Gear Reviews
Changed how our whole band writes together
Ableton Live 12 Suite
We used to write demos by passing voice memos around; now everyone drops ideas straight into a shared Live set and we arrange collaboratively before anyone eve…
Our band retired the old passive PA for these and never looked back
QSC K12.2
Two of these plus a sub have covered rooms up to about 200 people for us without strain. DSP presets for monitor vs. main use make repurposing them between mai…
The vocal mic I compare everything else against
Shure SM7B
Started using this for podcast recording and now it is my go-to for lead vocal tracking too. Rejects room noise extremely well without needing a treated room, …
Studio-grade reverb that lives on my board permanently
Strymon BigSky
I was skeptical about spending this much on a single pedal until I A/B'd it against a rack reverb unit I used to rent for sessions. It is that good. The shimme…
Incredible flexibility for the price
Boss Katana 100 MkII
I use this for both bedroom practice at low volume and small-venue gigs, and the built-in effects are genuinely usable rather than an afterthought. The tone st…
Loud, clean, and utterly reliable
Fender '65 Twin Reverb Reissue
This amp is famously loud for a reason, and at outdoor gigs that headroom means I never have to fight for clean tone even with a full band and no PA support on…
Real wooden-key feel without the real-piano weight
Yamaha CP88
The wooden-key action on this thing genuinely fooled a classically trained pianist friend of mine on the first try. Great for churches and function bands that …
The last stage keyboard I will ever need to buy
Nord Stage 4
I sold three separate keyboards to fund this and do not regret it once. Having genuinely great piano, organ, and synth engines under one roof means I stopped h…
Solved the apartment-practice problem completely
Roland TD-17KVX
Living in a third-floor walkup meant an acoustic kit was never going to happen. The TD-17's mesh heads feel close enough to real skins that switching back and …
A kit that finally recorded the way it sounds live
DW Collector's Series Maple
Every kit I owned before this one sounded better in the room than on tape. Not this one. The VLT shells have an open, articulate low end that translates throug…
A genuine studio workhorse
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass
Recorded three EPs with this bass and it has been the one constant across every session engineer's preferences. The V-Mod II pickups give you that classic Jazz…
The most confident bass I have ever plugged in
Music Man StingRay Special
The StingRay hum has a reputation for a reason. Direct into a PA, it cuts through a four-piece mix without a single tone adjustment — my bandmates actually not…
Ridiculous value at this price point
PRS SE Custom 24
I demoed this next to guitars twice its price and could not justify the difference. The 85/15 pickups split cleanly into single-coil tones for the funkier song…
That classic SG growl, with a couple of caveats
Gibson SG Standard
There is a reason this shape has been in every rock band's arsenal since the 60s — it is light, it balances on a strap without fighting you, and the humbuckers…
My main gigging guitar for two years running
Fender Player Plus Stratocaster
I bought this to replace an aging MIM Strat that finally gave out on tour, and it has not left my side since. The noiseless pickups are the real story here — I…