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Main Guitar: Tom Anderson Drop Top

This is one classy guitar - I bought it to replace the unfortunate Parker Fly. It cost an arm and a couple of legs but its easy to explain why. The guitar plays like a dream straight off the shelf. This is partly due to the "Rolled" fingerboard, where the edges are rolled to make it feel as though it's been played for years. The bridge humbucker is "Oh my God" loud without ever sounding mushy. The stacked humbuckers are very "Vintage Strat" sounding and the guitar has an unusual switching system. There are three mini switches which are three way jobs. The centre position turns the pickup off. Flicking the switch down turns the pickup on in normal mode. Flicking the switch up gives you a pre- selected sound which is either coil tap or the humbucker wired in parallel. You select which one you want (for each pickup) via jumper type switches which sit under the control cover around the back of the guitar. The mini-switch on its own is used to switch between the three pickup switches or just the bridge humbucker which is really handy. On top of that, there is a REAL Floyd Rose, and the whole guitar looks stunning.

Alternative Main Guitar: Palm Bay Cyclone P-7 (My sponsorship guitar)

This is one hell of a guitar. Gotoh Floyd Rose, ebony fingerboard with real mother of pearl inlays, coil taps AND parallel switching on each pickup. The pickups sound reminiscent of the DiMarzios on my old Parker Fly - The Tone Zone and the Air Norton. The only bugbear is the neck which is prone to shift slightly in extreme conditions. Quality control was a problem for Palm Bay hence they are no longer made. Thanks to Mick at One Way Music it's still the easiest guitar I've ever played!

Alternative Main Guitar: Charvel Fusion Custom (1990 model Superstrat type)

This is an awesome guitar. The pickups are great - it uses rail humbuckers for the mid and neck. The trem is a Schaller Floyd, which is second only to the Ibanez. This type of guitar used to be ten-a- penny at the turn of the last decade but these days a guitar of this type and quality will set you back about a grand. This was also purchased from One Way and set up to perfection by Mick.

Main Budgie Guitar: Peavey Tracer LT (Superstrat type) - candy apple red

This guitar is a workhorse - its brash and unfussy but plays pretty well with a superb action. This was set up by Mick Brooks from One Way Music in Wolverhampton who are main dealers for Peavey. Mick is an artist and can extract amazing playability from almost any guitar. He also does this for free with any instrument purchased from One Way. I have been truly spoiled! In 2000 I had a DiMarzio Tone Zone fitted in the bridge position.

Les Paul Type Guitar: Westbury Standard - wine red

I bought this to replace my old Westone which was stolen from my flat (along with my Charvel Model 3) in 1992. I bought it second hand - a swap with a wireless guitar system plus 25 quid! Its got Kent Armstrong pickups and once again has been set up by Mick with an action to die for.

Electro Classical Guitar: Takamine EG126 - amber

You can hear this guitar on "You" and "Scotch Mist". Its nothing special but can be made to sound great providing you get the mic. in the right place and use a nice reverb. The pick-up is nothing to shout about which is why I mic it up although I guess it could be interesting to use Live.

Acoustic Guitar: Norman B15 - cherry

This is an amazing acoustic for the money. It retails for about £260 and has one of the most balanced sounds of any acoustic I've ever heard. Its not as rich as, say a Taylor or Martin but its very polite, powerful enough, and makes a superb recording instrument. It was also set up by Mick who made me a special compensated saddle - just like the expensive acoustics!

12 String Acoustic: Sigma SDR12 - amber

This is the best 12 string I've played. You can really play lead on it - even string bends! It has a great V - shaped neck, which gives it strength but also makes it very comfortable. I haven't used it much - only on the backing tracks for Hotel California and Stairway but one day

Peavey Zephyr Bass

This is a gorgeous looking bass and it plays like a dream too. It's actually one of Peavey's budget range (loosely based on the more expensive Cirrus) and I used it on all of the tracks on my album "Freethinka".

Travel guitar:

This is my first leccy guitar. A Kay which probably originated from Woolies it began life with a vaguely Les Paul shape but now looks much more similar to a cricket bat. I can get the neck in one suitcase and the body in another and I assemble it when I get there. Its nice just to keep my fingers going and while on holiday in '99 I wrote a load of stuff on it which included a track from Freethinka called "Burning Sky".

Mixing Console: Peavey RQ880FX

This desk has some really cool features. It has 16 channels, several of which are stereo, built in digital effects, an auxiliary channel for additional FX, two graphics which can be assigned to left and right or one can be used for the monitor mix. PFL switches and meters to monitor incoming signals. The box is made by Freestyle to my exact requirements. It was designed by myself and Mick from One Way Music so that one person can carry it without killing themselves!

Amps: Peavey CS800S (x2)

These amps are arranged so that each one powers the Left or the Right speakers. Channel A is for the bins and Channel B is for the top cabs. Each one has a variable crossover module set to 200Hz. These amps send 420 Watts RMS into each of the 4 cabs.

Speakers: Peavey HiSys 1XT

This is what I use for my top cabs. There is a 12" Black Widow driver and a Peavey 22XT compression horn. There is also an EQ switch, which softens the sound coming from the horn. The horn is very powerful and can sometimes sound a bit harsh so it usually needs taming. If I play anywhere where I need extra volume I switch the EQ to "Flat" and you get the full benefit of the horn without drawing any more power from the amps.

