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Mark’s Gear

 
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  Red Xaviere 875 with Fender roated maple neck Bare Knuckle Mule pups and Ghost System   Xaviere PRO830 with Fender roated maple neck and Ghost System-Orange Xaviere PRO870 with Fender roasted maple neck Hot Rails bridge pup and Ghist Syatem-Red Xaviere PRO910 with Kinman noiseless P-90s Xtrem and Ghost System   Xaviere XV875 with Fender roasted maple neck stock pups and Ghost System
       
     

Green Xaviere PRO910 with TV Jones TV Classic pups Xtrem and Ghost System

Squire Classic Vibe Starcaster with Fender CuNIFe Wide Range Humbucker pickups and Graph Tech Ghost MIDI System and Xtrem

Green Eastwood Messenger Guitar with Ghost System and to the right a Sunburst Xaviere PRO555 with Bare Knuckle Mule pups and Ghost system

   
   
Epiphone Alex Liefson Axxess Les Paul with Ghost System Xaviere 555 Bare Knuckle Mule pups Ghost System Sapphire Blue Ibanez AGS73T Artcore Semi-Hollowbody with Gretsch Blacktop Filtertron pups and Ghost System Xaviere PRO900 with Gtron Hard Vintage pups Xtrem and Ghost System
       
 
 
         
    Xaviere PRO910 with TV Jones Brian Setzer PUPs xtrem and Ghost System     Xaviere PRO872 with Fender Roasted Maple Neck Gtron Hard Vintage PUPS Xtrem and Ghost System   Epiphone Casino Beatles Apple Boutique-Ruby Topaz handpainted guitar with Ghost System   Eastwood Breadwinner with Ghost System.jpg    
 
 

Mark’s Guitars

 

I have over 120 guitars (this includes Basses and Acoustics). My current favotites are Xavier and Epiphone guitars. Particularly the Xaviers. I have hollowbody, semi-hollowbody and Strat style guitars. I use TV Jones TV Classics (including a White one with a TV Jones Brian Setzer Signature set in them) Filter-tron pickups and GFS Hard Vintage G’Tron pickups in my hollowbody, semi-hollowbody and one of the Xavier Strat style guitars. I love Filter-tron type pickups. They have girth AND sparkle. They sound great clean, crunchy and distorted. My Strat and Tele style Xavier guitars have 22 fret Fender Roasted Maple necks. All my guitars have Graph Tech Ghost MIDI Hexpanders, to use with my guitar synths. For Humbuckers I prefer Bare Knuckles Mule pickups (I also use their Mississippi Queen P-90 pickups), stock Epiphone ProBuckers, and stock GFS Crunhy Pat pickups. My single coil pickups are Kinman, Fender, DiMarzio and GFS.
Here’s what started the whole guitar collecting and modding thing:
In the middle to late 90s, when Wurlitzer's music store when out of business, I bought 2 Parker Fly Deluxe guitars (customized with GK2A midi pickups for my, then, Axon guitar synth and Yamaha Motif rack XS to go along with the magnetic and piezo pickups already on there) that led to me buying and customizing a Parker P-36 Tele Style guitar with Chris Kinman 48 Broadcaster Tele pickups in them (I also had nitro cellulose sprayed on the back of the neck by Rick LeGault for a vintage feel); a Parker PM20 Les Paul style guitar with a mahogany body and a figured Bubinga top with Virtual PAF pickups; a Parker P-30 Strat style guitar - antique creme with a pearlized pickguard and Chris Kinman Woodstock plus pickups installed; from there I branched out and bought and customized an Ibanez Artcore AF75TGD guitars with gold hardware (one in Candy Apple Red and one in Piano gloss black) that I had Noll Guitars “Getschify” (my term for turning Ibanez Artcore hollow body guitars into Gretsch guitars... which zI now do with my Xaviers) for me (gold Gretsch knobs, volume knob on the lower bout, selector on the upper bout, the original selector turned into a kill switch, and TV Jones “TV Classic” pickups in the Candy Apple Red guitar and TV Jones Magnatron (like the DeArmond single coils in the Duo Jet) in the Black one; An early seventies Univox “Gimme” Les Paul (identical to the one I owned in 1976) that Jim at Noll guitars restored for me. He also installed a Graph tech Ghost system for piezo acoustic sound and midi guitar synth output. As of 2011 the lineup of main guitars changed. All of them have been modified with Graphtech Ghost MIDI pickups and have been either painted, had neck reshaped or both by Jim at Noll Guitars. They are: A 70s Univox “Ripper” Strat copy guitar, that Jim at Noll also restored. Jim repainted it white (bright inkjet paper white), potted the pickups, installed the Ghost pickup system and reshaped (to match my Parker P-30), refinished and refretted the neck. A mid 70s Univox Deluxe Les Paul and a Parker P-30 that Jim painted Cherry Life Saver Red (my color idea, I told Jim that I wanted it to look like a Cherry Lifesaver, not Candy Apple Red), sprayed the neck with a nice gloss finish and added a Ghost pickup system to it. It has a pearlized pickguard, maple neck and Gold Lace Sensors in the neck and middle and a Dimarzio Fast Track in the bridge position; A guitar that Noll Built for me from an Aria Pro II maple neck that I had. They added a tropical green Tele body, GFS Lil Puncher pickups and a Pearlized pickgaurd (which has since had Fender noiseless pickups and a psychedelicpickguard replace what was there); a wine colored Epiphone Casino that Noll added a GFS X-Trem (more stable and easier to restoring than a Bigsby... I replaced all my Bigsbys with these) and had Lindy Frailin install his noiseless P-90s in the Epiphone chrome covers. A Red Parker P-36 Tele style guitar with a Dimarzio Area-T in the neck and a Fast Track-T in the bridge, along with a Ghost system for MIDI. Jim put a nice glossy finish on the neck. An Epiphone Les Paul Classic (that used to be translucent black) that Jim painted Purple Metallic for me and put on custom glitter knobs, selector ring and pickup rings. I also have a new Red Artcore that Jim installed TV Jones TV Classic pickups and a Ghost MIDI system in for me. The guitars with the Filter-tron type pickups are great for clean Beatles type stuff, Jazz, Blues and has a great raw rock sound. Very Pete Townshend (Pete used a Grestch with filter-tron pickups on Who's next and Quadraphenia).

