more pedals, more joy

where will it end? You know what, i don't think it will, in all honesty. I just bagged this old MXR phase 45 that sounds lush and glorious, just a touch understated than the 90 and works wonderfully. I'll give it its first night out at the Tin Spirits gig tonight, but i', also rediscovering a bunch of pedals I have int used for a while. I pulled our my old Hot Cake the other day, bugger me, its just fantastic. Into the DC30 it really does sing. I love the way pedals catch your imagination, you conjure soundscapes in your mind as to what the end result might be, maybe this is the one! Yes, they are only a part of a long chain and totaly reliant on what goes in, and where they go out to, but when you get that combination right, well its a glorious thing.

Doug, is the back door open???

I don't know about you but as much as I love my gear, every now and then i find myself being reminded of how special some of this stuff is and how gutted i would be if it were to , i don't know, lets say fall out the back of a van doing 80MPH down the motorway. After a great weekend of gigs finished off with a night of battling with the loudest DJ in the world we packed up the van and headed home. After about 15 miniutes driving a truck overtook us on the outside lane. 'He's very loud' thought I, then i had a horriific thought. I swung around and see the back door of the people carier we were in wide open like the worlds biggest spoiler. I shrieked like a 6 year old girl, "THE BACK DOOR'S OPEN!!" Doug casualy pulls the van over and jumps out. "Jees Dan, you're lucky, your guitar was hanging a foot outside the van". I felt sick. Writing this, i feel sick. I could just see it happening so vividly, this incredible guitar that has survived half a century finaly meeting its demise shattering into 1000 pieces on the M25.

Today I have been cradling my guitar rocking back and forth like a mental patient who's taken just a bit too much diazapan. - there there, it was all just a dream

Its wierd but these little things can give you a new perspective on the joy of great tone. Had my guitar been destroyed last night i would have been talking about all the wonderful moments i had with it, now i'm just looking forward to enjoying it even more. I will only ever play this guitar a finite number of times. I will only ever get 'that sound' a finite number of times.

We're hear for a good time, not a long time, so make your tone time count.

NAMM Day 4 - The end of NAMM but the start of a new era for TheGigRig

The day began like any other for us, hundreds of guitarists trawling through my pedal collection, being mesmerized by the swirling tape of my Hiwatt Custom Tape Echo. Then the application of the MIDI-8 and Pro-14 looming large on the pedal board starts to freak people out. All you users out there know what I’m talking about. Anyway, you’ll be glad to know that the Yanks have embraced us with open arms. We have had literally dozens of offers of distribution all over the States and internationally. Four days on the show floor with people constantly at our stand has us completely tapped out, but I make exhausted look good. We have met loads of great people who share our passion for gear and made some great new friends. We want to thank everyone who came down to say hi and check out our stuff. Thanks to all TheGigRig users who came up to tell us how much they loved our gear, it really means the world to us.
To Phil and Christine from Matchless and Joe and Mac from Two-Rock, you guys make the best amps in the world, thanks so much for the generous loan of these incredible tone machines.
To Dereck from ToneFreak, the SEVERE has blown my mind, incredible pedal, thanks for getting it to me.
John Chandler from Pedal Train came by to say hi as well. I’ve been emailing John for a few years now and we finally got a chance to meet.
Roy Kariok who plays guitar for the 'Backstreet Boys' among a load of other top artists has a MIDI 8 winging its way to him.
Right at the end of the day Doug Doppler came bouncing on to our stand. Doug is making a 'How to get great tone' DVD and did some recording of the rigs we had at the show. Great to finally meet you Doug.
The show has been a tremendous success, I met guys from some of my favourite shops in the world including Pro Guitar Shop, Manny’s, The Guitar Center (keep your eye out for their new boutique section) and loads of others who all took the time out to come by and introduce themselves to us and give us their details. The players at the show have been immense and so many of them have ordered rigs from us. As it was our first ever NAMM it’s something that we’ll never forget, but for me the best thing has been meeting so many of our U.S. players who already use and love our gear and really believe in us. Ronnie Parker has been using our gear for ages and everyday at the show he kept bringing his mates down to experience our rigs. Thanks Ronnie, you’re a complete legend and I look forward to that pint next time you’re in town.
So we’re sitting at LAX just about to get on the plane to go home back to the UK, I can’t wait to see my kids and Tine. We’ll be back next year for sure, with even more new stuff the we guarantee will rock your collective worlds. Thanks so much everyone, I’m feelin the love, See you next year NAMM

NAMM Day 3 - stick a fork in me...I'm done

No photos today folks, and why? We turned up to our stand at 9am, and from then till 6:10 we didn't leave, we were rammed all day. And people are telling is that this is a quiet year, i just don't see how it could be busier. At points in the show you can barely walk its so rammed. But you can see why, some of the stands are just outrageous, and the players doing the demos are spectaular. Every 10 meters there's a guy (or girl, yep, this youg girl banjo player, she couldn't have been more than 16 was just shredding) who make you rethink you life there that good.
so getting ready now for the last day, our feet are bruised to the bone, the jet lag has us by the neck, but this is NAMM, and its so very worth it.
last day, here we go...

