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This is a great effects power system from my friends at Godlyke. By plugging a standard 9 Volt adapter into an outlet this system pretty much has any plug, ending, jumper cable, etc to power a huge variety of floor stomp boxes. It even has a battery clip ending cable to power up units that run on batteries only. This Power-All is very helpful in the studio as I can set up whatever pedals I have laying around or want to try without changing power adapters and batteries all of the time. Although live I use mostly standard 9 Volt stomp boxes, this unit runs off any main's supply (100 to 240v), eliminating a need for power tranformers when I'm traveling abroad.
Another product from Planet Waves that I like. This is a great all around tuner that comes with regular and strobe features. You can also power other 9 Volt pedals from it. Backstage I often have a small space set up where I like to warm up. This means that one of the guitars is taken from the stage and is in my hands approximately an hour before show time. I walk to the stage with that guitar in my hand. But before I do so, I quickly tune it in the backstage warm up area and this tuner has been performing really well for me on this task.
I have started using this wireless unit during the Guns N Roses/ Sebastian Bach 2006 tour. The unit performed really good and I have once again built up my confidence in wireless units. Simply put, I was getting tired of looking out for potential cable tangles or not being able to go to the other side of the stage because the cable was not long enough. This unit has 4 channels and so far we have had no problems finding a channel that worked quietly. This half rack unit is also easily transported overseas and it can operate on the European standard 240v. You can hook up as many body transmitter packs as you want. As mentioned great unit.
The truth is that the less cable you use, the better and cleaner your guitar tone will be. I have been subscribing to this mentality forever and I like the idea behind this solderless cable kit. I can just cut the exact amount of wire that I need and attach the gold plated plugs for the correct fit between my pedals or whatever else I'm trying to hook up. Its the easiest way for anyone to get really short or any custom length cable that I'm looking for. I have used this kit in situations where I needed a really short specific length cable to patch some pedals or to make a custom permanent connection at my studio.
When it comes to guitar strings you should know one word - D'Addario. I have been using these since 1999 and have found D'Addario strings to out-perform any other brand I have played prior. They last longer and will help you stay in tune. I mostly use two different sets: EXL125 (.009 - .046) for when my guitar is tuned a whole step down across all the strings and EXL140 (.010 -.052) for standard tuning. The end result is simple and that is dependability and great tone from D'Addario.
This overdrive pedal has been used by me since 2003, around the time when I was recording PainmuseuM's "Metal For Life" album. During the recording of "Metal For Life", I used an old modified Marshall head and needed a good overdrive pedal in front of it. Not only did I find that the Tone Driver provided that, but also gave my sound a nice focused, tight punch. I have been using this pedal in the studio ever since to overdrive Marshall heads with great results. In itself the pedal has a decent amount of distortion/ overdrive and can be used in a ton of other applications.
This is one of my latest finds and I like this pedal a lot. This pedal contains a lot of warmth and I have also used it for either overdiving an old Marshall plexi head for a tone that just breaks up, or I use it in front of a high gain head for really warm leads. This one will be with me for a long time. It is one of these pedals that can give any amp that something extra without screwing around with your tone. Basically you get a great pedal that will just add the desired effect to your sound, but won't color your tone.
Everyone knows that I have been playing Marshalls for years. I remember meeting Nick Bowcott from Marshall when Halford played Madison Square Garden in 2000. I don't know, there is some sort of unspoken understanding between people who are into Marshalls. For me, Marshalls represent Heavy Metal, and it is akward if I do not see Marshall logos on stage. And, in order for me to like an album, it must have a Marshall in there somewhere. Well, anyways, the DSL 100 head is something I found out about pretty late, I think 2004 when I played Turkey with Sebastian Bach. The crushing tone was immediate and I have been a fan ever since. So, I have recently gotten some of these heads into my House Of Metal Studio and they sound great. Clear, bone crushing Metal tone. I'm very impressed with it.
Jackson guitars are a big part of what Metal means to me. I have been playing Jacksons since 2000 and they are one of the few guitars that withstood my touring needs. Other guitars, although while sounding good in the studio, just fell apart during my extensive tour with Halford in 2000/ 2001. I have received several Jacksons during that tour and have never looked back. These guitars play very consistenly from one to the other and are made like tanks. Not to mention that they sound absolutely killer. Sure, there are many other guitars that are easier to play, with super flat necks and all that. But, I don't mind working for it, as the results are well worth it. I picked the Randy Rhoads, basically since I loved those guitars since mid 80's and no one in the 2000's had enough balls to play one. But, now ... these Rhoads models are a part of my body. Like many guitarists before me, I have found the "one". I mostly use the Floyd Rose versions (RR1T), but ocasionaly I use the standard bridge ones as well (RR1).
I have started to play Seymour Duncan in 1999 during the recording of Halford's Resurrection. It was strange how I changed to Seymour Duncans. I used to play one of their competitor's pick-ups. But, in 1999 one of the competitor company's reps, not sure of who I was back then has acted in a plainly un-professional manner. Next week, I called Jackson Guitars and asked them to outfit all my guitars with Seymour Duncans intead. I have heard some Seymour Duncans around that time anyways, and I liked what I heard. That later evolved in my official relationship with Seymour Duncan. I use the SH-4, or as previously known JB-4/ Jeff Beck model. The pick-up has a decent amount of hot output, but it is not totally over the top insane as many people seem to think of what goes into my guitars. This is basically true because I don't want any parts of my equipment to be totally grinding hot; adding too much color onto any equipment pieces that come after, whether its cords, heads, cabs, etc. I prefer my tone to be a synergy of all the parts in my signal chain. So anyways, the SH-4 pick-up gives me a good output that is tight in the bottom, rich in harmonics, and gives me enough of definition to clearly hear pick attack. This harmonically rich pick-up also helps me in getting out all these super high pitched harmonics that are part of my style.