Guitar Rig

My live guitar rig has always been in rotation of gear, with one solid constant since 1997, and that's the Mesa/Boogie Mark III. The Mesa started out as a 1x12 combo that I soon rackmounted. There have been various incarnations of my rack setup, but what you see here has been pretty stable since about 2007.

The Mesa/Boogie Mark III is a Simul-Class "Blue Stripe." I know the amp is a late '80s model, but I'm uncertain as to the exact year. It is extremely conservatively rated at 75 watts. Let's just say that if there was an extra zero at the end of that power rating, you'd still believe it!

The current rackmount kit was custom constructed by Jim Ferretti. It has a distinct advantage over the stock rackmount kit in that it has a complete back panel with the fan mounted blowing directly across the tubes, and the front is a grill, so the air actually moves through it. I also was easily able to make a hole for the front footswitch cable to run to the back of the rack.

The amp is currently loaded with a complete set of JJs tubes (courtesy of EuroTubes) with KT88s in place of the EL34s for a little extra edge.

If the Mesa is the braun of the operation, the T.C. Electronics G-Major is the brain. It does all of my signal processing, plus, it's dual relays switch the Mesa's amp channels. I use everything the G-Major has to offer in my presets. I use the gate for all my distortion sounds, I use the EQ to dial in my tones, and I use all the digital effects where they are called for. I only wish it had an intelligent harmonizer function, and maybe a wah. But I'm not a big wah guy, so no big loss there. I absolutely love it's lush chorus effect (I'm a big chorus guy), and the ease of programmability. (I felt like I needed a degree to program the Lexicon MPX-1 in comparison!)

The Samson PowerBrite is a basic power conditioner, nothing fancy there. The rack is a custom built 6 space by Pearson Cases. I love that the rack is sturdy and wooden, yet lightweight. It's also a shallow rack. I didn't like the idea of a rack case that was half empty and half hanging off the edge of the cabinet. It's a formula for a falling rack. This rack fits perfectly on top of a 4x12 with little hangover, and it looks damn good too :)



In my live setup, I use a 1990's Ampeg V412C cabinet, loaded with Celestion G12T-75s. These are my favorite speaker to use with my amp. They just add this creamy midrange thing that just makes my amp sing. This setup coupled with a 2nd 4x12 with Celestion Vintage 30s is pure heaven. But I don't like the sound of the Vintage 30s by themself with my amp. The 75s sound better alone. This is ultimately the Ampeg version of a Marshall 1960 lead cabinet. I likey :)

I also use a Behringer FCB1010 when playing live. It's my standalone midi controller to control all of my presets at the touch of a button. I also use the dual expression pedals for parameter control of different effects. I like being able to use one pedal, the other, or both depending on the song. Lots of variations there.


-={E-Mail Jake}=-