Now that I've shared my guitars, I thought this post could help guys that are on a similar path trying to achieve their tone. A LOT of things are said on posts, forums, videos, podcasts, etc. But with time, I have turned into someone really deceived by brands, paid and sponsored artists or influencers; not everyone has a complete studio at home. Of course, everyone has to make its own way, and it doesn't mean it will be the best solution for you, but this is my honest view and experience.
Most of us are dealing with paying bills, working, and everyday life. I come from a context where my mother struggled with lack of money, trying to raise a child on her own while working, because my dad wasn't what I'd hoped he'd be. But at least he taught me what hard work was, even if he was a bit selfish. So, to me, one Euro is one Euro. I'm not selling you anything or trying to convince you on products, I'm just tired of bad marketing, lies, and brands pushing gear that doesn't add anything to what we already have for the majority.
:: :: ::
A bit of my story: started with a Maison acoustic guitar, then a Maison RG-style electric guitar RG and a Yamaha 10w amp, and then to a 40w Marshall Valvestate and an Ibanez Soundtank distortion pedal. Later on, I started buying used gear; a 350w Crate VTX head, a Peavey Valveking 412 cab, and a Behringer VT999.
Came to France with no amp and with most of my guitars sold, and bought a Bugera 6260-212, but it was so loud that I needed an attenuator. Sold it and got a used Hughes and Kettner Blonde Edition, not bad for the money. Sold the Behringer pedal and got a Zoom G1on pedal. Then a Blackstar ID Core 10w, which wasn't bad at all, but too small. Sold it and bought their 40w head; sold the H&K and bought a Blackstar HT112 cab to go with it. I liked it, but by then, I started playing in church and, with drums and all, had to go to the ID Core 100w, which was pretty light compared to the Bugera! Somewhere along the way, the G1on was sold too. Even had a Carlsbro Sherwood acoustic amp, and a 2nd Behringer VT999 pedal. I had to stop buying, selling, and losing money. So I began to think outside the box! I needed something easy to carry, easy to handle, practical, and not expensive.
This was the point where I started my research on pedalboard-rig-style solutions. Here we go: Valeton Dapper Dark 4 Effect Strip (noisy!), Tech21 Fly Rig 5 (not good), Mooer Black Truck (distortion sucks bad!)... All too noisy, the distortion wasn't good, a perfect waste of time and money. And the Joyo Noise Blocker doesn't block anything by the way.
Before I present you with my dream rig, I'd like to resume my view on this vintage amp trend, that could apply to guitars too. I hear guitarists out there saying how great tube amps are, expensive boutique brands and all, and honestly I know music history has been built on that too, but would you be defending old desk telephones? Technology evolves, gets smaller, and nowadays, it emulates those tones pretty well. To me personally, it's a mental attitude to justify the amount of money spent, and nostalgic feelings about the past, tradition, image, and so on. I get it, I work with relic guitars. Same to Fender, Gibson and similar stuff. Lovely, awesome, I get it and love to see it in photos, but I wouldn't trade one of my guitars for a Les Paul or a Strat. Other brands just started from there and perfected those. I respect the legacy and there's nothing wrong with loving those, but I feel today that the legacy brands are just giving us the same recipe over and over, but the prices are over the roof IMO.
Back to my gear!
IKEA gave me an IDEA; picked up a used IKEA Brada PC stand, and installed a Zoom G3 and a Harley Benton GPA-100 on it with a 3 socket extension underneath, and it works great. Now, when I began with the Zoom, I tried to make a preset for every amp sim, but came to the conclusion that I didn't like most of them, and I was always playing on the same 3 or 4.
Little by little I started deleting those which I didn't like, and today I use 3, only 3! This took several months though. By the way, none of the installed presets did it, and I wasn't patient enough to try them all either. One day, I watched a guy on YT that created a pretty good preset based on 2 gain levels. That pleased me a lot, I could play soft stuff and go for heavier tones on the same preset. I also learned to use the volume pot more to control the gain and output level.
As for cabs and speakers, after a few experiences, I ended up with a used blue Subzero G212 cab with a couple of Laney/HH speakers, which are basically Celestion Seventy 80s to play at home. I really love it! I also have my old cardboard suitcase homemade cab with a Line6 speaker which is also a badged Celestion Seventy 80 speaker to play at church. And I've bought a small Kustom KG112FX amp, which is horrible when it comes to the sound, but I sold the amp module and kept the structure to install a 12" speaker one of these days. The original speaker ain't bad, but I guess either the Line6 speaker will be installed on it one of these days, or another Seventy 80, again. Time will tell.
Now to share my presets with you!
