I’ve been seriously playing guitar for 18 years, and during that time I’ve owned a lot of different guitar gear.

   

FENDER & THE SOLID STATE

My first guitar in 1991 was a Japanese Fender Squier, and my first amp was a Peavey Rage 108. That rig served me during my grunge garage-band phase, for about a year, but once I joined the Jazz Band in High School, I had to change it up a little. My second guitar (in addition to the Squier) was a cheap Aspen Les Paul copy and my second guitar amp was an 80’s Peavey Classic VTX which had a solid-state pre-amp and a 6L6GC tube power amp. That rig served me well during my time with the Cary High Jazz Band, as well as with my garage band, Xenomorph. During that time I was introduced to my first Carvin electric while hanging out at a friend’s house. His neighbor knew we were in a band together and let us borrow his Carvin DC-135 for an afternoon. I really dug it.

SWITCHING IT UP A LITTLE

   

    At some point in the late 90s traded in my Aspen Les Paul and bought a cool Yamaha electric with a flamed maple top, rosewood fingerboard, and HSS pickup configuration. I don’t remember the model. For Christmas my Mom got me a Korg AX100G guitar effects processor. Both of these items expanded my guitar gear experience and ended up helping me buy one of my most memorable guitar rigs.

OLD RELIABLE

    Years later, I traded in the Peavey Classic VTX, my Yamaha, and my Korg AX100G for one of my favorite guitar rigs: a 1998 G&L Legacy stratocaster and a 1998 Peavey Classic 50 4x10. I played that rig for years, even during my first few years with The Bottom Dollar Blues Band.

    In 2001 I got engaged to my wife, and being the non-traditional girl she is, she decided that if she got an engagement ring, that I should get a Carvin guitar. So, as engagement gift, in 2001 I finally got the Carvin I had been dreaming about since the early 90s. (It’s the guitar in the video at the top of this page.)

THE BLUES

    In 2002 I joined The Bottom Dollar Blues band (of which my cousin Seth was a member) and used my G&L Legacy, Carvin DC-200, and Peavey Classic 50 exclusively. We played a plethora of blues covers, and my rig at the time was perfect for that genre. In 2004, BDBB decided to “go rock” so we changed the band’s name to High Fidelity, dumped most of the blues covers, and became a classic rock band covering everything from Cream to Weezer. Needless to say, my rig had to change. I needed something more versatile.

WOLFGANG AND THE AMP SIMULATION

    After changing music formats I needed a guitar and an amp that could play all the different kinds of rock & roll that High Fidelity was playing. I ended up trading in my Peavey Classic 50 and my G&L for a Line 6 Flextone III modeling amp. I also purchased a 1998 “Patent Pending” Peavey Wolfgang with high output pickups (customized with a coil-tap feature) and a Floyd Rose tremolo. The Line 6 covered a huge spectrum of amp sounds, and the Peavey Wolgang allowed me to go into the “heavier” realm of rock. Both served me well for several years in High Fidelity.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

The stress of having to maintain my somewhat expensive guitars (the Peavey Wolfgang and the Carvin DC-200) encouraged me to purchase 2 low-cost guitars for use with HiFi. For $150 each (regular price $300), I purchased 2 Floyd Rose Discovery Series guitars. These guitars featured the patented Floyd Rose Speedloader tremolos and 2 different pickup configurations for versatility. (DST-2 had 2 humbuckers, the DST-3 had 3 single coils.) I used the guitars for about a year, but got tired of their sterile tone, and the more expensive strings for use with the Speedloader trem. I sold them on eBay for the same price I bought them for. Around this time I also bought a Line 6 POD XT Live and used it in conjunction with my Line 6 Flextone III to add to the number of amp sounds in my arsenal. The time I spent tweaking tones began to frustrate me, however.

BACK TO THE BEGINNING

    While I enjoyed the versatility my Line 6 equipment afforded me, in 2007 I became tired of all the time I spent tweaking the metric butt-load of settings that the modeling equipment possessed. So, in a fit of practicality and nostalgia I went to the music store, and purchased a 2005 Peavey Classic 50. Almost identical to my old 1998 Peavey Classic 50 which had 4 10” speakers, this Classic 50 had 2 12” speakers. I purchased a set of matching JJ tubes from Eurotubes to replace the stock tubes, and the amp sounded awesome. I quickly sold my Line 6 Flextone III after I realized that I didn’t use it anymore. I kept the Line 6 PODXT Live to use as an effects board.

ONCE A CARVINITE, ALWAYS A CARVINITE

    eBay is a dangerous thing. Always looking for a good deal on a Carvin guitar, In 2009 I came across a 2008 Carvin DC-200 for $650. Is was ONLY 2 MONTHS OLD. New, that guitar would have cost $1200. Well, needless to say, I bought it, as it had all the options I would have chosen if I were to have another custom Carvin built from scratch. (12” fretboard radius, flamed maple top, 2 classic humbuckers, Floyd Rose locking trem, maple fretboard) It’s now my favorite guitar, and gets used daily. It’s a great match with my Peavey Classic 50, and the rest of the guys in the band seem to think so too.

THE CURSE OF GAS

I’m not saying that I won’t ever get Guitar Acquisition Syndrome again. After all, it IS a syndrome. I will end this narrative by saying that I’m currently very happy with my guitar rig. My Carvins are super-quality instruments. My Peavey Classic is great for classic rock, and whenever I need more gain, or some funky effect, my Line 6 POD XT Live does the job nicely. If only I could have gotten to this point sooner. Oh well, I guess like most things in life, it’s the journey, not the destination.

PS - I still have my 1991 Fender Squier. Unfortunately, it’s in pieces in my storage building.