I am a singer/songwriter that made the transition from actor/director/playwright to change my focus from 10-minute, one-act and full length plays to musical plays that last about 4 minutes. I play in and around the Boston and what's referred to as the MetroWest area of Massachusetts. I'm a proud owner of Babicz, Martin, Garrison, Samick, Washburn and Saga acoustic and electric guitars. My influences (meaning the people I'd like to be able to play like some day) are Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, David Wilcox and my very talented friend Eric Schwartz..

I've started back to the studio but that project is going to take a whlie to complete. I wanted to give people a chance to hear some of the newer songs I've been writing and playing out, so I've self produced a live CD based upon a gig I did opening for a great local singer/songwriter name Don White at the Amazing Firehouse in Framingham, MA. I put my Zoom H2 in the back of the house and that was the start of the CD you see above. It's a humber little recording, and a bit uneven in recording quality, but I hope you enjoy it.

You can check out some of my music on my MySpace page.

Babicz ID-JRW-O6E
I had played this guitar in NYC and when a friend picked up it's little brother on EBay for less than $600 I was in. I had to sell some other gear to justify it, but it was worth it!

Jumbo Rosewood – Six String
Model: ID-JRW-O6E
List: $1795

**All Babicz guitars use standard length strings so feel free to use your favorite brand**

icZ Acoustic system for increased dynamic response

Solid Rosewood back and sides
Solid Spruce soundboard
Bound Continually Adjustable mahogany neck
Rosewood headstock overlay
Rosewood Torque Reducing Split Bridge (adjustable)
Rosewood String Retainer
Satin finish top and neck
Gloss finish back and sides
Black/white/black binding

1-11/16" nut width
25.5" scale length
17" lower bout

Two-Way truss rod
Grover tuners-sealed
Black tuners, string anchors & trap plate
NuBone TM Nut
NuBone TM Compensated Saddle
20 polished frets

L.R. Baggs iMix Onboard

Squier 51 by Fender

I didn't get much for Christmas this year and my wife told me to get something for myself. Musician's Friend was having a close out on these Squier's. I don't have a professionally made solid body electric, and I thought it would be neat, and for $99 is was a steal. It needs a good setup, but it's a nice servicable axe for less than hundred bucks

Lotus Bass

I bought a red Lotus Bass at a pawn shop in Worcester, MA for $100. I can't find much information on it, but it's just for adding a little favor to home recordings. I can't even find a picture of it, but its looks like this Fender bass with a slightly different head stock.

Garrison G 20CE

So I turned 40 and my wonderful wife told me I should get something for myself that would help me remember the occasion, and you know what that means!!! Yep, another member of the fleet. This is another all solid wood guitar. I was actually going to get an all mahogany Martin D15 CE dreadnaught from Union Music in Worcester, but I had played a Garrison AG series in a shop up in Vermont and thought it was really nice, so I decided to take a look at their all sapele version. The thing about Garrisons is that they are made with glass-fiber bracing, making them easier to build and very resonant. The only place that I could find them in my area was Centre Music in Framingham. They only had the G-20 and G-25 lines. I thought I might as well check them out and was amazed at the playability and VOLUME of the G-20. It's pretty astounding. Plus, it was $589.99 with a hard case! That's more astounding. I went back and played the Martin, but having one already and the "coolness" factor of the Garrison was too much to resist. My teacher Peter was very impressed by "Mr. Garrison" and has already told some of his friends to check them out. The guitar did have a cosmetic issue with some squeeze-out of glue at the fretboard joint, but that's being taken care of. Good customer service by the nice people at Centre Music.

Here's something funny. I found out this guitar had a problem with the neck and had to send it back to the factory to be repaired. Well, Garrison had some issues with managing repairs and it took them 3 1/2 months to put my guitar through all the channels and then when they shipped it back to Centre Music they got a surprise from FedEx. My guitar was returned. Or, should I say the pieces of my guitar were returned to Garrison. Yep, FedEx destroyed my guitar. Well, long story short they made me a new guitar and it's great. It's become my main guitar for playing out. Plus, I got a t-shirt! I'm easy to please.

What Garrison has to say

Why not start with undeniable value? We use only SOLID Canadian Birch for the back and sides. Beautiful looking, with outstanding contribution to tone. Add a SOLID Cedar top, with its rich coloring and inspired visual warmth... and our G-20 sets a new standard in its price point.

