www.craigdobbins.com
Instruments and
Equipment
by Craig Dobbins
Occasionally folks ask about my instruments and equipment. I use a
variety of guitars, depending on the sound I need. Some of my
favorites are:
- A custom Kirk Sand
electric classical I've had since 1996. This is the guitar you see
and hear on most of my books and CDs. It's my favorite guitar. It
has Indian rosewood back and sides and a spruce top, with a Gibson
CE pickup and a Ray Butts preamp. The neck is low profile, just a
fraction under 2 inches at the nut. I always use D'Addario Pro
Arte Extra Hard Tension strings on the Sand.
- A Taylor XXX-MC
(that's a 30th Anniversary mahogany/cedar model). I saw one at the
2004 Summer NAMM show in Nashville and just couldn't get it off my
mind. It's one of the sweetest sounding steel string guitars I've
ever heard, and it has great presence for recording. I usually use
D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Extra Light strings on the Taylor,
although sometimes I'll go to a slightly heavier gauge.
For several years, my main acoustic was a Taylor 514-C, another
mahogany/cedar guitar, equipped with a Fishman Matrix saddle
pickup. I used this guitar for tunes like
Walkin'
Shoes and
Au
Contraire from the
Down Home Picking book/CD
set, and for rhythm work on many other projects.
- An early 1980's Takamine
C-126 classical that's been heavily customized. I had the back of
the neck shaved to match the neck profile on my Sand guitar, and
installed a Baggs LBC saddle
pickup and a Fishman preamp. It sounds really good amplified, a
little like a Baldwin. This guitar has laminated mahogany back and
sides and a laminated spruce top. Even though it's basically just
a plywood guitar, it sounds good acoustically, too. I leave it
tuned in open G, for Reed and banjo-style picking. I use LaBella
strings on the Takamine, usually a mixture of the red nylon
Flamenco trebles, and the flatwound Studio Recording basses (to
cut down on the squeaks). I used this guitar for the open G tunes
in the 5 String Banjo
Styles for 6 String Guitar book/CD set, as well as tunes like
That's My
Boy from Fingerpickin'.
- A 1960's Del Vecchio Dinamico. It's a resonator guitar like
Chet Atkins used, except it has a longer scale. The body is made
of Brazilian rosewood. I bought this guitar from Nashville
songwriter Paul Craft. He had some work done to it, and
Paul McGill did some
fret work for me and made a compensated saddle for it, too. It
really sounds good, but it's temperamental tuning-wise. I used
this guitar quite a bit on the
Christmas Time CD and the
Acoustic Christmas book/CD
set. I use D'Addario Silk and Steel strings on it, with an unwound
.017 or .018 third string. (Sometimes, I'll use classical strings
on the 5th and 6th strings.)
I also have a few other odds and ends that I use occasionally for
recording, like an old Yamaha acoustic that I have set up as a high
string, an old no-name Japanese bass (both "borrowed" from my friend
David Moon about 20 years ago), and a couple of electrics.
For picks, I usually use a Herco blue thumbpick. I file them down
to the size and shape I like, smooth them with 600 grit sandpaper
(which I also use on my nails), and maybe polish them with something
like 3M Imperial Glaze, to get them really slick. Sometimes I use a
heavy-gauge Herco flatpick/thumbpick when I play electric. When I
want a big sound, I use an old National. (I don't like the new ones.)
For rhythm, I use various flatpicks, depending on the sound I want.
More often than not, I just play rhythm with my thumb and fingers.
When I record, I like a really short signal path. I usually record
direct, going from my guitar into a
Demeter Stereo Tube Direct,
a Lexicon PCM 60 reverb, and on to the tape machine. I connect
everything together with short lengths of high quality cable, like
Monster Cable Studio Pro 1000. When I use a mic, I'll run it through
a tube preamp as well, to warm up the sound. When possible, I prefer
to record to analog, although I sometimes record solos to DAT.
When I play live, I have various amps that I use, depending on the
situation. I have a Peavey Nashville 400 with a 15-inch speaker that
sounds great, but I like to travel as light as possible. Lately I've
been using an AER Compact 60 with the acoustic-electrics. Sometimes,
I'll just use the amp as my monitor, and go through a Demeter Tube
Direct into the PA. When I'm playing electric guitar, I usually take
an old Peavey Classic amp that I've had since 1975. I keep the volume
low and mic the amp. I generally leave the effects at home, although
sometimes I'll take a reverb or delay.
www.craigdobbins.com