The guitars
Five electrics and two acoustics, each with its own voice. Here's what each one brings to a song, and what's under the hood.
Electric guitars
Fender American Performer Timber Stratocaster
My guitar for cleans and low gain. It's a limited-edition American Performer with a spruce body, the wood you usually find on top of an acoustic guitar, which gives it a warm voice with notes that bloom as they ring. Three Yosemite single coils keep it glassy and articulate, the Greasebucket circuit softens the highs without losing definition, and a push/pull knob adds the neck pickup for combinations a regular Strat can't reach, like neck and bridge together.
- Body Spruce, in a satin Honey Burst finish
- Neck Maple, Modern C profile; rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets
- Pickups Three Yosemite single coils, Greasebucket tone circuit, push/pull to add the neck pickup
- Bridge Vintage-style synchronized tremolo
Schecter PT Special
A Tele with attitude. The bridge pickup has that Tele twang, and the P-90-style pickup in the neck adds a thicker, grittier voice. A push/pull knob switches the pickups from parallel to series, which makes the middle position louder and fatter, closer to a humbucker.
- Body Swamp ash
- Neck Bolt-on maple, C profile, 22 extra-jumbo frets
- Pickups Schecter Diamond VT-1 in the bridge and Diamond V-90 (P-90 style) in the neck, series or parallel on a push/pull knob
- Bridge Vintage "ashtray" Tele bridge with brass saddles
PRS SE Custom 24
My go-to for high gain. Its two PRS 85/15 "S" humbuckers keep the lows tight and the highs clear, so heavy rhythm parts stay defined and leads cut through the mix. A push/pull on the tone knob splits them into single coils, which is why it covers a lot more than distortion.
- Body Mahogany, with a carved maple top and a swamp ash burl veneer
- Neck Maple, set into the body, with PRS's Wide Thin carve; rosewood fretboard with bird inlays, 24 frets
- Pickups Two PRS 85/15 "S" humbuckers, with a coil split on the tone knob
- Bridge PRS tremolo
Fender Stratocaster HSS
A Strat with more muscle. Its single coils are beefier than a standard Strat's, with more output, and I upgraded the bridge humbucker to a Fender ShawBucker 2, designed by Tim Shaw for Fender's American Professional series, for a full, open sound from crunch to drive.
- Pickups Fender ShawBucker 2 humbucker in the bridge, and two high-output single coils
Paranormal Offset Telecaster
A Jazzmaster-style offset body with a Telecaster's pickups and bridge, upgraded from top to bottom: Tonerider Vintage Plus pickups with alnico V magnets, all-new electronics, a Gotoh bridge and locking tuners. Warm and clear in the neck, with twang and punch in the bridge.
- Body Offset, Jazzmaster style
- Neck Maple, C profile, 22 narrow tall frets, locking tuners
- Pickups Tonerider Vintage Plus, alnico V, with all-new electronics
- Bridge Gotoh Tele bridge
Acoustics
Eastman AC122-1CE
The fuller-sounding of my two acoustics. A grand auditorium body with a solid Sitka spruce top and solid sapele back and sides gives it a big, rich voice: strummed rhythms that carry a song, and fingerpicked parts with plenty of detail.
- Body Grand auditorium with a cutaway; solid Sitka spruce top, solid sapele back and sides
- Neck Mahogany, ebony fretboard
- Electronics Fishman pickup and preamp
Fender Malibu Special
Solid mahogany top, back and sides, in Fender's compact Malibu shape, which dates back to 1965. The mahogany gives it a warm, woody voice with a focused midrange, and the short scale makes it easy to play.
- Body Malibu shape; solid mahogany top, back and sides
- Neck Mahogany, slim C profile; pau ferro fretboard, short scale
- Electronics Preamp designed with Fishman
Not sure which guitar your song needs? Choosing it is part of my job: send me the song.