Tom Ribbecke Guitars has created a guitar with a unique design, where the bass side of the top plate is like a flattop and the treble side is like an archtop (hence the name “Halfling”), and it is clear that this results in something very special with the way the low end speaks like an acoustic and morphs into an archtop sound as you go up the register.
Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody– Pairing this guitar with D’addario Chrome Strings (.013 set) puts out a great classic jazz guitar tone with none of the fuss of stage feedback, and it’s super light at only 5lbs and very comfortable to play. I used this guitar every day for years before the Halfling came along and blew it away. Still nice to have for travel and foul weather gigs:)
Raezers Edge Speakers
I love the tight focused sound of these speakers and they way the produce rapid transients. I have a pair of NY-8 that I use for bigger rooms. As a pair, you can really spread the sound. I also have a S12 model but the single 8″ puts out so much pure tone I rarely bother to take out the bigger box.
Acoustic Image Clarus SLR (out of production, good thing I bought 2 of them) These amps are tiny, light and powerful and have never come close to breaking a sweat keeping up with the loudest ensembles. They’re also dead quiet for recording and have a clean sweet tone. You always hear of guys getting hooked on the sound of tube amps and never going back to solid state. I’ve gone the other way, playing tube amps for years (had a beautiful vintage black face Deluxe) until I got hooked on these amps
Walter Woods Amps (made from genuine unobtainium). I was lucky enough to find these from various internet friends. The MI8 is from the 80’s and was rebuilt by Walter just a few years ago and sounds incredible. The newer 1990’s Electracoustic model has amazing tone control and lots more power, though it’s actually not as sweet sounding as the older one. They both have a character that’s very sweet and musical.
Best Strings ever, round wound, round core, hand made in the old world tradition by European elves. I use their .012 set.
Clayton Picks. It all starts with a point of contact
Isn’t amazing that sounds can travel through a wire? These guys make sure what goes in comes out the other end. http://www.georgelsstore.com/