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Below you will find the gear that I use in my videos,
most of which you will see on screen.

Line 6 Variax – Electric Guitar

The Variax can do some amazing stuff when it comes to modelling different guitar sounds and the absence never ceases to boggle people :)

The ‘500’ model is use is no longer available so I put the next closest, the ‘700’. See my Variax demo series here.

Tanglewood TW45 – Acou Guitar

Electric acoustic steel string guitar with Fishman pickup system. I have always liked acoustics with smaller bodies and this one is very comfortable at a great price.

Yamaha C40 – Classical Guitar

The C40 I own has seen better days but I just cant see to part with it in place of a new shiny one, so needles to says they can take a pretty good beating.

Fender Jazz Master

The Jazz Master is a freaky creature of a guitar and so is it’s history… it was largly snobbed by its intended audience of jazzers and instead embraced by the the alternative rock community.

Fender Road Worn 50’s Telecaster

I have always wanted a Tele so was pretty stoked to finally make that become a reality at the end of 2011. The road worn look is actually very convincing… I often have other musos ask how many years old my guitar is :)

Line 6 Pod XT Live – Multi FX Pedal

The POD XT was the unit that I used in my videos for over 7 years and it still stacks up great to the competition. It’s now been superseded by the Line 6 Helix.

Peavey Vypyr 30 Amp

The Vypyr is a very affordable mid sized amp that works well in my small studio for videos and teaching. The inbuilt FX are decent and work well with the added Sanpera foot pedal. My favourite bit about the pedal though is being able to control your volume with your foot rather than having to bend over and fiddle with the touchy knobs. (That sounded bad didn’t it, haha)

NS Micro Tuner

The NS is the ninja of capo almost invisible to everyone but you the player, which means you’ll be happy leaving on you guitar headstock all the time.

It’s accurate, bright, uses LED lights so lasts ages and is a very fair price.

After experiencing the convenience of the NS micro tuner you’ll want to get one for all your guitars.

Watch my review here

Korg CA-40

Korg make great tuners, no two ways about it. If you have multiple guitars and dont want to buy clip on tuners for each of them the CA-40 is a great choice.

BOSS TU-3 (stage tuner)

Ive had this stage tuner for over 10 years and it will likely last me a lifetime.

Boss pedals are the stuff of legend and for good reason, they are tough as guts.

Russell Capo (nylon string)

Super cheap and when used on nylon string guitars this capo works just fine, it’s all you need.

Used on steel string acoustics and electric guitar on the other hand, they are prone to tuning problems and are best avoided.

See below for better options.

Kyser Capo

Commonly know as ‘the peg’, these capos are simple to use. I have been using them for years and for the price their a no brainer.

G7th Performance Capo

I only recently made the jump to G7th and have to say that they are worth the money purely for the greater consistency in intonation and tuning that is lacking with pretty much all other standard capos.

What’s more there is no needing hulk like grip to squeeze and remove it like a normal capo.

If you record or perform with a capo with any frequency I highly recommend.

G7th Newport Capo

The G7th crew certainly have fine tuned the humble capo to be the best it can be, removing the usual challenges and made it elegant all at the same time.

Similar to the Performance capo the Newport is lighter and works on an adjustable clip mechanism.

Its a tough call between the 2 so I have included both, but personally I slightly prefer the Newport.

Spider Capo

This multi legged creator allows to you do things never before possible with normal capos with six individually usable legs for previously impossible tunings.

If you feel like a breath of fresh or air or a great way to inspire cool new song writing ideas grab one, they are loads of fun!

Watch my view review here

Elixir Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings

Years ago I used to buy the cheapest guitar strings I could buy because I believe the was no difference between cheap and pricey guitar strings.

That all changed when I started heard people saying Elixir strings special coating made their strings last way longer. Out of curiosity I tried them for myself and the rest is history.

Elixir – Electric Guitar Strings

What great about Elixir is not only do they last way longer than normal guitar strings is they also don’t corrode like normal strings.

You see some people sweat is more corrosive that others and I’m one of those people. Having string that stay smooth for months (rather than days) makes they well worth the price.

Tortex 1mm Pics

Tortex rock for their added grip, bright colour (harder to lose) and good range of thickness. I find the 1mm is pretty spot on to my liking.

Music Stand

I boggles me to no end the supposed non coolness associated with a music stand. A music stand makes it sooooo much easier to read your tab, chart or diagram than sitting your sheets or book on a table or bed.

I like these ones because I can stick the guitar lead through one of the holes for quick grabbing when my next student arrives.

Studio Equipment

Canon 70D DSLR Camera

There is no question that you get better image quality from a SLR style camera. The colours are more vivid, the picture is brighter and you can blur the background with a large aperture lens. The down side was the lack of video auto focus… until the 70D!

Sony Alpha 6300

I’d been wanting to jump up to 4K video for some time, primarily so I could zoom in on separate hands and do away with needing to shoot with 2 cameras.

Purchased in 2017, I’m super happy with the video quality and being mirrorless its also much more portable that a full size DSLR camera (see the 70D above).

Audio Technica Microphone

Occasional you will see my rocking a clip on microphone on my shirt. With a bit of experimentation I managed to find the right height to get a good blend between my voice and guitar.

Now I just need to remember to switch the thing off after use to avoid draining the batteries! A really impressive little microphone at a great price.

Senheiser ME66 Boom Microphone

As of June 2016 I upgraded to a boom microphone that is suspended in front of my face just high enough to be out of camera view. Im extremely happy with the results and would recommend it to anyone who’s looking at going pro with their audio.

The result is more body in my recordings and its also very good at eliminating room sound. It actually needs a K6 capsule but isn’t showing up on Amazon, so just keep in mind you’ll that aswell to power the microphone.

Zoom H6 Portable Recorder

Previously I recorded my lapel mic audio into my computer and then synced it up with the video. This process is time consuming, messy and also limited me to only being able to record in my studio.

Buying the Zoom H6 killed about 6 stones in go. I can now record audio anywhere I like, it can do multitrack audio (live bands), has a great inbuilt compressor and to top it off allows me to the input the signal into my DSLR camera to combine the external audio with the video footage as its recording. The mic attachments that come with it are top quality but I choose to run my Senheiser ME 66 into it as I can get it nice and close to my face.

Apple iMac 27 inch 5K Computer

I made the reluctant jump from PC to MAC in 2007 and all I can say is Im kicking myself that I didn’t do it years earlier.

In 2017 I jumped from a 21.5 inch system to a 27 inch as I needed more power to handle the files from my 4K Sony camera. Render times are even better than expected, its a beast!

KRK Rokit 5 Powered Speakers

The monitors I’m rocking are the bumblebee inspired Rokit 5’s Their available in different sizes and sound as good as they look.

Certainly not an essential for the average Joe, but if you are making music in a home studio buying a good set of monitors is certainly a good move.

RODE NT2 Condenser Microphone

Ive had my road a fair few years now and its done a great job for me in the studio recording my own voice overs, singers and acoustic guitar.

If you want a good quality condenser for a really good price Rode are a great option.

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