My Rig: Diet Cig

Precision Drum Company Birdseye Maple – 14” x 6.5” Snare Drum

I love playing this snare! I picked it up at my father’s drum shop, CHBO Drums, in New Paltz, NY. I used a still drum for years to get that loud, hit-you-in-the-face sound. As we started to play bigger venues, with proper sound systems, I wanted to upgrade to a wood snare. The birdseye maple snare was awesome from the first hit! With a size of 6.5” deep, it allowed me to still have the ability to push a lot of air through, and still have an awesome tone. Can’t play a gig without it!

Meinl Byzance Tradition Ride 20”

I’ve gone through a number of ride cymbals to land on this one. The 20” size is a great feel to alternate from crashing or lighter play on it. there a lot of nuance in the tone when played lightly, but it also can have a wide/full sound when I’m trying to push through the big parts in the songs. The versatility between a “crash” and a “ride cymbal” is great for the way I like to play!

ALEX

Custom Reverend Warhawk 

I loooove this guitar! It was custom made for me by Reverend, they make the most beautiful instruments. I had tried a few of their models before this one but I was truly dead set on a single neck humbucker with a set neck build, real simple, and they made it happen. I have one in Lavender and Light Blue, they sound so thick and heavy but still retain that clarity everyone’s looking for. The neck is so nice to play on, it’s pretty thick but I find that to be more comfortable to play on than a super thin neck. Also they just look freaking sick! I love that I get to play something a little extra special. 

Fulltone Fulldrive 2 

This pedal is an overdrive and a boost and I probably use it the most. It’s one of my most essential pieces of gear, I love the tone of the drive and the boost really widens it out, it doesn’t just make it louder. I use this one on every chorus, rock out part, shreddy interlude, all of it. I used to use a Full Drive OCD, it was my first overdrive pedal and when I graduated to this one it was like a whole new world. It just works for me, I love it. 

Fender Bassman 100 Head

My first ever amp head, and definitely still my favorite. It’s so beefy and has so much power, which was nice when we were consistently touring as a two piece. I typically play out of this with a Fender 2×12 cab and it really has that perfect balance of grit and clarity. I often play with a few amps on stage but I always dial in my tone with this one first and then supplement with everything else, I feel like this head really brings it all and is totally my Holy Grail of live amps. Here’s a pic of it by Alex Pugliese with my other amp, the super towering Dual Showman head with a 2×15 cab… That guy is almost taller than me!!