I recently acquired a some new gear that am really pleased with. I don't normally give out props to the makers of the tools I use, but some of the items that I use have really become integral to my setup.

The first company I want to acknowledge is Don Mare pick ups. Don sent me two sets of pick ups for my two strats I built after my gear was stolen earlier this year. The first set, is a '54 clone for a maple neck strat the I received from my friend Craig Ruskey. these are some of the sweetest sounding pickups I have ever used, they are extremely touch sensitive, and have a great useable high end tone at the bridge, and killer rounded low end at the neck. The second set is a '64 clone I am using in a rosewood neck strat I am having built for me by the very competent crew at Monroe Guitars in Iowa (http://www.monroeguitars.com/). I haven't received the strat yet, but I am optimistic this will sound great too! Don uses all era correct components when building his pickups. He is very hands on with his clients and makes himself available for any questions or comments. You can check out all of Dons great products at http://www.buckcannon.com/home.html.

Callaham vintage replacement parts are the finest quality parts I have used. My brother Joe told me about Callaham. It is really unbelieveable how these parts effect the tone of the instrument. I have Callaham on both strats. http://www.callahamguitars.com/

The next two companies I want to acknowledge are, Xotic effects and Love Pedal. I have been using Xotic effects RC Boost pedal for over a year now, and it is always on in my effects chain! This pedal is a very transparent clean boost that makes any guitar sound better with any amp. It really makes the pickups of your guitar have more sensitivity and attack. One cool feature is the treble and bass EQ on it that you can add or cut treble or bass as you need to. Just to let you know how much I value this pedal, it was the first thing I replaced after the theft of my gear in Montreal in July. http://www.xotic.us/

Love Pedal is a company that I am new to. Kirk Fletcher turned me on to them, he uses the COT (Church Of Tone) pedal and swears by it. I am currently using the COT Gold, which is basically the same as the COT, but has a master volume and and a vintage tone stack. This is one of the nicest overdrive units I have ever heard. It gets a great vintage Marshall Plexi tone. I have never been much of an overdrive pedal guy, but this pedal is so cool and easy to use that I look forward to making it a part of my sound for a long time. Sean at Love Pedal was very cool in answering questions I had about his products. http://www.lovepedal.com/