gear

My most important and favourite instrument is the Yamaha TRBX-304 in Candy Apple Red. Truly beautiful and much better built than a lot of significantly pricier instruments I've seen. It has been through a lot with me and still works flawlessly. I have D'Addario Flatwound strings on it because I like the feel of them and the fact that you basically never have to change them

My main guitar is the Fender Jazzmaster Troy Van Leeuwen signature in a beautiful "Oxblood" color

I also still own my first guitar, which is a black Squier Telecaster Deluxe

The guitars or bass are plugged into the following pedalboard:

The signal goes into the Boss NS-2 noise gate. The loop output goes to the Harley Benton Custom Line Dual Loop Switch. This is a cheap device for splitting the signal into 2 parallel paths. Due to the Harley Benton cheapness, these signals are not completely independent of each other, which leads to unpredictable, chaotic sounds when both loops are used at once, but both loops are on at the same time only when playing something weird and chaotic, so it's okay. By using this dual loop, I can transition between "clean" (i.e., nothing), "clean 2" (i.e., chorus), "gain" (gain stage), and a chaotic combination of chorus and gain just by stomping on it

In the first loop, there is only the Electro Harmonix Small Clone, the old, big one. It is a classic, no-nonsense chorus with very minimal controls

In the second loop, there is first the Electro Harmonix Pitch Fork, useful for whammy-type sounds (it would be better at this if I also owned an expression pedal, but it's not that important), and for Royal Blood-type sounds, depending on the setting. Then it goes to the Boss SD-1 and Electro Harmonix Nano Bass Big Muff. I usually use them together; the Big Muff alone sounds good, but when it is boosted beforehand by a mild overdrive, it reaches its true potential. Sometimes I also use the SD-1 alone for more vintage sounds

The signal from both loops goes out through the dual loop outputs back to the NS-2, completing the loop. Then it goes to the Walrus Audio Fathom reverb. It has quite extensive modulation capabilities, but what I like most about it is the classic plate.

The last effect in the chain is the Mooer Prime P1. A portable multi-effect which, in case of a trip/rehearsal where I don't want to drag the rest along, can work independently, and on batteries to boot. It has pretty decent versions of all the basic effects. In combination with the pedalboard, it is used for: delays and other effects that I don't have, and amp sims. It is also a tuner and a looper (with an external controller). It connects via Bluetooth with a phone, so I can easily play a backing track

In the home configuration, the signal from the P1 goes to the Universal Audio Volt interface, to which headphones and a computer are connected. Thanks to this solution, starting to play, despite such a complex setup, is as simple as possible: just turn on the pedalboard's power strip, turn on the P1, plug the cable into the guitar, and put on headphones (DT 770). Now I can play along with music from the computer, or record myself into FL Studio (more in the software section)

Because I am a good neighbor, my Fender Rumble 25 amplifier is not used in the apartment. I take it with me to rehearsals. I get the amp sounds from the P1 and FL Studio anyway, so the Rumble is just a good clean speaker, unnecessary when I'm playing on headphones

The pedalboard is powered by two Harley Benton Powerplant power supplies. They are modular, so they could be connected together, but currently, two cables go to the power strip, plus possibly a regular USB charger for the P1. In a rehearsal-concert scenario, I additionally need one more cable for the amp, so I potentially use up to 4 sockets, which is why I always carry my own power strip with me

I only play with Jazz III picks because they are the best. Additionally, I have a glass slide and an Ebow

The first instrument I played was the Casio CTK-7200, I still own it but it's pretty much retired; I exceeded its capabilities with my piano skills a long time ago. That's why I have the Casio PX-S6000

I own an Arturia Minifreak Stellar Edition synthesizer and a PO-32 Tonic mini drum machine