gear whores

compiled by Lounge Lizard

We had dropped our friends an email to find out what equipment they swear by and the appeal that lies behind their choice. We asked them to tell us what instance they have used it for as well.

DJ Ko Flow , turntables, Ko Lab

It’d be my turntables together with my mixer.

It allows me to create different unique sounds through scratching. In that way, I can be the drummer, the pianist, bassist or any other elements that we can think of.

And I can also beat-juggle to remix tracks to beats of my flava. (I’ve used them) for recording, live shows, radio shows and club sets.

Linda Ong , bass and vocals, Lunarin, bass, Kalculator, Chihuahua Death

My Ibanez SR3000E is my soulmate, my lover, my partner-in-crime. She is NOT a gear. The one gear that I absolutely cannot live without and is as important to me as oxygen is my Sansamp Bass DI. It is the seed of devil. It makes my SR3000E sound gritty and evil and brings so much character to her sound. Ever since I bought it, I can't imagine playing without it. It doubles both as a stompbox and as a DI box so I use it as part of my live rig as well as a DI box during recording.

Mei Wong , vocals and programming, The Analog Girl

Nintendo DS

Using the game cartridge Electroplankton, it presents a whole new way of making music - somewhat in a random fashion, which makes it all the more exciting. You use the stylus pen to move the marine micro-organisms around and this will generate sounds and melodies. It is very intuitive and highly therapeutic.

This is great for live performances because it adds colour and spontaneity in the sessions.

To check out how a Nintendo DS can create music, log onto: http://electroplankton.nintendods.com/flash.html.

Marcos Destructos , vocals and guitars, One Man Nation

I can't live without my folk guitar.

On any given day when the world runs outta power, my laptop shuts down, amplifiers fry and juice from the last battery dried, the rusty strings will still vibrate.

Eerm, I've recorded practically everything with it.

Sim Keng Lee , guitars and keyboards, furniture

(That’d be) my Ibanez TS9.

It just gives my guitar tones a bit more bite.

It's switched on all the time with the drive at zero and the tone and volume knobs at the halfway point.

Syed Feroz , vocals and guitars, Ecrus Garage

I can’t go on stage or into the studio without a delay pedal. Be it a Boss DD3 or the Digitech X-series Digital Delay.

Delays are important as they provide ambient textures, atmospherics, opens up the sound and make ears bleed!

Magdelene Han , keyboards, The Great Spy Experiment

It will have to be the MicroKORG, my very first synthesizer.

Why so? What gives it the unique mojo? It is handy and compact; extremely useful when facing space constraints on stage during gigs. It adds that edge to the usual keyboards set-up. It is a wicked synthesizer, which allows me to mimic most of the synth patches I hear in various songs quite accurately. Other than trying to get that 80's electronic or 70's rock synth sounds, I can turn it on, switch around for a sound, mess with the arpeggiator to get that sweet electro-rock vibe that compliments smoothly the GSE sound.

Ever since the day I bought it, it has been with me for every gig and recording. I love my MicroKORG.

Jonathan , drums, West Grand Boulevard

I simply cant live without my DW drums and Paiste cymbals, oh and Slipknot Joey Jordison snare.

They sound sooo warm and open. They just sound and feel so good when I hit them. I love Paiste cymbals; I used to use Zildjian but i find Paiste has a nicer darker wash. Boy, they feel nice to play. Every hit, every shimmer... They just sound and look amazing. And the Joey Jordison snare just kicks ass: nice whip and crack and nice overtones.

I’ve used my Paiste cymbals and DW drums on almost every gig and every recording. My bass drum kicks ass on the record. You’ll hear them on the new album coming out.

Daniel Sassoon , guitars, Electrico

If you're talking about gear I can't live without, it means it's something I use all the time - correct no?

This would be the humble guitar pick. Not any other pick, but a Kradl pick! (Link here.)

