Rig O' The Month - Feb. '09

February's ROTM photo was shot by friend and award-winning photo journalist Darren Gibbins. A guitarist himself, as well as an avid music collector, the skills he uses in capturing the artistry and design of guitar equipment are reflective of his passion for the same. This particular session was a long time in the works, but as you can see, the results were well worth it. Plans are in the works to feature more of Darren's outstanding photography work here at the Tone Farm, as well as a link to his website once its completed.

First, the guitar - a Mexican-made 3TS Classic 60's Fender Stratocaster, purchased at Last Chance Guitars in Des Moines, IA back in 2005. My reasons for stopping in the shop were mostly to quell my nagging urge to play while away from home for two weeks training for my then-new job with CWG (*flying down from Fargo did not provide me with the opportunity to bring a guitar along.) Two weeks of playing it at the shop after work and I knew it had to come home with me.

The guitar itself has remained mostly stock since its purchase, the lone modifications being a better 3-pos. switch, a cream pearloid pickguard, and a set of mojo-riffic, Abigail Ybarra-wound Fender Custom Shop '69 pickups. The CS '69 p'ups provide a super-cool "Texas-meets-psychedelia" tone, allowing one to channel everything from quiet, clean blues to fuzzed-out distortion with equal ease. All-in-all, its a guitar that I am confident will be with me for the duration of my playing days.

And speaking of equipment that will be around for the long haul, the 1968 Fender Silverface Super Reverb pictured along-side the Stratocaster is yet another. A true vintage piece in amazing condition, it produces tone that borders on the religious - or at least in my humble estimation.

Packing 45 watts of big-tube swat, a quad of 10" speakers, factory tremelo, loads of spectacular clean headroom, and the trademark Fender reverb that it draws as its namesake, the Super Reverb brings a bevy of impressive features to a guitar player's arsenal. One of the huge discoveries I've made by playing this rig is how a great "clean" amp can be a fabulous platform for running a good, front-side distortion pedal. To my ears, the distortion produced in this configuration excels not only in note / chord definition, but also seems to be much warmer more harmonically complex than singular distortion alone (i.e. getting distortion from a gain channel.) By no means am I an expert on these kinds of things - but to my ears, that's how it sounds.

Having been personally selected to be the new owner of the amp by its previous sage (*coincidentally, one Mr. Darren Gibbins), the Super Reverb also holds a great deal of personal value. A "gentlemen's agreement" all but ensures that this amp will remain "in the family" . . ;~)

Fender through Fender is one of rock n' roll's elite "go-to" set-ups, and I feel pretty fortunate to be able to tap into that magical combination whenever the mood strikes. - - J.