EQUIPMENT

Gibson ES 175 D (1962)

This is my main guitar which I use for almost all my concerts. I bought it at Matt Umanov’s in New York City in 1996. The guitar that has a unique thin neck and a real nice jazz sound. It is suited for anything between solo guitar playing and big band.

Gibson ES 125 D (1954)

This is the first guitar I bought at Umanov’s in 1992. Though I played it on concerts for a while, it now stays at home. It’s my TV-guitar. A ES 175 Sunburst (1954) which I bought in 1993 took its place. This instrument I sold a few years ago.

Gibson ES 175 N (1951)

In 1995 Matt Umanov saw me again and I bought this gorgeous ES 175 N blonde build in 1951. I played this for my concerts until the ES 175 D (1962) took over. Even though this blond 175 sounds great, it has a tendency for feedback which the ES 175 D does not have.

Gibson L7 (1939)

This is my price possession. I was able to obtain this one in 2006 through my guitar custmomizer, Ley van de Beuken. It is completely acoustic. I recorded my solo jazz guitar cd It Could Happen to Yo” with this one. I do not get to use it a lot on gigs because it is not amplified, but it is great to play on the occasional acoustic gig that comes along.

Brian Moore C-90P.13.USB Sunrise Burst EH

I was able to buy this guitar in January 2009 from the Brian Moore Custom Shop in the USA. I learned about this guitar by playing John Abercrombie's DC/1 model. I was very impressed with the immediate response of this guitar and its sensitive, full dynamic range. Apart from that, this guitar has it all: regular pick-ups, piezo and synthesizer pick-up. It sounds great clean, with effects and runs my synthesizers without a hitch.

Henriksen JazzAmp 112 ER

This currently is my main amp. I use it all the time.
Ernst Weinbach at Liberty-Music in Neustadt, Germany gave me a nice deal on it (and a free cover! The Henriksen 110 already was great but the 112 is the best. The 112 weighs a little more than the 110 but still makes going to the job easy. The ER stands for Extended Range, gives added highs but can be switch on and off depending on the situation. The build in reverb stinks however, period. But the T-Rex Roommate solves that problem.

JazzKat Amp

In recent years small amps have developed in an amazing way. Small in size used to mean in small in sound. No more! Small amps sound great these days. This is the first one of these small amps I got in 2008. It has a round, soft sound but with great presence. I could not find The JazzKat amps in Europe at the time and I was able to import it from the US makers through a endorsement deal. In spite of its small size I have used it from solo gigs, duo, trio, etc to big bands. This amp has a tube which you can switch on or off.

Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight

I also got the small Fender Ultra Light Jazz in 2008.
In size and weight it compares with the JazzKat but the sound with its wide frequency range is more brash. I use it when I need a sound with a punch and I run my guitar synth over this one.

Poytone Mini Brute

Of course, the trusted Polytone Mini Brute. I never got one in the 70’s. This is a new one which I got in 1998 and have played a lot! The JazzKat is taking its place however.

Rivera Fandango

I never got around to buying a tube amp - I was solid state only – until 2004. The Rivera is a great amp when I need power. It was presented to me as a combo but that was just too heavy to carry. My customizer Ley van de Beuken was able to get the Rivera people to build it as a top and cabinet.

The amps get connected to the 220 by a MusicCord Pro A/C Power chord by ESP, Essential Sound Products

Rack

My rack now includes two synthesizers: the old trusted Roland GR 50 and an Virus Acces.
The Voodoo Lab GCX Guitar Audio Switcher together with the Ground Control allows me to switch between sounds and patches very quick.

The Boss VF1 multi-effects (which replaced the Boss SE 70 which has replaced the Boss SE 50) I use for chorus, reverbs delays and whatever I need. I use an SE 50 in the rack to beef up signals I split.

Download te flow chart to my guitar & synth guitar set-up: