First rig

xtremehardy388

I'm wondering what everyone's FIRST rig was. When I was 15, I got the Fender Squier strat pack. 10 watt Squier amp, Squier stratocaster, and then 4 months later, I got the DS-1 Distortion. I'm happy to say that the strat is still a BIG PART of my current lineup as is the DS-1. Of course I've changed pick preferences but I've pretty much stayed the same with strings (though I've tried others out). That 10 watt amp was given to an old girl I had a major crush on and everything else in the pack was either lost or broken. I learned on my friends Fender Mustang the summer before I got the pack and I eventually bought that guitar for a huge deal (as a graduation gift). I still use it today though not as much as the strat. Still, the main parts are still there.

So, my question to you all...what was your first rig and, do you still have/use any of it now?

All Those Yesterdays

Bass:

Peavey Axcelerator Plus (still own, and still hard to beat).

played through a Peavey TKO 115, been gone for years now.

Guitar:

Epiphone Special II

Played through a Carvin 2x12 belair, 50 tube combo.

Pacomc79

Used Peavey Predator (from 1993 when it was still Made in USA even though it's basically on par with most squires) My dads friend at work plays in a band and had this one for back up he'd put a Fender Lace Sensor in the neck. I got the guitar for my birthday, shiney red guitar with a white PG... for 75 dollars including tax I went down and bought me a Peavey Rage 158 practice amp. That was the rig and it was glorious.

Pauk

I had a Epiphone Les paul (3 humbuckers) with some rubbish 10watt practise amp (that I replaced with a Marshall MG30DFX within a few months).

MichaelMcKevin

Aria Pro II Strat Knockoff. Sunburst w/ white pickguard. Came with a shitty little 5 watt amp that was battery powered and clipped to my belt Hahaha

keeponrockin

Kit made Strat, Fender Champ 12 amp.

acutejam

Hahaha, ahh the memories.

First guitar: a "West" Paul, les paul knockoff? Long gone.
Peavy Backstage Plus 20 (1984 ish?) still going strong I think, though honestly I haven't looked at the cone/rubber gasket of the thing in awhile. Haven't cranked it up in a few months...
BOSS Heavy Metal Pedal -- still goin strong
BOSS Digital Delay 2 (or 3?) -- think it's got like 3 sec max delay, but again, still using it today.... 4 knob, silver pedal.

Then a bad series of purchases, Kramer shark fin, Kramer Ferrington (acoustic body strat piece o $)%). Until finally I woke up; Gibson Les Paul Studio and a Martin. (We run the Les Paul through a Line6 unit direct into our recording rig, then out through the PA.)

mccreadyisgod

My first guitar was an old (what I would now think of as "vintage") Kalamazoo archtop acoustic that my dad had lying around. I used to think it was just a crappy old beater, nothing special... I was fond of it, though, and was sad when it broke irrepairably after a few years. Right now, that guitar would be worth well over $1000... fuck.

My second guitar was a Yamaha beginner's acoustic that I got for Christmas one year waaay back. Still have it, although it's on indefinite loan to my sister, who's learning to play right now.

First electric rig was a Peavey Tele-style guitar (was it a Raptor? Reactor? Predator? I don't remember...) that I traded in after about 2 weeks for a Peavey Strat-style guitar. First amp was a Fender Stage 112, 100-watt 12" solid-state combo. I had that for 3 months before my parents found out I had bought it. Ha! The guitar was sold, or traded, or something like that... the amp blew up when my drummer stole my speaker cable for my extension cab and replaced it with a coiled Radio Shack guitar cable.

I joined a band later that year, and upgraded to a 1982 Fender Strat in honeyburst... it was one of those weird Strats that had one volume, one tone, and a vertical output jack where the 2nd tone control is usually located. I freaking loved that guitar, and I have never felt good about getting rid of it. I still occasionally search eBay and elsewhere for one just like it.

So... I have that one Yamaha acoustic, and no longer have any of the others. I wish I still had the Kalamazoo and the Strat, though.

xtremehardy388

mccreadyisgod wrote:

My first guitar was an old (what I would now think of as "vintage") Kalamazoo archtop acoustic that my dad had lying around. I used to think it was just a crappy old beater, nothing special... I was fond of it, though, and was sad when it broke irrepairably after a few years. Right now, that guitar would be worth well over $1000... fuck.

My second guitar was a Yamaha beginner's acoustic that I got for Christmas one year waaay back. Still have it, although it's on indefinite loan to my sister, who's learning to play right now.

First electric rig was a Peavey Tele-style guitar (was it a Raptor? Reactor? Predator? I don't remember...) that I traded in after about 2 weeks for a Peavey Strat-style guitar. First amp was a Fender Stage 112, 100-watt 12" solid-state combo. I had that for 3 months before my parents found out I had bought it. Ha! The guitar was sold, or traded, or something like that... the amp blew up when my drummer stole my speaker cable for my extension cab and replaced it with a coiled Radio Shack guitar cable.

I joined a band later that year, and upgraded to a 1982 Fender Strat in honeyburst... it was one of those weird Strats that had one volume, one tone, and a vertical output jack where the 2nd tone control is usually located. I freaking loved that guitar, and I have never felt good about getting rid of it. I still occasionally search eBay and elsewhere for one just like it.

So... I have that one Yamaha acoustic, and no longer have any of the others. I wish I still had the Kalamazoo and the Strat, though.

Kalamazoo? I'm assuming that's from Kzoo(MY HOME!!!). They make Heritage guitars at the old Gibson plant but I wonder where that Kalamazoo is from and where they made it out here.

ianvomsaal

My first elecric guitar:
A cream Hondo with one Humbucker (very similar to Jerry Cantrell's single humbucker G&L, but without the
Kahler trem, stickers, & abuse) click: Alice in Chains "Jerry Cantrell" playing his cream G&L
I immediately had my buddy switch out the bridge pickup to an old Seymour Duncan that he had laying around.
Funny, even then (not knowing anything about guitars) I still knew that stock pickups sucked.
My dad surprised me with that guitar and a 65-watt Crate amp for my 16th birthday (crap, but I still have both).

ianvomsaal

My first steel-string acoustic guitar was an Alvarez (given to me when I was 15 by a family friend).
I eventually refinished it and gave it to a friend in need of a guitar (he literally played it to death).

mccreadyisgod

xtremehardy388 wrote:

Kalamazoo? I'm assuming that's from Kzoo(MY HOME!!!). They make Heritage guitars at the old Gibson plant but I wonder where that Kalamazoo is from and where they made it out here.

From what I understand after talking to a few people... Kalamazoo was indeed made by Gibson at their Kalamazoo plant, as kind of an entry-level offering before they acquired Epiphone.

All Those Yesterdays

mccreadyisgod wrote:

From what I understand after talking to a few people... Kalamazoo was indeed made by Gibson at their Kalamazoo plant, as kind of an entry-level offering before they acquired Epiphone.

This is what I was always told