OE40 Hollowbody Electric Guitar

The latest addition to the fleet. I was at a Mark Erelli show at Club Passim with my wife and some friends. Mark had an older gentleman playing a big Gibson hollow body. My wife commented on how much she loved the sound of it and even said that I should get a guitar like that. Now I'm not a jazz or bluegrass player, and probably never will be, but I thought that it would be fun to have a hollow body. So, I did a little looking around and Musician's Friend had this Oscar Schmidt by Washburn on sale for $199. How could I go wrong? Well, I ordered and and took it to Union Music to have the guys there check it out. They said it probably came out of the same factory as the Samick that they were selling for $600. While the OE-40 isn't as cleanly constructed as the Samick, it's still a heck of a guitar for 1/3 of the price. Bob at Union strung is up for me and set the intonation and I played it for a while and found some fret-buzz. I brought it into Dave a Union for a full setup. He glued down some frets, polished and leveled them, did some neck and pick-up adjustments and I now have a really nice jazz axe. I do find that I'm playing this big hollow body a lot differently than I do my accoustics, but that's why I got it.

The interesting thing is that I did a little reseach and found that this guitar is most likely the same guitar as a Samick HJ-650, which was their top of the line hollow body before Greg Bennett came and redesigned the line.

Here's what Musician's Friend and the Oscar Schmidt site say about it.

A sweet-toned jazz box for the old-school and new-school player.

Washburn Eliminator Jazz Series pickups deliver warm, vintage tone enhanced by the maple top, back, and sides. Appointments include pearl inlays on the rosewood fingerboard and snazzy gold hardware. This baby delivers looks and tone all out of scale with its diminutive price.

Features:

• Eliminator Jazz Series pickup
• Maple top, back, and sides
• Pearl inlays on the rosewood fingerboard
• Full bodied jazz guitar
• Gold Grover tuners
• Pearl fingerboard inlay
• Adjustable rosewood bridge
• Fully adjustable neck
• High gloss tobacco sunburst or natural finish
• Limited lifetime warranty
• List Price $499.90

Saga TC-10 Telecaster Copy Kit

Here's an uncoming project. My wife got me this kit for about $72 from Ebay. I'm excited about putting it together, but have to wait for consistently nice weather to paint the body. I hear once assembled they play OK and that I can upgrade the tuners, pups etc if necessary. Again, this will be my only solid body electric and it's more for the joy of building it then any real need. I'll post pictures of the final product once it's done.

And it's done! It sure looked a lot easier when it was in the box. I decided to leave it natural and put about 6 coats of polyurethane on it. I started with satin, but switched over to semi-gloss. I had to redrill about half the tuner holes and enlarge the 1/4 inch hole that connected the bridge pick-up cavity to the control cavity. I also had to replace the ground wire, as it was too short. The finish is still a bit rough, but it's OK for a $72 dollar FauxCaster. I didn't even finish stringing it when I decided to take it down to Dave at Union Music for a proper setup. As I was showing it to one of the guys done there, the guitar slipped out of his hands and landed on the corner of a display cabinet. The poor guy was miserable. Dave got rid of all the damage except for one fairly deep ding and I got strings and setup for free. The guys at Union are great. The neck pickup is a little weak, but overall it sounds pretty darn good. Some day I might replace the tuners and pick-ups, but for now they're just fine.

The Martin 000C-16GTE Premium

This is a my first all solid wood guitar. I think of it as my investment guitar that I'll keep until it's stolen or I get hit by a bus carrying it from an open mic. I traded in my Samick Worthington Jumbo at Union Music. It was a close call between this and a 2003 Taylor 314CE with a retro-fit Expression system, but the Martin sound just won me over. I hope that this guitar inspires me to become good enough to validate owning it.

From the Martin website:

The Samick Loredo D 16 CE

This was my second guitar purchase. I'm a big fan of Samick. They make quality guitars that are great for all levels of players. Great sound. Quality construction and solid electronics. Flat out a great instrument. Plus, you should see the looks on people's faces when you tell them it's under $400.

From the Samick website:

It is wonderful when that which has a seriously functional purpose can be made to look beautiful. Instead of just raw utility, it takes on an element of art. Binding has always served the dual roll of protecting the edges of the guitar and covering the end grain of the top, sides, and back. A plastic type material has always served this purpose well, until builders realized that they could accomplish the same thing in a much more natural way, with maple. The maple trim gives the guitar a very special character that just invites you to sit down and play.The pick guard is also crafted of the same wood as the back of the guitar.The maple binding, rosewood pick guard, rosewood head stock overlay, and abalone rosette make the LAREDO™ a true feast for the senses.

To give the Laredo the powerful voice that players expect, we used a solid cedar top and rosewood sides and back.This combination produces exceptional power in the lo- mids, full harmonics, and a very evenly balanced sound.

