Graham Young's Equipment

Since early 2005 I have been playing 7 string guitars almost exclusively. My main instrument is a Carvin DC747 with a Carvin DC727 in reserve. Carvin's are head and shoulders above most instruments available in the UK on virtually all counts and their list of endorsees speaks for itself. The more of their instruments I play the more impressed I become.

Built in March 2005 this has a mahogany neck and body with a figured walnut top. This has had certain modifications to my taste. The main one is probably the fitting of the Buzz Feiten Tuning System. The intonation on Carvins is exceptional but I'm a tuning freak and wanted something better. Check the website for more info. I also had Graphtech Stringsaver saddles fitted at the same time. They improve tone and sustain and I have them installed on all my guitars. I also had Tim at Bareknuckle pickups rewind both humbuckers. I've kept the original in the front position but the rear one is based on his EVII design. The guitar is extremely versatile and can produce a wide range of tones.

Totally stock if one can use the term in regard to Carvins. Flame maple top, alder body and big, big frets. It play's unbelievably well and stays in tune even without the locking nut aided no doubt by the fact that I use "perfect" tuning. This has currently got Swineshead Pickups in it. They're purple and there's a HT7 at the bridge and a CL7 in the neck position. Check out their website to hear me playing this instrument. www.swinesheadpickups.co.uk

Makes sounds no other guitar I've played has before. I have gig recordings where you'd swear it was a soprano sax for a phrase or two. If only I could work out how I (it?) did it! Dubbed "Purple Kitty".

This one's currently being stripped by Ben at Beej guitar repairs. Once that's done it'll be tung oiled.

All the Carvins are strung with Newtone handwound strings gauged 10 to 66 and tuned B, E, A, D, G, C, F i.e. Perfect 4ths. I'm currently trying out some roundcore sets they sent me.

An old squire strat with the frets removed. The slots were filled with veneers and then the fretboard was levelled off and sanded smooth. It has no name humbucker in the front position and an Allan Holdsworth Ibanez humbucker in the rear at the moment. It's all over the solo albums and it's what I used to play the main melody of "Blues for Nita" on NTWICF. Nowadays it tuned from low B in 4ths up to C.

It's a seven string acoustic. What more is there to say? Acoustically not in the same league as the Faith but it's nice playing open chords with that low B string.

I run this in stereo with the output of the pedal board going directly into the power section of the amp. All the stereo effects are therefore pristine and descernably stereo.These amps are reknowned for their clean power and reliability.

RMC3 Wah Handmade by some crazy american dude. The best there is and I know because I've tried all the rest. Not cheap but worth every penny. Fully tunable via a bank of dip switches and potentiometers. This is particularly useful for recording as it can get the best sound for the particular piece.

Very powerful processor unit with unique features like the 3D pedal and built in 12ax7 tubes. This allowed me to dispense with the behringer ultragain preamp which lived at the front end of my previous rigs. The two tubes have been replaced with high quality cryogenically treated valves from Watford Valves. These improve the sound immensely. The other cool thing about this unit is the high sample rate/bit depth which makes it very responsive to touch and also allows the EQ to work all the way up to 20Khz. The harmonics section of the eq really allows for Hi-Fi sounding chorused cIean sounds. I could do with a week off to find out exactly what this thing is capable off.

Tracks are recording using the follow kit. Either the Zoom G9 or G7, the Yamaha DG Stomp or an old Zoom GFX-5 feed the power amp section of a Peavey 5150 head. The 5150 is also loaded with cryogenically treated tubes. They make a noticeable difference to the sound. This then drives a Randall isolation cab loaded with a celestion vintage 30.

This is then miced up using Sennheiser E609's, and Audix D4 or even an Shure SM52. Pretty much anything but the usual SM57's. This is the current setup I'm using but I have several other recording solutions including the Holdsworth Juice extractor.