Jim at Noll is an artistic genius and a highly skilled craftsman who, besides buffing and fixing some dings on my 70s Univox “Gimme” Les Paul, restored a badly damage headstock and hand painted part of the logo that was damaged and you can not tell that it was ever damaged. It looks just like the one I owned, in the 1970s, the day it came out of the music store. He has matched and reshaped necks for me. He has painted bodies and refinished necks for me. The work always came out better than new. I can’t say enough about his work. He is the best, period... and now Stephen Fassbender, our bass player, who I met at Noll, does all my electronic modifications (pickups, wiring, MIDI, etc.) and guitar setup. His work is also genius.

Stan (with his knowledge of history and his great stories) does great pickup installation, wiring and setup (we’ve know each other for quite a long time), and Bob is there for any amp repair that you need. If you need any work done on your guitars, especially your vintage babies, these are the guys to go to. I can’t say enough about them and I highly recommend them.
Other guitars that I have used, in the past, for recording, rehearsing and performing are: a 1972 Gibson Les Paul Custom, an Epiphone honeyburst Les Paul Standard with Virtual PAFs, a Fender 60s Tele with Kinman 60s Telecaster pickups, an eighties Japanese reissue 1957 Fender Stratocaster (Candy Apple Red) with Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails and a Hot Rails in the bridge position, an Epiphone cherry red Dot (ES335) with Bare Knuckle Filmore pickups, an Epiphone G-400 Custom (Three pickup Les Paul/SG Custom) made to look like Glen Buxton’s (The Alice Cooper Group) SG, an Epiphone ‘66 G-400 SG with Seymour Duncan Phat Cat Humbucker size retrofit P-90 pickups, an Epiphone Limited Edition G-400 “Goldtop“ SG and an Epiphone ‘56 Goldtop Les Paul with P-90s, an ebony Epiphone Classic Les Paul, a Gibson SG Junior and a Gibson Violet Burst SG Goddess, Three different early 90s Yamaha Pacifica guitars (Royal Blue 921 with a Vintage Rails in the middle and P-Rails and in the neck and bridge, Yellow 1221M with a Virtual PAF neck-a class of 55 middle- and a Virtual PAF bridge pickup, and a Red Glitter 1230S with two Q100 P-90 style pickups and a Virtual PAF bridge humbucker), A White Brian May Signature Guitar and a Dillion Brian May Guitar with three Burns Tri-Sonic Pickups, two Ibanez Artcore AFS75T guitars (an electric blue with stock pickups and a turquoise one that Noll installed TV Jones version of the Gretsch HiLo’tron pickups in it and added a volume to the lower bout to make it sound and play like a Gretsch Tennessean) and a Gretsch reissue of the 6122 called The Country Classic (the guitar that George Harrison used on The Ed Sullivan Show in Feb. of 1964). An Epiphone 1954 Oxblood Les Paul (Jeff Beck Model), an Epiphone 50th Anniversary 61 SG  and an Epiphone 50th anniversary 1960 ltd. edition Les Paul.

