Your Gear of the Year

monquixote

Two things stand out for me. 

My PRS DGT - I danced around and went through stupid numbers of pedals before I just thought fuck it and bought my dream guitar. I've kind of lost interest in other guitars since then. It just does everything extremely well.

Of the dozens of pedals I've had the standout has to be the Wampler Velvet. Nails a sound I've wanted for ages which is the sound of a fuzz into a cooking amp, but from a pedal that works into a clean amp. Every bit as good as the demos suggested it would be.

GavRichList

@impmann - just youtubing the dispatch master. Does sound tasty. No need myself, but it's impressive. I'm guessing the recent Mr Black delay is not dissimilar.

Jalapeno

Skarloey said:

@GavHaus and @Jalapeno ;

Two lovely looking guitars there. 

Why thank you !

hobbio

Mine is my Epi 339 Pro that I bought at the start of the year, and I've hardly played anything else since then.

Shark_Eyes

I've bought a lot of gear this year now that I think about it:

• 80's Kay Les Paul - Bought it on impulse because I wanted to try a LP style guitar, I actually find it really enjoyable to play, despite it's many problems. The pickups are a bit dull, tempted to swap them for something like gold foils

• Vox Delaylab - Totally awesome still figuring things out I can do with it. Probably my gear of the year choice

• Mooer Slow Engine - Great little device, probably will be superseded by a volume pedal in the future

• Disaster Transport Senior - Enjoying it, but it's perhaps not for me in the long run, I need more time with it I think

• DOD compressor - Don't think I've turned this on yet ... worrying...

Next year will be all about refining the collection and recording, going to sell one guitar, sell my bass amp and finish my fixer-upper Hondo. Promise.

Phil_aka_Pip

I'll vote for the Tokai ES-60 I bought from @Gassage. If that's indicative of typical Tokai quality, I'd say get yours now before they realise they could hike the price considerably and still be considered better than the competition at the new price point.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb376/musophilr/Tokai_ES60_zps9bec38be.jpg

xSkarloey

@Shark_Eyes Maybe the Dod's been on all along but it's one of those 'subtle' type compressors

57Deluxe

I only bought a couple of pedals, some nice cables and a 62 RI Tele this year...

So, the 62 and the East River Drive have been a good pairing!

I am rather pleased I got the Joyo Deluxe Crunch too...

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ab/f5/9e/abf59e73d1e2edbde53ad39006db3718.jpg

Shark_Eyes

Skarloey said:

@Shark_Eyes Maybe the Dod's been on all along but it's one of those 'subtle' type compressors

I have noticed that my tele seems to have better sustain and sparkles more, but that might be because I've had my ears cleaned.

Alnico

I would like to add to my highlights. ....

Fender Blues Junior III.
The best clean tone I've ever had and a beautiful natural overdrive when the volume goes up.
Stupidly loud for such a small combo and a real pleasure to own.

Gretsch Electromatic Jet Club.
I think for what it cost it probably represents the best value for money I've ever had. Definitely the best sub £250 guitar I've ever owned. Unbelievably addictive and resonant guitar with a real vintage vibe and feel. Well built and a joy to play - will be damn near perfect with a bone nut and a fret dress.

The lowlights (?) Were........

The Blackstar HT20 combo - Bland, lifeless, dark rubbish with the world's worst speaker (Rocket 50), 

The Honeyburst Fender Modern player telecaster - Beautiful neck, beautiful pine body but something just didn't connect with me and a belly cut / contour on a Telecaster is just plain wrong,

The Boss ST-2 power stack - Possibly one of the best idea's for a pedal executed so badly it's not even funny. 

Nomad

I bought quite a lot of kit this year, after spending nearly all of my first 35 years of guitar playing buying hardly anything (followed by about 4 years of not playing guitar at all). Something of a reboot, I think. I'm happy with just about everything I bought, but the following stand out for me...

Winners...

Guitar
Vintage V100 Lemon Drop Reissue (pretty, non-distressed finish). Not perfect - had to change out the selector switch (it developed a latching problem), and might change the machine heads (not keen on the Kluson style). Frets could do with a level to get the action lower. Other than those minor things, I'm really pleased with the guitar - lovely neck, balances well, sounds excellent. Far better than I expected it would be and feels like a good, solid, well made instrument.

Amp
Going stereo by dusting off an existing hi-fi valve amp and adding two Harley Benton 1x12 V30 cabs.

Pedal
TC Hall Of Fame reverb. Lovely, lush sounds with the Hall and Room settings.
TC Nova Drive. After years with a Boss HM-2, this offers a huge variety of tones that weren't really an option. The presets and 3-way switch really make this pedal super-versatile.

Honourable Mentions...

