(What's in your gear box)

People have been asking me about my gear, you know, the equipment I play. As for Electric

guitars, I am a Telecaster man… I have some early 70’s Telecasters that I have been playing

since they were brand new. As for amps, my main amp is an early 70’s Hiwatt, with a 50 watt

head and a 4 X 12 cabinet. I only use the 4 X12 cab when playing a larger room like perhaps The

Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. I also have a 2 X 12 cabinet that I made myself, which I

use with the 50 amp Hiwatt head. It is basically the same wood, wiring and speakers that are in

the stock 4 X 12 Hiwatt cab, but half the size, and yes, I think it sounds damn good to me. As

for my latest Album ( Graham Brown Band – Outside Within ) I used the Hiwatt with the 2 X 12

cabinet for all the tracks. It is so versatile with the clean and dirty channels you can get just

about anything you need from it. As for acoustic guitars on this album I used my 70’s Larrivee

L18 and my Morgan. I also used my Rickenbaker 12 string electric on a few songs.

(AMPLIFIER – Breakdown)

Let’s break down that Hiwatt amp sound a bit… The beauty of the Hiwatt amp and speaker

combination is what gives it the Hiwatt sound. The speakers are FANE purple -back model

12512, they are known for their clean mids and strong bottom end. They are full paper cones

designed for high fidelity with lots of head room. When playing through the BRIGHT channel

input and when these speakers are driven they break-up into such a lovely Rock & Roll tone,

yumm…. You get the distortion required but there still is heaps of clarity between the guitar

strings. As for a clean sound, you can crank up the volume while in the NORMAL channel input

and you will get a strong clean tone that cuts through any mix. Let’s not forget about the

classic Hiwatt transformers within the head of the amp. Of course we are speaking of the

robust flavoured PARTRIDGE TRANSFORMERS, these things are a jewel hidden inside the amp

head, yes more yumm… So with the combination of the Amp head, Partridge transformers,

Fane speakers, birch wood cabinets, this is what gives you the classic Hiwatt sound..

Yes I also have a few Fender Amps that I use in the studio along side my Hiwatt rig.. You really

can’t go wrong with a ( Fender Deluxe ) ( Fender Blues Jr.) ( Fender Princeton )… These babies

will get the job done in high fashion as well..

(PEDAL BOARD – Breakdown)

First of all, I’m not a big pedal board guy, I like to keep it simple. For me, between playing

rhythm guitar, lead guitar, harmonica and singing lead vocals…. Trying to step on multiple

pedals at the same time as doing the above thing, just seems like too much dancing and

footwork for me, so I keep it simple and that works for me. Of course it all depends on what

kind of music or what kind of soundscape you are trying to create. So back to simple, my pedal

board is this, from left to right. I have a BOSS Blues Driver I use for a volume boost and

overdrive for my solos, I have a CRY BABY – Wah Wah Pedal…. a BOSS – Tremelo pedal…. a

Lesley Effects pedal which I use rarely…. a BOSS Tuner pedal….. Pretty simple, that’s it.

( GUITAR – Breakdown )

For Electric guitar, I play early 70’s Telecasters, I have Goto heads on all of them, Seymour

Duncan Stack in the bridge pickup and leave the front pickup stock.

For acoustic guitar, I play vintage 70’s gear…

In the studio I like to use a SM7 for my vocal tracks… seems to work for me…

Enjoy… Cheers GB