The Gear That Runs AMS: Nick P. - Writer

I switch between a Fender Strat and a Gibson ES Artist, which is similar to the Gibson BB King Lucille ES-355, just with active pickups. Gibson did a run of the RD Series back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when they introduced Moog electronics as part of the guitar’s functionality.

However, I ended up snagging the Strat earlier in the year since I really wanted a modern Strat that has all the “modern” benefits that could provide me with a lot of flexibility and reliability.

This Strat has a lot of versatility. With the Haymaker humbucker paired alongside two Ultra II Noiseless Hot Strat pickups, it offers a tonal playground that can adapt to virtually any style. Engage the S-1 switch, and you unlock an entirely new dimension of sounds by splitting the Haymaker into a single coil. It’s perfect for dialing in those more nuanced tones, which is important to me.

Of course I have a volume pedal on my board. While it might be more on the niche side, I always loved pedal steel guitars, and it seemed to be something that I can use to give songs a similar effect. It’s great especially to have a guitar take on the role as a swelling pad to really fill up the sonic space in the back. I grew up in the rural area of Jersey, so country music is pretty common, and pedal steel guitars were always something that immediately grabbed my attention.

I use an Ernie Ball P06110 Volume Pedal, especially in softer sections of my own songs where the guitar takes a melodic approach, and I can fade into each note entrance. Try adding some overdrive, and you can get it to take on these atmospheric-like qualities.

Since I mostly play my own original material, my setup might look a little wild to anyone in a cover band or those searching for a more conventional guide to what they “should” bring to a recording session. But hey, why not look at more gear anyways?

I use a compressor pedal for a lighter purpose and never really wanted anyone to perceive that I was using even using compression to begin with. I’ve thought of it as something that served as a support for your guitar sound, although a lot of players appear to rely on a pretty compressed tone nowadays, especially when it comes to Instagram and TikTok influencers.

When using compression on my guitar sound, I like to have a focused and tight sound — but not to the extent where it can’t breathe. Naturalness is still what I strive to have as a base for my sound.

I use the Xotic SP Compressor Pedal to blend 25% of this into my sound, which is perfect for tightening up the highs and lows a little bit.

This is pretty much a consistent pedal on the board, especially for a lot of session players like Tom Bukovac, Guthrie Trapp, Tim Pierce, Carl Verheyen, and many others.

When I saw Guthrie Trapp live at the Bitter End in New York City, this was on his board, and I was immediately interested as to what that was. It was such a solid, organic overdrive sound that really had this heaviness to it without sounding processed.

When I think of “modern guitar sound,” I think of the sound that comes from this pedal. This natural overdrive sound comes with a lot of room to be shaped and will have you sounding solid right from the start.

When MXR came out with the MXR X100 pedal, this had a lot of people excited that they could now revive the processed overdrive Marshall sound that made the Rockman so coveted. The DIST mode is full-on tonal saturation, EDGE has a lighter, more responsive overdrive sound that actually picks up pretty well to your playing dynamics. CLN 1 has a thin clean, and CLN 2 sounds like the mids got scooped a bit.

When you engage the chorus mode, you can get a pretty clean-cutting, chimey chorus sound. You’ll cut through any mix with this pedal, even better if you could EQ this to cut the mids and low ends a bit more.

I’ve placed the Line 6 HX Stomp XL Multi Effects Processor at the very end of my board, where it handles all of the modulation and time-based effects. It’s an incredibly versatile tool, especially if you’re working with stereo outputs running directly into a console or blending through multiple amps. If you’re into experimenting with layered sounds, this is really fun to mess with. Not to mention, it’s also pretty intuitive.

Hot take: when it comes to time-based and modulation effects, you don’t always need to obsess over the smallest details. At a certain point, the subtle nuances start to blur, and I just use those type of effects to give off a vibe.

Lugging around a Fender 65 Twin got old fast! Tube amps are heavy, but nothing quite compares to the back-breaking task of hauling a Twin. Over the years, I’ve cycled through several Fender amps, experimenting with different sizes, and eventually landed on the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe as my go-to. Sure, it’s still on the heavier side, but it’s versatile enough to handle just about any situation, so I know I’m covered.

Most of my gigs are in clubs and medium-sized venues around New York City and Brooklyn, so volume is never really an issue. Thankfully, many spots already have amps set up and a sound engineer ready to go (a blessing when that’s the case).

That said, for those times when I need to bring my own amp but don’t feel like wrestling the Hot Rod through a narrow city hallway, I rely on my Roland JC-40 Jazz Chorus Amplifier. It’s a bit more compact, much more reliable, and gets the job done without the extra hassle — because who honestly enjoys facing that struggle?