Guitar
Almansa 401 classical, bought for plinking and working out melodies when composing on the computer. Walked into GG with a budget of 200 quid, and this blew away everything in that price range for an extra 50. Clearer, brighter and louder. The dearer Almansas were better again, but this sounds much more like a proper classical than any of the other budget offerings on the day. Solid cedar top, mahogany neck, rosewood board, laminated mahogany back and sides. The rosette is real wood inlay. Very light feeling guitar as well.
Yamaha TRB5-IIF fretless 5-string bass. Used, made in 2000. First bass I've ever owned and lovely to play, especially with flat-wound strings. Very well made and the active controls give a wide range of tones.

Amp
Laney Cub 10 (the thing that started the reboot, bought primarily to use with harmonica, but with an eye on guitar as well). A nice little amp, if a tad dark sounding. Clean cleans and forgiving overdrive, but it hasn't been used with guitar since the stereo setup was put together. When the guarantee runs out next year, I suspect I'll be trying some mods (tweaks to the internal fixed tone stack).

Pedal
MXR Tremolo. Sounds like a tremolo should sound, and has the added bonus of being stereo. Bought for using with a Rhodes sound, but haven't actually tried it with that yet. Sounds great with the guitar.
TC Nova Delay. Good variety of sounds and delay patterns. I find the modulation tends to stay on all the time, and I tweak the tone (tape/analogue/digital) depending on what I want. Tap tempo is really handy.
TC Polytune 2. My first ever tuner pedal leccytronic doohickey-gizmo after 35 years of using a tuning fork and the MkI lug'ole (yes, really). Handy for setting intonation, but I still don't use it much (I still tend to either tune by ear to the track I'm jamming with, or get the tuning fork out).

Other Mentions...

Fender guitar leads. The thick black ones for about a tenner or so. Nice and kink resistant, seem robust, and sound fine.
Lee Oskar diatonic harmonicas. Excellent - very responsive, good volume, easy to bend notes.
Rode M3 microphones. Cheap back-electrets that sound very good indeed for the money - very neutral.
Superlux D112/C harmonica mic. Copy of the Shure bullet mic, and generally held to sound better for about a 1/3rd of the price. Works nicely into the Laney Cub 10 for the Chicago overdriven sound, but I find it a bit bulky in the hand. Definitely has a 'voice' compared to normal mics.

Evilmags

Jaden Rose Original series with rosewood neck and carved top, ebony board and mahogany body. Light resonant and amazing.

richardhomer

Elixir Nanoweb Phospher Bronze Mediums, D' Addario 10-46 EXs..,,

It's been a lean year....

xSkarloey

richardhomer said:

Elixir Nanoweb Phospher Bronze Mediums, D' Addario 10-46 EXs..,,

It's been a lean year....

I dunno. Cost a bit do those Elixirs...

richardhomer

Skarloey;412877" said:

richardhomer said:

Elixir Nanoweb Phospher Bronze Mediums, D' Addario 10-46 EXs..,,

It's been a lean year....

I dunno. Cost a bit do those Elixirs...

I financed them through Wonga...

Monkeybone

Guitar: Taylor GS Mini - Cracking little acoustic, louder than you'd think and great tone, plus easy to play.

Amp: Hughes and Kettner GrandMeister 36 - Just an awesome, versatile little amp.

Gear: L.R. Baggs Anthem SL - A fantastic sounding acoustic pickup, could do with a little more volume though.

stimpsonslostson

@Nomad: I got a Lemon Drop too! Great bit of kit.

I'd also like to nominate my mandolin... It's an unbranded one & cost me all of £40 including a hard case. Once I got to grips with it it's lent a new dimension to my song writing.
If you don't have one, you should!- if only to chuck in the car on trips where a guitar isn't practical.

Neil

A pack of D'Addario's and some plectrums. 

Gassage

Phil_aka_Pip said:

I'll vote for the Tokai ES-60 I bought from @Gassage. If that's indicative of typical Tokai quality, I'd say get yours now before they realise they could hike the price considerably and still be considered better than the competition at the new price point.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb376/musophilr/Tokai_ES60_zps9bec38be.jpg

@phil_aka_pip

It's a beauty. I only sold it to buy my dream semi

Which is my gear of the year king

Nunogilberto

The following:

Gordon Smith Graf: With some trepidation having never heard or played one, especially having read mixed reviews of GS' quality control these days, I ordered one direct from GS this year. Pleased to say it's bloody brilliant in every way.

DBZ Bolero: I was looking for a good LP style with an unbound neck, but couldn't quite stretch to a Gibson Studio etc. This guitar is everything I want in a single cut - power, visually stunning and plays like a dream.

Peavey Raptor Junior: I'm getting into single pup guitars lately, and I saw this on Ebay going very, very cheap and direct from Peavey. Yes, it's basically plywood bodied, but it looks nice in red and plays very nicely. I've had hours of fun playing it, which surely is what this whole thing is about??