In late 2012, I started using Xaviere guitars and they have become some of my favorites. I can't believe the quality and playability vs price. These guitars ROCK! The description below was written some time ago. My collection of Xavier guitars has grown considerably and the guitars below have been replaced (as favorites) by newer, modded Xavier models. I thought that I would keep this text for historic purposes:

These include my Orange XV-555, with Seymour Duncan Whole Lotta Humbuckers and Ghost loaded Floyd Rose with Stone Tone granite block and my amber XV-900 (ES-335 style), in which I had Mississippi Queen P-90 pickups installed (these, along with my Cherry Sunburst and Honeyburst Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top Pros, have become some of my favorite guitars) and the XV-890 HSS, in purple (amazing build quality...total shred machine, but beautiful feel and looks), with a Dimarzio Mo' Joe Humbucker in the bridge, two Satch Track pickups and a Ghost Loaded Floyd Rose installed by Jim at Noll. I also own an XV-890 dual humbucker in sunburst, and a Cherryburst XV-510 Carved Top Quilted maple (Les Paul style), an XV-560 ( hollow body Les Paul with F holes), with TV Jones Magnatron, TV Classic pickups and Ghost System, an XV-910 (Casino type guitar), an orange XV-620 (Tele style hollow body) with hot pickups and Ghost Loaded bridge and a candy apple red JT-100 (Jazzmaster style guitar) with hot pickups.

I also use an Epiphone 1966 reissue Wilshire, in which I had MOJO Tone Johnny Winter Signature pickups installed.

As of 2016, I started using all my Ghost Loaded Guitars as my main guitars (again...historic, things have changed quite a bit):

Orange XV-555, Sunburst Epiphone Les Paul Pro, amber XV-900, Purple glitter Les Paul Classic, Life Saver Red Parker P-30, Purple XV-890 HSS, White Univox Ripper, Lemon Drop XV-560, Red Ibanez Artcore, Orange XV-620, Red Parker P-36 and my Natural Univox Les Paul
My very good friend and student, Jon, bought me a Martin Custom acoustic guitar. He put in a bone bridge, bone pins, upgraded pickguard and adjusted the action for me. This is (along with my Epiphone EJ-45 and Mitchell 12-string) now my go to acoustic guitar

   
  Gibson SG Jr., Gibson SG Goddess, Brian May Signature Guitar, Epiphone Les Paul Classic and an Ibanez Artcore that has been modified to sound (and look) like a Gretsch Tennessean (TV Jones Gretsch HiLo'Tron pickups and master volume pot on the bout)    
   
  My 70s Univox guitars My two "Gretschified" Artcores (the candy apple red with the TV Jones TV Classic Filtertron pickups and the Black one with the TV Jones Magnatron pickups; and my Epiphone Casino with custom fitted Lindy Frailin noiseless P-90s and a Bigsby)  
 
  parker tele epiphones Parker_ArtCore
  My Red Life Saver Parker P-30 and my Noll customized Tele with the Aria Pro II neck Epiphone 1954 Oxblood "Jeff Beck" Les Paul and
Epiphone Limited Edition 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standard, Cherry Sunburst, V3 neck
Parker P-36 with Dimarzio pickups, Ghost MIDI system and custom neck finish by Jim at Noll Guitars/ Ibanez Artcore AFS75T RD With TV Jones TV Classic pickups and Ghost MIDI system installed by Jim at Noll Guitar
   
    Purple Les Paul    
 

Xaviere X-900, X-890 HSS, X-890 dual humbucker

 

Click to enlarge and see the sparkly detail Epiphone Classic Les Paul. Custom purple paint job, glitter knobs, glitter pickup rings, glitter pickup selector ring, Ghost MIDI System and electronics (vintage style caps and pots) by Jim at Noll guitars.

