Guitar Gear

I’ve never hid from the fact that I own Aracom gear, and as I’ve said in My Rig page, I’m a faithful customer who just digs the stuff that Jeff Aragaki, Aracom’s founder, comes up with. I’ve extolled the wonders of his attenuator, the PRX150-Pro, and I’ve mentioned my Aracom amps, the VRX18, VRX22, and PLX18BB several times.

One thing I’ve learned over the years with respect to gear is that you go with what works for you, and my Aracom gear simply works for me! In fact, my Aracom equipment has had a lot to do with me using less pedals, and relying on the raw sound of my guitar and amps; especially when I’m playing straight rock and roll.

I have yet to play a bad-sounding Aracom amp. When they’re cranked to the hilt, they have such an incredible mojo that’s just too hard to describe. Of course, I couldn’t crank them without the PRX150-Pro attenuator. No matter, there’s magic in Jeff’s creations! To demonstrate this magic, I’m going to share an excerpt from a song that I’m working on. I just finished laying down the instrument parts. Give it a listen:

The rhythm part is played with my Squier CV Tele in the middle switch position, and running straight into Channel 2 of the PLX18BB, which was cranked up all the way. Talk about cranked Marshall-esque tones! It sounds even better live! The lead was recorded with my Gibson Nighthawk 2009 into my VRX22. Master was at 3pm and Volume was at 2pm. This setting gives me a sweet, singing lead voicing that sustains for days due to the awesome solid-state sag circuit! Again, the guitar was plugged straight into the amp – no frills whatsoever. I did add some reverb to both parts, but other than that, that the raw sound of the guitars/amps with no EQ. Pretty killer tones!!!

To top it off, both parts were recorded at bedroom level as both amps ran into the PRX150-Pro! We’re talking conversation level, so if you heard some transient clicks in the clip, it’s stuff that was making noise in my garage/studio!

You gotta check this stuff out. Jeff is a true wizard with amps! Both the VRX amps start at $895, while the PLX18BB combo starts at $1750 ($1350 for the head only). If you’re after vintage Marshall tone at a non-vintage price, you owe it to yourself to check out these amps!