It's a smallish pick. It has to be ordered directly from them, but the clincher is it has a stepped ledge at the edge so it grips perfectly. It never slips or rotates, and it's extremely comfortable for rhythms and leads. Its small size and slightly sharpened narrow tip makes it great for accurate picking and can help you negotiate extremely fast passages with ease and accuracy.

Initially, it felt a tad weird as I never used a smallish pick before, and because of the stepped ledge I had to get used to holding the pick in a slightly different way. But the maker Russ assured me that was normal... within a day or 2 I couldn't think of using any other pick. I'd tried all sorts of picks to see if I could find something better than the normal medium sized flat ones - sharkfin picks, picks made from various materials, Mio Speed Picks, Dunlop Jazz III, Dava pick with the flexible centre - all had their flaws. Some were great for speed picking but terrible for rhythm work - others the opposite. Some just felt awkward and strange.

Kradls are cool, unusual looking, and yellow. That makes it good enough for me.

I'm just really happy I discovered Kradls - now how do I get myself a lifetime supply?

Dharma S. , guitars and vocals, West Grand Boulevard

My Spectraflex cable is a purple cable that you'll probably spot somewhere near my amp or by my side at every gig.

It's very clear, very transparent and easily the most reliable and solidly built cable I've ever played. I used to use Monster Cables but Spectraflex is way better. I used to have a longer, white Spectraflex cable but it got stolen at a gig, which was totally not cool.

I've used this all the way since college and it's survived cold winters and hot summers and lots of international travel over the past 7 years which is no easy feat for most cables. These days I'm using a custom Canare cable as my main cable because it's longer, but I always have the Spectraflex with me as backup. I've used it at live shows and on some of the tracks on the album. Haha, bet you didn't think I'd rave about something as mundane as a cable, right?!

Han Quan , drums, Auburn’s Epiphany

I guess it could be my Lars Ulrich snare cause it’s really loud.

Erik Evangelista , guitars, West Grand Boulevard

I can't live without my Boss TU-2 tuner.

I think this is THE pedal to have. Being in tune shows you're serious about your performance but being able to mute your signal and tune your guitar shows you're being professional.

I can't live without all my pedals, of course, but the TU-2 is the pedal I'd use in front ANY pedal chain.

Timothy Tan , guitars, Localbarboy, bass, highrise

"Living without" is unfortunately what I am doing now, as my favourite gear is being repaired. It is the Wiggler - An all-tube tremolo and vibrato guitar pedal from Electro Harmonix.

I love the organic feel that tremolos and vibratos add to a guitar tone. When set at low intensity, the Wiggler adds a subtle pulse that seems to give life and emotion to the guitar... much like when a human voice trembles. At high intensity and rate, the choppiness of the Wiggler is great for adding characteristics of assertion and haste to the music. To top it off, its 2 vacuum tubes yield a wonderfully warm tone.

When Localbarboy covered ‘Blank Chord’ by The Pagans, the Wiggler was made to palpitate during each chorus.

Simon Yong , guitars, Zero Sequence

It’d be my sexy 7-String Electric Guitar.

Don't you think the low notes give a certain sexiness? Imagine this hot and sexy lady speaks in her low deep voice. I'm not talking about a transvestite!

I use it for both live performances and recording. Sometimes the low B can get a bit problematic when it comes to note clarity. Hmmm... Or maybe the problem lies with the way I positioned my fingers on her? Anyway, trust me, she's fun to play with!

Bob , guitars, Spooning With Satan

Far more than my pink customized Bob-signature BC Rich Warlord, my Mesa Boogie Quadruple Rectifier and my 8x20” stacks, I cannot live or play without my mojo.

My mojo is perhaps the most important thing that I have going for me. Playing in a death-country band requires more than dexterity and technicality as compared to my previous projects. When I’m bleeding demi-demi-semi-quavers on my fretboard or coaxing ghostly microtones with my slide, it’s my mojo guiding me all along.

You can hear it most clearly at work on ‘The Ballad Of Sally Yoshino’ and ‘Kobe Tai Takes 5’ on our debut album We Are Going Straight To Uranus. Feel it! Feel my mojo!