   
 
  Epiphones 2 Xaviere Martin  
  Epiphone 1966 reissue Wilshire with GFS Liverpool pickups and Epiphone 50th Anniversary 61 SG Xaviere XV-510 and Martin Custom   Honeyburst Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top Pro
 
  Xavier XV-910 with P-90s, XV-620 with GFS 63 Tele Overwound Wound Professional Series Bridge and neck Pickups and Graphtech Ghost System MIDI Hexpander Xaviere JT-100 with GFS JM90 Overwound Hot Jazzmaster Bridge and Neck Pickups, Xaviere XV-560 wth TV Jones TV Classic Pickup in the neck and TV Jones Power'Tron Pickup in the bridge and Graphtech Ghost System MIDI Hexpander Ibanez AS7312 Electric 12 String with GFS Memphis Alnico 2 Rickenbacker tone Vintage Jangle Bridge and Neck Pickups, Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro with Graphtech Ghost System MIDI Hexpander
 
     
Xaviere XV-555 in Transparent Orange.It has a set of Seymour Duncan "Whole Lotta Humbucker" pickups in it MOJO Tone paper and oil caps. A Graphtech Ghost loaded (for synth guitar) Floyd Rose With a Stone Tone
granite sustain block
  Parker Honeyburst PM-20 Pro
Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck bridge pickup
Seymour Duncan Jazz neck pickup
Graph Tech Ghost bridge for guitar synths
  Xaviere XV-950 Gloss Black with gold hardware
TV Jones TV Classic Filtertron pickups
1 meg master volume (like Gretsch 6120) Xaviere Xtrem Graph Tech Ghost bridge for guitar synth
  Epiphone Cherry SG-Pro
Bareknuckles Mississippi Queen humbucker sized
P-90 pickups
Graph Tech Ghost bridge for guitar synth
 

My Yamaha Pacifica collection:

Epiphone 61 Les Paul Custom
Customized to be a Glen Buxton
Inspired SG with stars and X-Trem
Graph Tech Ghost MIDI system added

1221m with 2 Seymour Duncan Whole Lotta Humbucker pickups-Bridge and Neck, Vintage Rail middle pickup, super switching and Graph Tech Ghost Loaded Floyd Rose with MIDI Hexpander
1230s with GFS Dream 180 bridge pickup, Nashville Retrotron middle pickup, P90 Neck pickup and Graph Tech Ghost Loaded Floyd Rose with MIDI Hexpander
921 with Seymour Duncan P-Rails Bridge and Neck pickups, Vintage Rails middle pickup, on and off pushbuttons for each pickup, push/pull pots for series/parallel, 3-way toggles for P-90/single coil/ Humbucker selection and Graph Tech Ghost Loaded Floyd Rose with MIDI Hexpander
PAC 303-12 with GFS Lipstick pickups
 
 
 
   
   
 

Basses

Acoustic Guitars

 
  Peavey RSB Bass, Custom Bass (Epiphone Precision Bass body, Fender hardware, Fender Vintage '62 Precision Bass Pickup and an Allparts 70's Fender Jazz Bass neck - Geddy Lee Style), Jay Turser Hofner Style Violin Bass and an early 60s Hofner Club Bass Fender 12 string, 70s Epiphone Texan and a 70s Epiphone 12 string  
       
 
 

 
  Ibanez Soundgear SR-500 marks Ibanez GSR200 with Fender Vintage 62 Precision Bass pickup and DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickup

Xaviere P-Bass with stock pickups, Fender Squire Affinity Bass with DiMarzio Pickups and series/parallel push-pull pot, Fender Jazz Bass Pickguard and Pickup cove

 

 

