1979 Fender Stratocaster (Red Strat)

It was originally a really crappy greenish-brown color, had a three bolt neck (useless old design flaw), and small worn original Fender frets.  I had it painted red, added another neck bolt & put on a four bolt neck plate (much more stable), had a buddy put in jumbo frets.  Also ripped the electronics out and rewired it with 3 DiMarzio HS-3s.

Want vintage?  Go somewhere else.  I just want it to sound great.  And it does.  It sings, I love it.

 

1972 (sort of) Fender Stratocaster (Black Strat)

The neck is from a '72 Strat.  A buddy I worked with had started to scallop the neck.  I traded an amp for it even up.  I finished the scallop job.  I don't know about the body; it's a Fender something.  It was given to me years ago by a student.  I just put them together.  It has 2 DiMarzio HS-3s & one DiMarzio Hot Rails pickup (the black one in the bridge position).

More non-vintage blasphemy.  Whatever.  This one also sounds great.

 

La Patrie Classical Guitar

I've always hated acoustic guitars.  Everytime I've purchased one I played it for about a month or two, got frustrated with it and sold it or traded it.  But then I started working on a music degree.  My friend and teacher Danny Ray Martin made the obvious point that I should have a classical guitar with which to perform classical music properly.  I got this La Patrie http://www.lasido.com/lapatriee.htm from my buddy Hollis http://www.playerguitars.com/.

I wound up loving this beautiful guitar.  They also make a cutaway model (see their website) that I am considering buying in the future.   This is the guitar on which I recorded my Classical Guitar Sonatas CD.

 

JCM 800 Marshall Half Stack

I originally had the matching amp head to go with the green tweed re-issue speaker cab in the pic.  It was stolen from a practice facility years ago in Florida.  So I bought a JCM 800 head to replace it.  It's a 50-watt, straight ahead (no mods) all tube head.  I've sold all my other big amps and PA stuff from over the years and gradually replaced it with computers and software.  However, I will likely keep this dinosaur forever.  It roars.

A Marshall is a one trick beast.  It only does one thing:  roar.  But nothing does that one thing better than a Marshall.

 

Schlegel Studio Fall 2005

PC with WinXP, Cakewalk, 1GB RAM & 140GB HDD.  Fostex recording studio mixing board.  Black Strat in foreground.  All my mics are in my upstairs studio room.  If I need to record LOUD guitar parts I run a mic and cable out of the mixer to my Marshall upstairs (DIY isolation chamber!).  The amp in the pic is a Crate DX-112.  Super great modeling amp!   Sounds great at low volume & direct-in.  This was taken when I was doing overdubs on the Concert Electric Guitar CD, Fall 2005.

This is where all the genius happens.

La Patrie Concert CW Hybrid

The neck has a slight radius; instead of being totally flat like a typical classical guitar.  It has a mic inside and a piezo contact pickup under the bridge.  The CW stands for "Cut-Away"; which makes the upper fretboard easily accessible.  This is an absolutely beautiful machine.

I got this La Patrie http://www.lasido.com/lapatriee.htm from my old buddies at Troll Music http://www.trollmusic.com/.   I used to teach there when I lived in FL.  Thanks to Nick, Danny & Marc - you guys are the best!

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II

As of Nov. 2007 I am officially an Epiphone-Gibson endorsed artist.  Right on.

This is based on the machine that Joe Pass did a lot of his mind-bending, brain-melting, gorgeous work on.  The "Joe Pass" model.   And now I have one.

La Patrie Etude & Concert CW Hybrid

Both of my La Patries together.  Nice.

 

Schaeffer of Chicago Upright Piano

Bought this for $35 from an old lady in FL.  This machine is a heavy beast.  It was coated with thick, lead-based white paint.  I used every paint stripper I could buy.  Then I started in on it with scrappers and sanders.  Finally, I rented a surface grinder from a local shop.  That did the trick.  I restrung about a third of it over the years.  I reworked the wood and pedals; fixed about 10 of the keys.  Tuned and re-tuned.

I love this thing.  Big and boomy sounding.  I wrote all of the piano waltzes on this.   As well as most my classical works.  This is the device on which I acquired my marginal piano skills. I still play it every day.

 

Korg X5

I used this tool to sequence 90% of the classical music I've written.  It's a workhorse.  I still like some of the sounds this thing produces.  Typically after I wrote the basic ideas of a serious piece on the piano, guitar, paper or just conceptually, I would then play the parts into a MIDI sequencer on this thing.

Dig that crazy retro carpet in my upstairs studio office.