D 16 CE FEATURES

• Solid quarter sawn cedar top
• Rosewood back and sides
• Scalloped braces
• Slotted square fret markers
• 6 ply maple binding
• Gold Grover™ tuners
• Dreadnought cutaway
• Acoustic/electric with Fishman® Classic 4 band EQ

Rogue RM-100A Mandolin

This was a gift from my wife this 2005 Christmas. I thought that learning a little bit about playing the mandolin would be fun, but didn't want to go crazy. This Rogue RM-100A mandolin is good enough to learn some basics. It came with a book and my wife hunted down a DVD as well. Plus, it was only about $30.

Rogue RM-100A A-Style Mandolin Features:

• Maple neck
• Rosewood fingerboard
• Adjustable compensated rosewood bridge
• 12th-fret neck joint
• Chrome tuning machines
• Nickel-plated frets
• High-gloss finish

Washburn Rover RO10

This is a great travel guitar. I looked at Martin Backpackers and the like, but this seemed to be the best combination of sound, playability and utility. I've taken it on a number of trips and I don't know what's more fun, playing it or the look on peoples faces when I tell them my carry-on is a guitar. Plus, it cost $149, not bad for something so small yet so playable.

• Full size 24" scale
• Solid spruce top
• Mahogany body and neck
• Rosewood fingerboard
• Quality geared tuners
• Professional binding and inlay
• Equipped with Vinci 800XL strings (Vinci 552 on RO20)
• Comes complete with the highest quality cordura case with hard foam lined, molded interior
• Internal and external storage pockets
• Backpack and luggage straps
• 3 D dings are used for straps or luggage clip ons
• Sized to fit airline overhead storage
  

Kustom Profile1 PA System

Alright, I didn't need it. I even told my wife that I wasn't going to buy it...twice. But you know when that ebay auction is running down and it's an unbelievable price? Yep, my name is Rob and I have an eBay problem. I got the whole set up, including the wheeled bag, stands and a BIG Kustom Subwoofer from the DWN-PS510 Speaker System for $280. Yep, that's a $500 to $600 PA for $280. The only reason I got a such a great deal is that the gentleman that was selling it was from Berlin, CT and didn't want to ship it. Plus, he had just bought the new BOSE system, so he needed cash fast to keep his marriage intact. ;-) So, while I don't think I'll ever live down this irrational purchase to my highly supportive and understanding wife (I did tell her twice that I would "never" use it) I'm happy with my mad bargain purchase. Now I just need to find a venue to play that doesn't have an in-house PA.

From the Kustom website

Kustom's Profile System One, a 24-bit digital, portable, and powerful, 100-watt P.A. System.

Profile's 100 watts of power and the focused audio dispersion pattern of the Line Array speakers enable the system to reach deeper into the audience - giving your message clarity and attention. You can bet they're going to hear what you have to say.

The more you use your Profile System One, the more you'll appreciate it's comforting, compact size and incredibly big sound.

Acoustic guitarists will love the contoured instrument input, especially when you add a hint of hall reverb into your mix.

Four balanced XLR inputs, with phantom power, allow you to use every type of microphone available, even condenser mics for use with pianos and other hard-to-mic instruments.

Five line level inputs - enough to accommodate every keyboard, drum machine, and sampler you own.

Connect youre favorite outboard pedal or rack effect into Profile's effect bus and simultaneously use Profile's digital effects.

Lastly, the integrated, ergonomic carry handles and the compact design of the line array cabinets make stage setup and tear down a breeze. Simply load everything you need into the optional Profile System One roller bag and get to the stage with ease

Here's a bunch of misc. gear I have including recording mics, live mics, digital recorders, practice tools etc.

Intelli IMT-500 Clip-On Tuner I like this tuner better than my Intellituner, plus it's backlit for only $30.

ZOOM A2 Acoustic Effect Pedal This was a gift from my wife and I'm thrilled with it. It was great guitar sounds, a chromatic tuner and a non-cheezy drum machine. Plus, it's $99. GET IT!!!!

