My gear

This page is for all those who are interested in the gear that I am using. I have quite a few guitars, ranging from solid body electrics to nylon string classicals. This page is concerned with my 'live' setup.

The BJH 7 string guitar

The guitar that I always use for playing jazz is my BJH 7 string.

The guitar is 3" deep with 25" scale length. The body has a spruce top and maple back and sides. The neck is mahogany with an ebony fret board. The tail piece, finger rest and headstock veneer are made from ebony. The low string is tuned to an A. The Strings are a set of .013s with an .085 for that low A string. The top and back plate are hand carved and this baby sounds huge! This guitar is amazing!!

The amp that I use in conjunction with this guitar is a Polytone Minibrute IV. These amps are quite difficult to get hold of in the UK nowadays. If you can get hold of one, then buy it as Polytones are great amps for playing jazz as they give a full, rich, pure tone that compliments an archtop perfectly.

Click here to go to the BJH Guitars web site.

I am currently having a solid body BJH 7 string guitar built. Until this new guitar is finished, my main solid body guitar is a Paul Reed Smith fitted with D'addario .011 - .049 gauge strings. It is the 22 fret model with a fatter neck. I have had the guitar re-fretted with the biggest frets that I could find as I do with all of my guitars. This might sound drastic, but I feel that big frets lead to cleaner playing.

I use a Vox AC30 hand wired amp with the PRS. It is an amazing amp that is incredibly versatile. I also run various pedals into the front end of the AC30. Pedals include a Zendrive 2 (great overdrive pedal!), Red Witch Medusa and Deluxe Memory Man amongst others.

When I am required to play classical guitar, the guitar I use is made by a company called Liikanen. Liikanen guitars have developed a new soundboard construction which they call the 'Lens Resonance System'. This gives the guitar a very balanced sound.

My studio is equipped with some great recording gear. One of my pre amps is a Groove Tubes Brick. I purchased this from the US and had a nightmare converting it to UK voltage. If you are experiencing the same problem, you might find this page helpful.