Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone Guitar Rig Challenge: Dan vs Mick

Published 14 Aug 2020

He chooses an unfamiliar rig for me, I choose one for him… now let’s make some songs and music videos!

Life too short for long YouTube videos? Please see the ‘Interesting bits and go-to sections’ information below.

Comfort Zones. Hmmm. Dan and I often get accused of being in our own ‘comfort zones’ fairly regularly on this show. That’s to say being in a place of over-familiarity and complacency with the kind of gear we use and the noises we make. What this means in may peoples’ opinions is that creativity and experimentation are inhibited. For the record, neither of us really feels like that at all – it’s hard enough finding time to be in //any// musical zone, let along a comfortable one! – but in the interests of at least addressing the question, we decided to give ourselves a challenge. Woop!
Thusly, in this episode Dan and I choose rigs for one another to deliberately move us away from our perceived comfort zones. We start by feeling out the choices as a first impression, before heading off to each make music tracks and, erm, videos.
Some viewers may wish the choices were more ‘extreme’. For sure all the gear here is within the collective comfort zone of TPS as a whole. One step at a time, perhaps.
Enjoy the episode!

Pedals & stuff in this episode
Dan’s gear chosen by Mick:

• Analog Man Maxon SD-9


• Jam Pedals Wahcko Wah
UK & Europe:
Australia:

• Death By Audio Rooms
UK & Europe:

• Gibson Memphis 1958 ES-335 - Mick’s video at

• Mesa/Boogie California Tweed 6V6 4:40 1 x 12 combo
UK & Europe:
USA:


Mick’s gear. Chosen by Dan

• Emanating Fist Electronics Dope Priest - No longer made

• Tsakalis Audio Works Phonkify


• Chase Bliss Audio Blooper
UK & Europe:
Australia:

• Fender EOB Sustainer Stratocaster - Dan’s video at
UK & Europe:
USA:

• Tone King Imperial MkII & 112 cab
UK & Europe:
USA: Head:
Cab:


Why do we have preferred retailer links? Find out here:


Interesting bits and go-to sections
- Intro and the rules: 00:00
- Dan’s choices for Mick: 01:40
- Analog Man / Maxon OD9 for Dan: 02:41
- Dope Priest and Blooper for Mick: 04:11
- Rooms Reverb / Wahcko Wah for Dan: 05:55
- Mick board signal chain: 08:00
- Guitar choices for Dan & Mick: 10:30
- Amp choice for Mick: 12:31
- Amp choice for Dan: 13:30
- Reveal the boards!: 14:15
- Reveal the guitars!: 21:28
- First tone impressions, Dan: 24:10
- First tone impressions, Mick: 31:27
- Dan’s track vlog: 37:54
- Dan’s track and video: 45:15
- Mick’s track vlog: 47:39
- Mick’s track and video: 55:50
- Track and video reactions: 58:38
- Quiet recorded sounds?: 1:01:49
- Dan’s thoughts on the ES-335 & Rooms: 1:04:05
- Mick’s thoughts on Blooper: 1:06:21
- What about the EOB Strat?: 1:08:00
- Mick’s thoughts on comfort zones: 1:09:34

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