People are always asking me about the sound I get from my guitar. Usually after a performance I get at least one or two people that compliment my tone and ask about my setup. I truly do appreciate the compliments and figured I would lay it all out here for the world to see; although it really isn't that complicated of a sound. I take a very simplistic approach when it comes to my guitar sound and believe less is more.

First off, my guitar.A guitar players sound is going to obviously start with the guitar they are playing. While I usually bring two guitars with me to each gig, a Gretsch Electromatic and a Fender Telecaster, I almost exclusively use the Gretsch. The pickups are hotter on the Gretsch and I prefer the sound I get from it when performing live versus the Tele. I also prefer the vintage look of the Gretsch. It is completely stock and 90% of the time I am using both pickups with the tone knob positioned right in the middle

My Gretsch Electromatic

As for effects, I do carry quite a few pedals along with me to each gig in addition to a Sennheiser wireless system:

Ryan's pedal board of effects.

However, I usually don't use them very much. 80% of the time, I am only using the Boss EQ pedal as it gives me a little more control over the tone versus the bass/treble knobs on the amp. From time to time I will kick in one of the distortion/overdrive pedals but the "drive" setting is usually at the lowest setting. I really prefer to lightly effect the tone. The analog delay is used sparingly on only a couple of songs for a vintage slap-back effect and the chorus is never used with The Folsom Prison Gang (it is for another band I play in). The boost (bottom left) is used for slight volume augmentation on solos.

The amplifier I use exclusively when performing live is the Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb. You can't beat the sound that you get from this and the size and durability is perfect for the road. It is light enough to easily get from gig to gig and it has more than enough stage volume. I usually keep the volume at about 4 or 5 with the bass and treble knobs straight up at 5. I have found that the reverb knob is perfect at 3 as there isn't too little or too much reverb in the mix.

The Fender Deluxe Reverb

So there you have it. As I stated in the beginning, there isn't anything too fancy with the setup. I try to keep it simple and let the natural sound of the guitar and amp be the predominate sound emanating from the stage.
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