 
  Early to mid 2023 Helix rig      
   
       
     
       
 
 

This is my rig built around the Line 6 Helix.
I have been using Line 6 gear since 2000, and Vetta since 2002.
In June of 2015, while on vacation in Cape Cod, I read a blurb about the "coming soon" Line 6 Helix. I did some research, saw some videos and found the Helix thread on THE GEAR PAGE. I have been living on TGP ever since. I pre-ordered Helix in late June/early July and received my Helix in October of 2015.
I still check in to TGP everyday, even though I own Helix. The people on TGP are very nice and everyone tries to help each other (rare on forums these days). Line 6 has the team that developed Helix on the thread all the time. They have been really great at listening and relating to their customers. There is a lot of info there on Helix (best ways to get what you want and news on updates). There have been updates that included features based on the things that customers requested on the thread. They really listen. The Helix is the most amazing and symbiotic guitar amp rig simulator-multi fx-signal router-piece of gear for live and recording...ever!
I never thought that I would switch to ANYTHING from my Vetta rig, but this thing sounds and "feels" like a real tube guitar amp. You get all the response and feel of playing your guitar into a real tube amp and, after going through virtual pedals, compressors, eq, delays, reverbs...whatever..., it comes out sounding like the best recorded amp you've ever heard. I could go on forever about this piece of gear, and not cover everything, so I'll get to the rig. Helix is the true successor to Vetta. Go to the Equipment Demo part of this page and watch the Vetta vs Helix demo to hear the difference.

OK. This rig is pretty simple. I had my Greg Fryer hand built Deluxe Treble Booster on my board, but Line 6 added a Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster in a firmware update, so the hardware treblebooster came off the board.
I go into Helix and I have a Vocoder going into the effects loop of the Helix (as soon as Line 6 adds a Vocoder to Helix, in a firmware update, that will be removed). I send an out from Helix to a Roland GT-1000 core. I used to send it to, an HX Stomp... then replaced that with the HX Stomp XL. Since the 3.60 update is so awesome, I’m going to replace the GT-1000 Core with the updated HX Stomp XL. I also have a Celestial Aquarius Fuzz and Boss TB-2W Tonebender MKII in the FX loop of Helix. I don’t know if they'll stay, but they’re here, for now.
As far as guitar signal...that's it! Now, the amplification:
From the Helix, I go out of the L6 Link output (Line 6 digital output) to the L6 link input on the left Line 6 L2t powered speaker. Out of the L6 Link output of the L2t to the L6 Link input on the right L2t. The L2ts are on stands on either side of two 212 Powercab plus amps, on top of each other, wired like a stereo 4x12 cabinet (which takes it’s signal from the XLR outputs of Helix). They are mic’d with two Royer ribbon mics. This gives me the feel and the oomph that my big 300 watt, four cab, Vetta rig had.

Synth Stuff:
The 13 pin output from my ghost loaded guitars go to a Primova Sound GKPX-14 splitter with four outputs. The first two outputs go to two Roland GR-55s. The third goes to an SY-1000 (for acoustic , electric, 12 string, etc...Guitar simulation...kind of like a Variax guitar, without the guitar... and synth lead sounds). The last GK out goes to a Roland GR-33 guitar synth. I have two EV-5 expression pedals... one for SY-1000 volume, and one for GT-1000 Core (or HX Stomp XL) volume. All of the outputs go to a Behringer Eurorack Pro line mixer, into a Behringer Composer Pro XL stereo compressor. I have four Behringer stereo DI boxes. Two of them takes the line mixer outputs (through a stereo hum eliminator) and sends them to the L2ts and the DAW, or FOH, in stereo (depending on whether I’m recording or playing live). The other goes out of the Powercab to a stereo hum eliminator, which goes to the DAW (when recording) or the FOH (when playing live), all in stereo... this way, I don't get any ground hum, when interfacing with another system.

All of this allows me to recreate any of the overdubs (synths, strings, horns, piano, organ, acoustic or electric guitars, etc) that are on our recordings, in a live situation.

