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My new Live Rig - What is my rig for Rehearsals and Gigs?
Introduction
With the news that bands are now allowed to start practising and gigs coming back (This is the best news ever!) I thought I would take the time to go over what my new live rig is going to be for practise and live gigs. If you have read any of the other articles you may know I have reduced my rig and removed all pedals in favour of a Multi-effect floor unit (the original idea was to use this for amp sim as well, but more on that later), so my rig has changed dramatically!
I thought I would take this chance to go over my plans for my upcoming gigs and rehearsals. We will go over my new live rig and then discuss why I have decided on this set-up and also what alterations and upgrades I have planned.
My Current Live Rig Plans?
The Guitars
So what is my current set-up? Well, let start with the guitars and work back from there. I have 3 Guitars (but will only gig two of them at one time), The main one will be a Gibson Les Paul Traditional, the second is an Epiphone ES-335 (review coming soon) and the third one is my Custom made Telecaster (see build log here). Each one is great for different reasons and different sounds.
The Effects
From the guitars we then go into my Headrush Gigboard, This provides all the effects I am currently running (See below for plans). I have several scenes and rigs set up so I have almost every effect and sound under my foot and can access it at a moments notice. I have chosen to do this instead of a more traditional board is for ease and speed of set-up. Two cables and power and then I am set up. From this unit, I come out of its FX Send into the front of my amp (for now)
The Amp
The amp will surprise everyone. I am using digital as well! I am using a Boss Katana 50 (Mark 1). Why? Well, firstly it is a great amp with some great tones, and I would say, sound-wise, in a gigging environment it is no different to a valve amp (but that is an argument for another day). The other reason is that it is very affordable and insanely light and portable! Going back to my easy set-up, this makes it super simple to just lift out my car, plugin and off I go! I am all in favour of simplicity and light! I like my back working!
Cables
Cable-wise, as some people are interested is mixed! Mainly I am using a mix between Fender and Ernie Ball cables. With the odd off-brand cable in the box for backup (I believe an Andertons Own Brand).
Accessories
I thought I would mention, That since our review of the Rombo Picks, I am still using their picks! You may have seen over on our Instagram that I recently purchased some more! Still using their 2mm Diamond Pick and still loving it!
String wise I am currently using Ernie Ball 10-46, I will be purchasing some String Joy strings again as I liked their strings but they can take a while to get delivered. So I will be using a mix of Ernie Ball and String Joy.
Why this setup?
Why have I gone for this setup? Where are the tube amps and the full pedalboard? Well, for two main reasons, Ease and speed. This set-up is designed to be fast and quick to set up, it is also aimed to be as light as possible. For the kind of gigs I will be doing, loading and setting up myself I want it to be light and fast. So effectively, it will go, cable from my guitar into the Gigboard, then from gigboard into the amp and that is it. 3 Devices and two cables. Easy as pie! Easy to set up, minimal gear but also a huge array of sounds and effects on hand!
I also know the equipment very well. I know how to use the amp and the pedalboard very well, plus the guitars. So while performing I can feel confident and focus on playing knowing that if I need to change anything I can easily do it and know exactly how to.
The final reason is back up related! I don’t expect anything to go wrong but if it does, say the amp malfunctions, I can then run the HeadRush Gigboard straight into the PA, and if the Headrush Malfunctions I can go straight into the Amp and use its built-in effects. For me, this is massive peace of mind. Another little point is if the amp did break, Most guitar and music shops stock them so getting a replacement and setting it up would be easy!
Any changes planned?
So, do I have any changes in mind? Well yes! The first thing I will be purchasing is a Mono Dual Gigbag. This will make going to gigs and packing everything up a lot easier, I will be able to condense my guitar toolbox (see this article) down into a simple bag. Making loading and set up easier (you seeing a pattern here yet about making things easier?).
The second upgrade I will be doing is the Amp, I would like to upgrade to either the Boss Katana 100 (1X12 or 2X12) or the Fender Tone Master Reverb. Love the sound of that amp and think it would be amazing for the kind of music and gigs I play. Plus being mega light and reliable would also help massively. Which one I end up getting is yet to be decided. I will have to try them both out (Obviously I know how to use the Katana platform and am familiar with it)
The next thing I will look to get, I am in no rush for this but I will upgrade the Gigboard to the fully fledge Headrush Pedalboard. Why? Has more pedals, an expression pedal and is easier to click between sets and rigs. You can transfer all your rigs from one device to the other, which means I won’t have to re-program all my rigs again! Pair this with the Katana 100 and it will be a killer rig!
Conclusion
So that is a rundown of my new Live rig and practise rig! I think it is fairly surprising to some people that my new live rig it is all digital. Will this rig change throughout time? of course, That is the case with every gigging guitarist! The changes I have mentioned above will be happening plus maybe some other changes. If the rig changes dramatically then we will do a follow-up post to this and explain the changes.
If you want to check out any of our other posts you can hear. We have posted a lot of content covering all aspects of guitars, with plenty more to come! Anything you want to see us cover? Any reviews you want to see? Let us know over on our contact page. You can also follow us on our Instagram page.
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