Rig O' The Month

I've always been fascinated by stories about other players' gear. Whether it be the unique combination of events that led them to a particular guitar / amp, the end of an exhausting search for "just the right one", years of faithful service jamming in friends' garages / smoky clubs, or perhaps underneath more than its fair share of spilled beers - the tales of how things "came to be" are the stuff of legend. Every rig has its own special "mojo", and I thought it would be a fun idea for an ongoing Tone Farm monthly article to feature a few cool snaps & a short story about the instruments & rigs of our fellow Tone Farmers.

The criteria for being featured in "Rig of the Month" aren't lofty, by any means. A couple of digital snaps and 2-3 short paragraphs about what made it "happen" - and there you have it. You can send more pix if you like, or write a bit more - whatever. Collectible or cast-off, high-dollar or low-buck, vintage or new, thrashed or pristine, domestic or from another side of the world - it's a "come one, come all" show here at The Tone Farm. What matters most is that you make music with it - because after all - that's really what makes any piece of gear cool.

To get the ball rolling, I thought I'd put forth a short bit about the rig that most of you have come to know me by - my #1 Epiphone Les Paul Suburst and Peavey Classic 30. Both of these pieces of gear have each been with me for 10+ years - the Epi since 1991, and the Classic 30 since 1995.

The Les Paul was purchased from Gary Emerson Music in East Grand Forks in the fall of 1991 (*sadly, a victim of the 1997 Flood. Emerson Music is no more.) Weighing heavily on that choice was the then-new, completely re-mastered studio catalog of Led Zeppelin, and legendary Les Paul sorcerer Jimmy Page. I mean, really, how can one not be affected by such an amazing tone? Anyway - not having the major lettuce for an authentic Gibson instrument, the Epiphone seemed like the next best thing. Sixteen and some years later, it has proven to be a wise choice. "Ruby" has been a mainstay of my own personal tone, and continues to inspire me to this very day.

My Peavey Classic 30 purchase came quite by accident, the result of a casual afternoon of "browsing" at Marguerite's Music in Moorhead, MN. At that time, I'd been looking to get into a tube amp for a couple of years, but was still indecisive as to what I wanted. As luck would have it, my Les Paul was in their shop for some new pots / caps, so my first session on that amp was with my own guitar. Magic must've been in the air at the moment I plugged into the Classic, because as soon as the tone hit my ears - my brain was spinning like a slot machine. I dropped Kenny Rardin the idea of a trade-in on my current amp at that time - a Yamaha 112II, and before I knew it, I'd wheeled & dealed myself into a new tube amp. The rest is history.

At this point of my playing "career", I have a lot of cool gear that I can play - perhaps more than I even need to have (*yikes* - did I just say that?!!) But I still play my Epi & Classic frequently - and always marvel at how good that combo still sounds. Perhaps the coolest thing of all with that rig, for me, is the look I see on the faces of my friends when I tote those two in for a jam session - as in, "now we're ready to rock!" J.