   
  Mark’s Pre 2015 Vetta Rig  
     
    In mid 2014 I had a new pedalboard made for me by Mike at NYC Pedalboards. It wa a great board, but because of the size (over five feet long with 2 tiers), materials and gear on the board, it weighed a ton. I just (August 2015) purchased two boards from Daniel at LYT Pedalboards. Theses things are thin and practially weightless (before adding gear). By splitting up the pedalboard and using the LYT boards, I don't fear gigging now    
  Here's the flow:  
My signal goes into a Love Pedal line driver (before my wah, but after my treble booster so that the line driver doesn't interfere with the treble booster loading my pickups) into a pedal Racks true bypass switch with eight loops (Either directly or using a Line6 wireless). Loop 1- A Fryer Brian May Treble Booster Plus (I ordered another three switch bypass switch so that I can add my Fryer Brian May Touring Treble Booster as well...Greg is building a Deluxe booster for me that will either replace something or be added...Greg is a GREAT guy and builds the most diverse and toneful treble boosters available); Loop2- a Crybaby Classic Wah Wah pedal with the Fasal inductor (for recording I also use a Geoffrey Teese Wheels of Fire Wah-Wah pedal); Loop 3- a Pro Analog MkIII Fuzztone (a recreation of the Sola Sound Tonebender that Page used on the first two Zeppelin albums); Loop 4- a Fulltone 69 Pedal (a recreation of the Roger Mayer modified Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face that Jimi Hendrix used); Loop 5- a Line 6 distortion modeler, Ibanez Steve Vai Distortion Pedal and an EH C9 pedal and/or a JHS Superbolt Pedal; Loop 6- a Celestial Aquarius Fuzz, which I absolutely LOVE (this replaced my Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff and American Woman pedals); Loop 7- An EH Nano Clone into an EH Nano Small Stone into an EH Nano Electric Mistress, with the small stone on and the option to turn the others on and off at will (these replaced my Foxx Foot Phaser Pedal); Loop 8- a Digitech Talker Vocoder; out of the true bypass into a Line 6 Vetta HD 300 watt Head (upgraded to Vetta II 2.5), on top of two AB Custom (made by Jesus from AB Custom Audio in California - all four cabs have white piping around the grille cloth and gold piping on the black bronco covering) open back 2x12 cabs loaded with four Line 6 Celestion G12H-90 speakers , sitting on top of two AB Custom 4x12 cabinets (Bronco Black with Wheat grill cloth) loaded with 4 Eminence Patriot Screaming Eagles (left Cabinet) and 4 Eminence Red Coat Wizards (Right Cabinet) so that one amp model (lets say a Fender 1953 tweed deluxe) comes out of the left 2x12 open back cab with the Celestions and the left 4x12 cab with the Screaming Eagles in it (giving a definite American vibe); and the other amp model (Let's say a 1969 Marshall Plexi with a Variax on it) comes out of the right 2x12 open back cab with the Celestions and the right 4x12 cab with the Wizards in it in it (giving it a British Classic Rock Vibe). My Parker Fly piezo pickups and Graph Tech piezo pickups, Roland GR-55 guitar synth, Boss Gp-10, Axon MkII guitar synth triggering my Yamaha Motif Rack XS, effects from the Vetta, effects from my rack (Behringer V-Verb Pro running at 96K) go into a Behringer Eurorack line mixer and that goes into two Electro-Voice ZLX-12P powered PA Speakers (which are on stands about five and a half feet in the air on the extreme left and right of the 4x12 guitar speaker cabinets).  
    Amps 2013  

4x12 guitar speaker cabinets)

This gives me two dry amp models at a time (one to each set of two 4x12 cabinets) and all the pedal effects are coming out of the guitar speakers, and all the delays and reverbs are coming out of the Left and right PA speakers in stereo. So, the effects are very clean and pristine, simulating actual reverbs and echoes bouncing off the walls on either side of the room, while the amps can be down and dirty. I'm a Heil microphone endorser and I mic my two 2x12 cabs with two PR40s into a modded (JJ Audio) DMP3 mic pre and the two 4x12s with two PR30s into two Classic API VP26 mic pres (recreation of the mic pres in the 70s API consoles) built by Custom Analog Services and for live shows and rehearsal I use a PR35 for my vocal mic (I also have two SM57 mics modded by Mercenary audio with Tabfunkenwerks transformers, two SM27 condenser mics and two C1 condensers modded by JJ Audio, but always seem to go back to the Heils...they just sound right)
  Mark and Sr. Director of Operations at Line 6, Frank Ritchotte (a good friend and a great human being).    
   

