Vinny's Gear Strings: D'Addario On most of my guitars I use Chromes with a 13 gauge for the high E string. For a flatwound string the Chromes have a bright sound, great intonation and are incredibly consistent. For my acoustic guitar I use medium gauge Phosphor Bronze. As with the Chrome and all of D'Addario's strings they sound great, have good intonation, and last a long time. For recording I use the Flat Top strings. For my nylon string guitar I use Pro Arte lp Composites. This is a great all around string for a nylon string guitar. You get the same kind of big bright sound but a lot less string noise. For my solid body Tele I use 11 gauge XL's. Check out www.daddario.com for the best strings made. Main Amp: Vox AC15HW1 Hand-Wired series I was having a conversation with John Scofield about the difficulties of getting good amps oversees. He was the first one to kind of hip me to the Vox amps. I have played many different models now including, AC15s, AC30's, Valvetronix, Night Trains, and the hand wired series amps. They all have a consistently fat, clean, punchy and warm tone. It's the tube sound that most guitarist are looking for, including myself. I use a pair of amps and with a stereo reverb. It's a nice full sound without being too load. Main Guitar: Vox Virage The Vox Virage is one of the most versatile guitars I have ever played. It has everything that I like in an axe including: a solid fluid feel with a warm acoustic tone. The icing on the cake is the versatility. It's really is a complete package but if I had to pick one feature that stands out I would say the pickups. The triple coil pickups make it possible to get many different sounds out of it. I have used it on jazz gigs as well as funky rock recordings. One other mentionable is that it's really light weight. Usually that's not a concern for me but it makes it much easier to carry through the airports. Gig Bag/Case: Fusion Gig bags I prefer carrying a gig bag to a hard shell case and I need a bag that works around town as well as around the world. The Fusion gig bags are solid, light weight and comfortable to carry. This bag fits easily on most airplanes and if you need to check it, your instrument will be safe. Axon I get more questions about my guitar synth gear than anything else. I have been using a guitar synthesizer since the early 80s. As with most electronic gear they keep improving. I am now using the best of the best. The Axon Ax 100 producer by Terratec. www.terratec.com. What makes this the best is the technology that goes into it. Having played so many other guitar synths this simply tracks better and is more personable than anything else on the market. The AX 100 MK II is a single space rack with its own internal sounds and a midi output in case you want to use an external tone generator. If you haven’t played a guitar synth in years or you are using something else check out the Axon. You’ll see what I mean. www.terratec.com Cakewalk Sonar Cakewalk’s Sonar is an extremely powerful sequencing and audio editing program. I have been using Cakewalk since my first recording and still have Cakewalk 4.0 on my old laptop computer. I use Sonar on my main desktop computer. You can record hundreds of 24 bit, digital audio tracks and even more midi tracks on the same sequence. Sequencing new arrangements and compositions can be done quickly and easily with this program. It's a great pro end audio and midi workstation for recording editing and mixing CD's demos as well as full production film scores. I recorded my latest CD using Sonar 6 and the new Sonar 7. You can download and try out a demo of the program on the Cakewalk's home page. www.cakewalk.com Digitech I just started using the new digitech GNX3000. I check one out in Europe and really like the easy of use and the range of sounds. Now that I am playing the 6 string banjo I need a device that will easily switch from one sound to another. Usually all-in-one guitar effect pedals cater to the rock distortion type players. This one has plenty of functionality for the jazz, pop, rock, country and any sound you want to get. I also use the built in recording capabilities all the time. I can put an idea down in a split sec without any other outboard gear. For more info check out www.digitech.com www.digitech.com Planet Wave I recently started using Planet Wave cables. I use both the guitar and mic cables for live and in studio stuff. I have tried many cables over the years and this is the first time I can say that there is a noticeable difference in the sound clarity. They key is a compression spring plug that makes a far superior connection, holding the jack in place more securely, and keep a constant signal. www.planet-waves.com/home Picks: Fender I use extra heavy tear drops. Fender has a special way of polishing the edges of the pick that give it a nice warm tone. I've tried many picks over the years and have always gone back to Fenders.