 50 watt ceramic speaker
modified to be able to switch from Class AB to cathode-biased pseudo-Class A (18 watts).
I cut the bright capacitor and boosted the bass response of the tone circuit so
it sounds big and warm at all volumes. Recording out is now an 8ohm speaker out,
so it can get really loud (but still clean and quiet, if I want!) when I plug in
an extra 12" speaker. Sounds like the worlds smallest Twin Reverb.
Amplifier mods and maintainance done by Montreal amp guru Rick Onslow.
Evans AH200 hybrid (head) - 2008
An interesting take on solid state power amp - with a tube preamp (2X 12AT7 tubes) and 200 watts, with really felxible EQ. I plug it into a Lopoline cabinet with an Eminence Delta light 1 X 12" (or the recently acquired Raezer's Edge Twin 8- see below.. The whole thing is astonishingly light weight (head - 5 lbs, Lopoline cabinet - 18 lbs) for the power and clarity. I simply cannot believe the quality of this amp - ABSOLUTELY quiet, amazing EQ - from very dark and jazzy to almost country bright (without the "icepick" - thanks!). Even has a pretty cool flanger / tremolo circuit in the back (switch on or off), and you can adjust the reverb dwell (time plus balance) - very flexible!! Almost as loud as a Twin, if you want/need that kind of thing.
Groove Tubes Soul-o 45 - mid 1990's (head - 6L6 power tubes)
A somewhat rare, all-tube, hand-wired but PC-board based 6L6 head rated at about 60 watts, almost totally clean sound, 1 channel with volume, treble, mid, bass, presence, reverb and master volume. Very effective and flexible EQ. Designed and built by tube amp guru Aspen Pittman. Gives that BIG 6L6 tube sound with no hiss, no distortion - just very slight crunch at maximum volume - but it sounds great with pedals!. It is in a small head that weighs 32 lbs....I plug it into one or two of the above mentioned Lopline 1X12" cabinets. Mostly for bigger halls - it sounds huge!
Raezer's Edge Twin 8 ported 250 watt cabinet
Just bought this (Dec. 2011) - used on eBay. I have to say, I am VERY impressed -
huge, detailed sound, very warm, tons of low end, sparkle but no "ice-pick". All in a portable 30 lbs. cabinet that is only a little bit bigger than my 1 X 12" cabinets. Both the Evans and the Groove Tubes sound fantastic with this cabinet. I believe the cabinet is Eminence equipped and can handle 250 watts, so there is loads of headroom. I tried the new version of this - the "Twin 8 lite", with neodymium magnets, not to my taste (even if it was 10 lbs lighter!). I prefer the "old school ceramic magnets" for this one. Neo sounds good in my 12" cabinets, but I have not liked it in a twin 8" or single 10" configuration.
My Dirty Little Secret...
Ok, for workshops and
very simple amplification needs I bought a Roland Cube 40XL.
$220 new, 22 lbs, quite loud, ok clean (a bit brittle and bland...), decent low-end, decent distortion, delay, reverb, chorus - it really only gets me about 63% of the tone I get out of all the other gear, but when you are schlepping gear down long corridors, up stairs, and into wierd little spaces for very basic workshops or first rehearsals - maybe I don't need the $1,000, 37 lbs., 28 year-old vintage tube amp??
Guitar Cables
I actually spent the money on some high-end guitar cables (Evidence Audio)
and I can honestly say I hear a difference but it is quite subtle and I
play solo a lot, the difference in a band siutation might be less obvious.
Guitar Picks
I don't mean to get "picky", but I switched to these hand-made Dugain picks from France a few years ago and I LOVE them. $13 a pick - seems expensive, but most of my string-player friends tell me a good professional bow starts at $5,000, so I am not complaining! Very thick, very hard and dense, but with cutaways so they fit very comfortably in the hand. The weight of the pick gives you around a 1 - 1.5 db boost in volume, some extra low end, and adds a very nice, subtle acoustic compression. I use the Acetate (darker) and Coconut Shell (brighter). I find playing with regular guitar picks quite unsatisfactory now. Dugains also don't "wear out", so you can use the same one for several years with little or no change in sound (unlike regular picks which are dead after one show). So maybe the $13 is cheaper??
touring / en tournée: Fender Hot Rod Deluxe / Fender Deluxe
Reverb / Fender Twin Reverb
Pedals
used
on current and upcoming projects
Electro-Harmonix Ring Thing
Digitech Timebender delay/harmoniser pedal
Zoom G2.1.nu (small multi-FX unit)
TC Electronic Nova Drive (distortion)
Boss DD-20 Giga-Delay Twin Pedal
Boss GT-8 multi-effects processor
2 X Boss PS-3 (delay/pitch shifter)
Boss GE-7 graphic EQ
E-Bow (both old and new version) + slides (glass and metal)
Volume pedal (Boss)
TC Electronic Polytune tuner pedal
Other stuff I some use (or have used)
Volume Pedal (Ernie Ball)
Tech 21 SansAmp GT-2 - distortion
Zoom 2100 mulit-effects (small floor pedal with tons of stuff!)
The "legendary" Boss SE-70 multi-effects (used to have 3, kept one, in case!)
for "Strange Atttractors" CD and tours (1997
- 1999)
Roland GP-100 guitar preamp
2 X BOSS SE-70 multi-effects
Lexion JamMan
Rocktron MIDIMate controller
Personal
Studio
PRE-AMP/DI: Demeter H series Stereo Tube Mic Preamp/DI
INTERFACE: RME
Fireface 400 digital audio interface
MONITORS: Dynaudio BM5 speakers
HEADPHONES: Sennheisser 650, 570 and 450 HD headphones
CONTROL: Mackie "Big Knob" studio command system
MICS: Sennheiser 421 (2), Audiotechnica AT825 (electret condenser
stereo - for remotes)
2 X Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro mixer
Marantz portable DAT (1991 - still works perfectly!) - kept as a back-up unit...
Hardware Sampler: Yamaha A4000 (with 128 MB RAM) - kept as a back-up unit...
COMPUTERS: Macintosh Mac Pro 2.66Ghz, 6 GB RAM,
with 1.25 terra
bites of hard disk space
Dell 24" flat screen with built in
"soundblock" speakers (main screen)
Hewlett Packard 24" flat screen LP2465 (for notation work)
Mac Book Pro - 2.16 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, with 100 GB hard drive (5400)
La Cie 500GB FW hard drive (7200) + OWC 2.5" 100GB FW hard
drive
(remote drives/ 7200 - bus powered)
SOFTWARE: audio - Digital Performer 7.0 / Atliverb - GREAT reverb! /
notation - Sibelius 6 - I LOVE this one!
KEYBOARDS: Yamaha YPP200 digital piano (88 keys-just for composing)
Yamaha P-85 (weighted 88 keys for rehearsals, electronic projects -
sounds great, weighs 25 lbs!)
Images:
Canon HV20 HD video + Panasonic FZ8 still camera
For Larger
Productions
Converters:
Apogee or ProTools HD192
Remote Recording: RME Fireface 400 / RME 800 to Mac Book Pro
On-stage monitors / rehearsal speakers: Yamaha MSR 100 (4)
Mastering Monitors: Genelec 1030 / Dynaudio BM5
Pre-amps: Focusrite, Avalon, Manley, Studer, Neve, Langevin, Grace
Mics: AKG, Neumann, Schoeps, Shure, Sennheiser, Earthworks, Countryman (voice)