Original 2016 HELIX RIG

     
     
         

Line 6 L2t powered speakers and Behringer Subwoofer

   
 

2018 Helix Rig

   
       
       
 

1 Line 6 Powercab plus
2 Line 6 L2ts and 2 Behringer 12" subs

This new rig uses my old LYT pedalboard that I used with my Vetta rig, to reduce weight.
This new 2018 rig is, basically, the same as the 2016 rig (see above for signal flow), with the black Roland GR-55 being replaced by a rackmounted Roland XV5050 and the pedalboard mounted mixer and compressor being replaced by a rackmounted Behringer line mixer and compressor.
I have a stereo direct box with phantom power blockers on the board for the Helix.
The rack has the same hum eliminator and stereo direct boxes that I had on the 2016 board for the mixer and compressor.
The expression pedals on the bottom row of the board are volume pedals for the XV-5050 and the GP-10 (so I don't have to reach)
The MIDIMATE changes patches on the XV5050.
The F6 is for hold and mod on the XV-5050. The other two F5 foot switches are for bank changes on the GR-33.
The Helix is on it's own detachable piece of acrylic, so that I can take it off and put it in the backpack, when I want.

   
Early 2019 Helex Rig      
     
 
   
     
     

 

Late 2019 Helex Rig

     

 

     
     
OTHER SETUPS      
     

Mini Jamming Rig

Small Vetta Rig

For recording or use with Mini Jamming Rig

     
 
 
     
     
 

Roland XV-88

   
     
       
 
Drums
My triggers are by Pintech and Roland. I have eight toms, a kick and a snare. Three Roland tom pads (two 8" and one 10"). Everything else is a Sonor acoustic kit (except the Snare, which is a Roland) converted to electric with Pintech triggers.  A 14" Snare, 22" Kick drum, 10", 12" and 13" rack toms and 14" and 16" floor toms.  All these triggers go into a Roland TD-50 (upgraded to TD-50x) V-Drum module. When I record, I usually used BFD-2 and BFD-3 and Toontrack SD3 Software in Cubase Pro 11, but lately I've been running lines from the TD-50x into Cubase - the V-Kick on one track, V-Snare on another, V-Toms L&R on two tracks and V-Overheads on two more. I don't use the V-Cymbals or the BFD Cymbals. I use real cymbals - Sabian, Paiste and Zildjian. I take the V-Overheads and the real cymbals, subgroup to a channel called "overheads" and put in into a studio room (usually a Sunset Sound Studio live room), so it sounds like the drums from the V-Overheads and the real cymbals were recorded in the same room. I don't have a giant studio with a great drum room, so this simulates it. Actually, it sounds pretty convincing.
For overheads, ride cymbal and hi-hat, I use Slate pencil condenser mics and use the Slate software to choose the models of mics I want.
 
       
  Fender 4x10 cab with new super champ, Line 6 Vetta combo with two Lopoline 2x12 cabs, Ashdown bass rig, two Line 6 DT50 heads on top of two Lopoline 4x12 cabs with Celestion G12H-90 abd Eminence Governors run by Line 6 POD HD500      
vox   pedals    
Vox AC30 Custom Classic Great pedals that have been on and off my pedal board and are now used strictly for recording Spider Valve on top of a Peavey ValveKing 4x12 cab with Eminence Governors and Texas Heat.  
     
       
The ValveKing is being mic'd by a Heil PR30. This mic ROCKS!!! I also use two PR30s and Two PR40s to mic my main rig      
I use the Pedalboard with the Spider Valve. It has a line 6 Shortboard to control the Spider Valve, a VHT Valvulater, a Crispy Cream treble booster, a Crybaby with the Fasel inductor, a Hop Hed Fuzz (Sola Sound Tonebender clone), MXR Phase 90 and a CE 5 Chorus pedal."      
Vox Fender Keyboard 2
   

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III and Vox Valvetronix VT-40 in front of my Line 6 Spider Valve

Yamaha -SY-85 and Roland JX3P      
 
         
   
   

Mark's Studio