For a long time, I have been using a Steinberger GL2T for slide guitar work. In order to get those double notes on the slide guitar, you really need to tune the guitar to open tuning and have a high action. I sometimes play in Open A tuning and most of the conventional wooden neck with a truss rod just cannot take this kind of pressure. The Steinberger with the graphite neck was the answer. Moreover, with slide guitar, the pick-ups and the wood of which the guitar is made are not that important. The sound comes from the slide and the vibrato. You can hardly tell the difference between an expensive guitar and a cheap guitar when you are playing slide.

Just by accident, I bought another Steinberger. I tried it out in standard tuning and found that the little thing is a beast of a guitar, it has to be tamed. For a start, the GL2T has a small body and the guitar keeps running away from you when you play it. You really have to grab hold of the guitar when you are playing it. The other problem with the Steinberger is the sound is so cold and clinical. It is alright if you play Rock or Fusion, but with the Blues it does take some getting used to. After all there is not one piece of wood in the entire guitar. To compensate this shortcoming in the sound you need a really good amp like the Mesa Boogie Mark 1. But once I got use to the Steinberger, it immediately became my favourite guitar. You cannot adjust the neck because it is graphite. But the action is silky smooth and with the GL2T, access to the higher octaves on the guitar is no problem. The guitar is highly maneuverable and plays really well in all kinds of situations.

With the Steinberger I think I have found the perfect guitar for me. The action, the neck and manovuerability and the body really suit me to the bone. Everything with the Steinberger is great but there is the problme with the sound. As everything in life goes, nothing is perfect. It is hard to get a sound from Steinberger close to a Gibson. But then and again, nothing sounds like a Gisbon. I still think the Gibson Les Paul is still the best guitar ever made for Blues. But for me the Steinberger is my perfect guitar, all things considered. There are a lot of frowns for audience at 48th Street and in Japan when I pull out the Steinberger and I get a lot of diapproving looks from most people. What? Blues and Steinberger? I have seen one of the audience shake his head with decided resignation when he saw me put on a Steinberger. But you have to follow your heart. Forget the look find out what you really need. The Steinberger really isn't a guitar for everyone. And mind you, they do not come cheap. You cannot get the real Steinbergers anymore as Gibson had taken over and they don't make these gutiars anymore. The only place you can buy them second hand is from E-bay. The GL2's costs around US$1,200.00. Any you don't even get a block of wood to go with it.

If you want to know more about Steinberger, click here.

The L Series with 2 humbuckers

Fender Hot Rod

This used to be my workhorse. A no nonsense all tube amp, crystal clear and pristine. The amp has two channles and footswitch operable. This is a very versatile amp and is certainly good for Blues

Mesa Boogie Mark I Re-issue

This is the ultimate guitar amp and is the amp I use now. For power and for sound, you really cannot beat a Mark I. This little beast is loud but besides that, the timber of the tone is phenomenal, the notes come across hard and solid. Click to see details and comments.

Marshall JMP 1

One of the best pre-amps around. Click on picture to see details and comments.

Mesa Boogie Formular Pro with Yamaha SPX900

Another great pre-amp hooked up to a superb effector. Click picture to see details and comments.

Everybody loves freedom. I cannot tell you how many times I have tripped over on stage over guitar cables. Guitar wireless systems of the last generation all involved carrying a pouch contianing the transmitter. That was cumbersome to say the least. But now we have something new. Check out the Samson wireless system. The transmitter is a simple plug, just plug in. Samson has different plugs for Les Paul style and Fender style guitars. I have been using this gadget on stage every time I play at 48th Street and I find it very reliable. The transmitter uses a small AAA battery and the transmittor requires a 9 volt battery.

In 1982, I was still studying in London. One evening I went to a famous live venue called “The Marquee” and queued up for hours outside in order the get in. The Yardbirds were playing that night. Rumours were flying everywhere that Jimmy Page was going to turn up and with a bit of luck, Jeff Beck would show up. When the show started, neither turned up. I had once glance of the guitar player. He had on the floor in front of him a vast array of effect padels. What? Playing Blues and Rhythm and Blues with all those effects? You are kidding me. I just walked out before the band started the first song.

I always believed that if you are a serious player, you should limit yourself to, at most, an overdrive or a distortion unit. How can you be playing Blues with if you are using a Chorus and a Phaser? Muddy Waters never used one, nor did Elmore James. Over time I my attitude to using effects, and for that matter to quite a few other things in life, changed. On Saturday nights, I generally start playing from around 10:30 p.m. and often not finishing till 3:00 a.m. or 3:30 a.m. in the morning. I go through a lot of songs in one evening and it is not a short session. I feel I need a little more colour and a variety to my guitar sound. I have always used an overdrive, then I added an MXR Phaser, then a Roland Super Chorus. The important thing to me, is to use guitar effects to give the extra colour to the guitar sound when it is needed and not for the sake of just using the effects. If the effect helps to give that bit more spice to the guitar sound and suits the song, why not? Muddy Waters and Elmore James did not use any Chorus pedal or Phaser pedal, that’s true. But maybe only because these effects were not available to them at the time.

When using guitar effects, I think it is important to bear in mind a few things :-
1. The effect is to give extra colour or tone to the guitar sound. The effect is the servant and the guitar sound is the master;
2. Always use effects with moderation. If you put so much Chorus on your guitar so that you actually lose the actual guitar sound, the effect will become the servant has become the slave and you end up worse off;
3. Try to give the guitar the minimum amount of effect to achieve the sound you have in mind. If say level 4 and level 6 on the effect unit can do the job, you should probably stick to level 4. That depends, of course, on the sound you want;
4. If you are using a complicated multi-effect board, make sure you know where are the patches and have all the parameters set up correctly before using in live situations. There is often a certain amount of pressure, depending how experienced you are, when you are standing on stage. The last thing you want is to fine-tune the parameters or fix up the amount of effect going to the guitar on stage;
5. If you are using a mult-effect board, the chances are your are using several effects at the same time, compressor, overdrive, delay and chorus. You have to be very careful when you are using several effects at the same time. The guitar can easily end up sounding thin and buried in these effects and you have a mushy sound all mumbled up.
6. The small individual effect pedals are the most reliable ones and will suit most situations. Do not go for a multi-effect board with 100 different sounds unless you are prepared to read the manual and invest time to familiarize yourself with the thing. The Line6 multi-effect is very good. I have seen it at work with the Larry Z, the gutiarist of Two Tonnes to great effect. If you want to know more about this little wonder, click here and look at what Larry Z say about it.

As for myself, here are the effects I use :-