Musical Equipment

As I'm sure you can imagine I have my fair share of musical equipment. This ranges from my collection of 5 various guitars to my many speaker cabinets.

Guitars:

I have a Squire standard strat that has many upgrades, this was my first guitar that I bought 2nd hand when I was 16.

I also have a PRS SE Custom. This is my guitar of choice. My philosophy with my guitars, as with all the stuff I own is, the guitar is only as good as the player.  

Acoustic guitars:

I hava a Washburn Acoustic, with a Fishman pick-up. As heard on alot in my songs.             

Bass guitars:

The first guitar I bought was a Squire P bass. This is a classic bass and has a punchy sound.

I also have what is possibly the coolest bass in history!! It is a Hohner custom jack 5, which has 5 strings and no headstock. This has a really nice full sound to it which is a contrast to the P bass.

keybards:

I own a basic Yamaha 61 note keyboard which has a lot of different sounds and features on it. This is possibly the most useful piece of equipment you can have because of the features and more sounds than you can shake a stick at.

Being a classicaly trained pianist, I had to have a touch sensitive and weighted 88 note keyboard. I would have a real piano but the neighbours might not be too happy with that choice.

Drums and Percussion:

I have a set of bongos, Indian Tabla drums and other bits and pieces such as shakers or tambourines.

Recording equipment and stuff:

I have an 8 track digital multi-track recorder. This is what I use for recording all the stuff you hear on the finished products. I also have a computer which I use for editing music, keeping a library and burning the final products onto cd.

Amps, speakers and stuff:

One of my most treasured items is my guitar amp. It was made from an old Sound City head that a very kind chap called Paul "Amps" Austin re-built for me. It is a 60 Watt all valve amp which is covered in red vinyl, looks stunning and has a beautiful bluesy kinda sound. I put this through a 2*12" speaker cabinet which I built and is covered in black vinyl to keep the vinyl look flowing(bling bling). I have various other cabs for bass applications(a 15" cab) and quieter practicing at home(so I don't deafen the neighbourhood). I also have a full P.A. system for vocals and live stuff.

My Bikes

I've been off stabilisers for the past six months. No that's not right, start again.

I've been riding since I was 4 (without stabilisers) and have been through many a bike, from a 12" wheel Rainbow bike to a £2500 Scott genius. In those many years I have honed my skills and now ride many disciplines including cross country, road, freeride, dirt jumping and whatever else I come across. I've been racing cross-country since 14 and competed in local races and gradually up to national level. In 2002 I won the east region championship in the Junior category and was the 19th quickest rider in the country! I competed in my first 24 hour race last year which was a big challenge but really enjoyed it.

I currently have 4 bikes:

2004 Scott genius RC20: This is my xc race bike. It weighs in at about 25lbs and is a full suspension bike with hydraulic disc brakes and nice carbon bits!!

2003 Specialized road bike: This is my roadie racer machine. I've purposely kept the weight high on this bike so I've got more to drag up the hills. I use this bike for training and commuting so it gets abused more than the others.

Jumy hardtail thing: This is my nutcase bike that I use for jumping and riding off stuff. This bike is built for a purpose and has held out well(so far anyway).

Scrap parts: I've probably got enough bits that are sitting around doing nothing and I could probably build another bike if I put my mind to it.