HiSys 115XT

These are my bass bins. A 15" Black Widow and a huge bass port is basically it. These bins only go down to about 60Hz so I normally cut the 63Hz slider by about 4.5 - 6dB. That way, if I'm playing at serious volumes I can concentrate at making them work at around 125Hz where they really come into their own.

Recording machine: Fostex D160 16 track hard disk recorder

Grown up version of the DMT-8 8-track on which I recorded "My World"

Mixing Desk: Spirit 328 digital console

32 channel 8-bus desk with flashing lights and flying faders. Awesome.

Studio Monitors: Spirit Absolute 4P

Each one has two 100-watt amps built in (one for bass, one for treble). I can now hear what my music really sounds like. And so can most of Wolverhampton.

Master recorder: Fostex D-5 DAT machine

A cool basic DAT machine. Input/output options include XLR's, Fibre Optics and Co-Axials... It also sounds like a spin dryer when in ultra fast rewind mode!

Compressors: DBX Project One 266 stereo compressor

Good machine - used extensively to compress the vocals on "My World" to make them easier to record.

Spirit 328:

The new desk has two built in dynamics processors so the DBX will only be used in elaborate mixing sessions.

Focusrite Voicemaster:

This machine does away with the DBX when recording vocals and acoustic guitars as it has, amongst other things, a mighty fine built it compressor.

Multi F/X units: Digitech Studio Quad

You can now buy the new version of this machine for around half what I paid for the original one. It's a great tool; I've used it mainly on mixes for adding reverb and either delay or de-tuner to vocals and guitars.

Spirit 328:

The new desk also has two built in Lexicon F/X processors so the Studio Quad only comes out on special occasions.

Guitar Pre-amps:

I will write a section on programming these little beauties and why I think every guitarist should use one. For now though, here's what I'm using.

For Studio work: Roland GP100

Simulates accurately any guitar amp you can think of. Not only that, but it'll simulate different speaker cabinet arrangements as well as microphone types and mic placement relative to the speaker.

You see, when you record or do a big gig, the signal travels to the mixing desk not from your amp but from a microphone. You move the microphone by 1cm and the sound going to the desk will have a completely different character. Therefore if you use a machine like this one, you can send the signal to the desk via a lead, and as long as you've spent the time setting up the sound at home (preferably through a hi-fi or a small PA) you know exactly what sound you're going to get. All the sound engineer has to do is to EQ it according to the venue or the recording.

In my case, it simply wasn't practical to record using a microphone because any guitar amp would have been too loud, so this was an excellent way of getting the sounds I wanted at headphone volume. Of course, with this kind of system you don't need to record using headphones - as there is no microphone to pick up the sound coming from the studio monitors.

For Live Work: Boss GT-5

Basically the same as above but in a pedalboard format. You don't get the same feeling as when you're standing in front of a Marshall stack, but when it comes to setting up; loading / unloading it makes a lot more sense. Especially when you're gigging several times a week as I do. The other benefits are when it comes to mixing; once you've set the pre-amp up, you only have to make subtle changes in EQ and volume depending on the venue and you soon get to know the type of adjustments you need to make. Not only that, but you don't always have room for an amp in some of the smaller venues.

The Boss GT-5 is also equipped with a Feedbacker, which is operated by depressing a pedal and controlling the vibrato using the expression pedal. Parisienne Walkways at any volume!

Both these pre-amps come with a selection of effects, including intelligent harmonizers - I'll write a section on these, tremelo/vibrato, delays, reverbs, wah, various types of EQ and many more - all of studio quality.

Microphones:

Audio Technica PR40 Low-Z:

Similar in every way to an SM58 but a bit cheaper. My first mic. I've had it since the sixth-form.

Peavey PVM 535i:

Similar to above but much more powerful with a Neodymium magnet. My current Live mic and likely to stay that way. Very clear sound with plenty of warmth.

Peavey PVM 480:

Back electret "condenser". This is what I used to record the vocals and acoustic guitars on "My World". It's probably too sensitive to use Live but is very good for recording - provided you've got phantom power on your desk (which I didn't - I had to buy an external unit!)

AKG SolidTube:

A Cardioid Valve Condenser: My 'BBC' mic. This is what I'm using to record my vocals with now. In conjunction with my Focusrite Voicemaster mic pre-amp. It's one hell of a tool, and makes me sound like Kiri Te Kanawa!

Drum Kit:

I am also a drummer and my kit comprises of a Tama Granstar 4 shell pack, plus a Pearl snare and various cymbals and hardware. I'm a bit embarrassed to talk too much about the cymbals. OK they're MAGIC cymbals; not quite as effective as biscuit tin lids but loud nonetheless!!

Keyboard / Workstation / Sequencer / Drum Machine: Korg O1/WFD

I would be lost without this machine. I've done literally years of programming on it. All the rhythm and keyboard tracks on "My World" were done using it, as were the backing tracks I use Live. Its getting on a bit now, about 8 years old - but it's still awesome and I'll probably never sell it. I'd like to give special thanks to Andrew Neville of One Way Music for kindly servicing my keyboard when it became full of dust and crap. Its a hell of a job and he's done it for me twice now despite the fact that I didn't buy it from One Way. Cheers mate!

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