Vinny's Gear Strings: D'Addario For the AEX 1500 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 Yamaha telecaster style Pacifica I use 11 gauge XL's. I play the Yamaha G 50 guitar midi converter with this guitar and the XL's are perfect for fast tracking and big sound. Check out www.daddario.com for the best strings made. Main Amp: Ampeg Reverb Rocket For Years Ampeg has made great bass rigs as well as guitar amps. Now they are making the Diamond Blue series of tube guitar amps. They have the perfect combination of punch and warms. These amps give me a great clean sound for the guitar synth setup as well as just guitar. For years I have used a combination of a PA system and guitar amps for this rig and now I don’t have to. I always you 2 amps because the stereo effects sound better and the synth sound are much fuller. Go to www.ampeg.com and check out the Diamond Lead series of amps. Then go to your local music store and hear the difference. www.ampeg.com 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. TKL I have been using TKL cases for a long time without really knowing it. Most of my best gig bags and cases have been made by TKL. I can tell you first hand that they last forever and are extremely protective. I use there zero gravity case and their HD series gig bags. They have been around the world with me and if they had there own frequent flyer mile….they would be flying for free. Check out http://www.tkl.com/ for their entire line of cases and gig bags.