NAMM - Day 2

I'm still in awe of how well put together this thing is. I guess they have been doing it for over a hundred years but the sheer size and amount of exhibitors boggles the mind.

JOe and MAC from Two-Rock stopped in to say hi. These guys shipped in a wonderful Jet Sig 1x12 combo for us to use and it sounds spectacular.

Phil from Matchless is here as well and was so great to meet him. He's given us a Clubman rig to rock out on so when it comes to a nice chunky piece of amp tone, we're well sorted.

To add to the joy of the day some incredible players stopped by to say hi incuding Reeves Gabrels. What a legend this guy is, Bowies guitarist for many years and did the 'Tin Machine' project with him. It was a real honour to meet him


Dave Linsk from OverKill who will soon be the proud owner of a Remote Loopy2 and a bunch of other stuff we make


Owen (guitar) and Jason (drummer)from Purple Melon an amazing band from the UK who are out here blowing peoples fragile minds stopped by to say hi and let rip on my tele. There's a vid of Owen on our homepage at the moment, the guy is an astonishing player and the band are incredible. If you're in LA onn Monday the guys are playng the Viper room


Two of our artists Prashant Aswani and Dave Wood bummped into us as well. Prashant is playing shows at NAMM and is one of the guys who seem to be able to play anything without limits. Dave plays for Jesse McCartney, Hilary Duff, Taylor Hicks, Norah Jones (hello ladies)


To top it all off i was finally able to nab a pedal that i've been after for ages. Within the space of a day I had two freinds call and say 'Daniel, you simply have to get a SEVERE from ToneFreak ( www.tonefreak.com ) Dereck from Tone Freak was kind enough to stop by the stand and set up one on my board. This thing absolutely KILLS. The best sounding high gain overdrive pedal i have ever heard, and i think I've probably heard all of them, (i know what you're thinking but I've heard that one, owned that one, and heard that one too) seriously it is a freakin marvel. So its been an incredible day, we're running on pure adrenalin but having the time of our lives.
Day 3 is now upon us, another beauiful day in LA. Here we go ....

NAMM Report - DAY 1

Doors opend yesterday for the first of four days at NAMM. It was a real moment for me, I've known abour NAMM since i was a kid. Players would always ask 'are you going to NAMM' which in Australia seemed a world away and was a really big deal. If you we're going to NAMM you were obviously somebody really important. Doing the trade shows in the UK is great but NAMM is truly something to behold. They do things BIG in the States and NAMM is no exception. Infact when i got off the plane i thought i had shrunk, everything is just that little bit bigger.
So we set up and the show starts and before you know it we're swammped. Joe and MAc from Two-Rock who most graciously lent me a Jet Sig combo for the show stopped in to say hi. One of our artsists Prashant Aswani who is playing at NAMM found us as well. I met Phil from Matchless who also lent us a Clubman. It's so funny but as soon as there seems to be a lull, i just strike up a couple of bars on those two amps and a crowd gathers, they sound just beautiful.
Scott from 'Axe and you shall recieve' came down to meet us. What a difference it makes when you meet your customers face to face. You can sometimes forget how inportant it is when most of your day is spent in front of a computer but it makes all the difference in the world.
So day 1 is done, the feet are killing and the Jet lag has me in a dream state, but what a fantastic day. I can report that the passion for great tone is alive and well. So if you're at NAMM we're in Hall E stand 1458, come and say hi.
More tomorrow.....

NAMM, here we come!!!

Going through the checklist now of stuff we're taking to NAMM, oh what fun. As long as we can get to the airport through the foot of snow outside our front door we'll be in LA on Monday night, rready for a week long gear-fest. Hoorah! should be a blast. I'll be keeping a bog diary of all the NAMM events so keep an eye out.
We are launching a few new products this year, We've been working solidly and i can finally give you a sneak preview of one (or 5) of the new products launching at NAMM.
Please note these are not on the website yet, just a quick sneak preview of what we've been up to, but more info will be available soon