	ZOOM PS04 Palmtop Studio I bought this digital 4-track recorder and have played around with it to do some quick and dirty recording, but I haven't gotten nearly good enough with it to test its limits. A very cool tool.
	PG58 - Vocal Microphone My best live mic. A good deal for Shure quality. Lots of power and projection.
	MXL MXL990/MXL991 Recording Mic Package I bought these to start recording. I haven't used the small instument mic yet, but the vocal mic seems to do a solid job. I'm not experienced enough yet to give a qualified review, but I'm working on it.
	Behringer XM8500 Microphone I bought a couple of these when I got my new PA. I figured that I should have some mics for backup vocals or duets. The online reviews say this is a good mic at an unbelievable price. I used them at my first open mic feature and they sounded great.
	Alesis PlayMate Guitarist - Guitar Effects Processor and CD Player This is a great practice tool. You can change tempo without changing pitch and vice versa. Plus it has all kinds of effects. I tried the Tascam one and it took me 5 minutes with the manual to slow down tempo and then I couldn't figure out how to do it again, and I have an Electrical Engineering degree. The PlayMate doesn't make me think about how it works, it just does.
	Behringer Eurorack UB802 This is nice little mixer I use for recording. For about $50 it's just right for my home use
	audio-technica ATM63HE Dynamic Mic OK, I feel like I really got a deal here. This was on sale for $50 at the Guitar Center Memorial Day blowout. Music123 sells it for $168.99. Another great deal on something I don't really need!!! This is supposed to be great for both instruments and vocals, but I've only tested it on instruments so far.
	Dean DA 30-4 Acoustic Amp
	Tascam US-122 Audio Interface After using my built-in sound card for recording I decided to improve my sound quality. I got this online for $154 and just starting using it. The recording of Won't You Come Home was done in 1 take using this and my MXL 990 mic.
	Planetwaves Chordmaster This is neat. I picked it up off the bargain table at Guitar Center for $5. It has a touch screen and 4000 chord voicings. Very cool when you're trying to find a different voicing down the neck.
	Hohner Piedmont Blues 7-Harmonica Pack with Case Another Christmas gift from my wife. I figured harmonica would take a moment to learn and a lifetime to master, so I'd get a cheap set of harps to screw around with, about $20 from Musician's Friend.

Software

I'm doing some home recording and starting playing with some pretty neat software. Here's a breakdown.

	Kristal Audio Engine I've started to use the Kristal Audio Engine. It's not Pro Tools, but then again....it's free. It's going to take a while for me to learn all the ins and outs, but it's a great place to start.
	MasterWriter This is an amazing tool for songwriters. I'm using the 30-day demo, but will be buying it without a doubt. It has a text-processor that links into a rhyming dictionary that works on both words and phrases, a pop culture reference guide and a...well, about everything you need to break your writers block. Check it out.
	Acoustica Beatcraft Need to lay down some drum tracks for little cash? Beatcraft is simple to use and cheap. I got it on sale for $19.95, but it usually sells for $39.95. It's very nice and simple enough for even me to use.
	Cubase LE I got this software with my Tascam US-122. It seems very powerful and I used it to record Won't You Come Home.
	Audacity Audacity is another freeware audio editor. I've tried it for some work projects and it's very easy to use and I'm going to try to get it working with my new Tascam US-122.

n-Track Studio 5 This is what I use. It's $50 and has more power than I'll probably ever need.

Listed below is gear that has been cleared out, overtaken-by-events, put up for adoption...call it what you will. The point is that there is only so much room in the house and budget, and sometimes something has got to go for something different to come in. I'll miss all my gear, but I know that somewhere it's helping someone else make music.

The Samick Worthington J 5 CE

I no longer have this guitar, as it was traded in to make space for my new Martin. It was a very nice guitar, but I had to thin the herd. I'll leave it up here to remember the music I got to learn with it.

My first quality guitar. I traded in a Ibanez Performance acoustic for this jumbo. Well, traded it in with some extra cash tossed in. I was looking at other brands, but trying to stay within a budget I went to Union Music in Worcester, MA and one of the guys that worked there suggested I look at the Samicks. I played a bunch but kept coming back to this jumbo. The thing was, it didn't have a price tag. After I decided I wanted it I asked what it would cost. I was shocked to find out it was $269. After buying a case, strap, capo etc, I got a great guitar with all the fixin's for well under $500.

From the Samick website:

The WORTHINGTON™ series acoustics have a solid spruce top, in a package with striped mahogany sides and back for clarity and balance. Mahogany may be the best overall wood if you need an evenly balanced sound.The balance lets the serious player determine the tone by the way he plays the guitar.The soft corner bridge design helps prevent finish cracking at the corners. Grover™ tuners round out a truly professional package.

J 5 CE FEATURES

• Solid Sitka spruce top
• Striped, wine red mahogany back and sides
• 5 ply cream binding
• Grover™ tuners
• Jumbo cutaway
• Acoustic/electric with EQT-2010 4 band active EQ with built-in tuner

Takamine EG501S

I got this guitar at Union Music in Worcester. I traded in my project Samick Worthington and my Dean 30 Watt acoustic amp and some cash from a winning Superbowl square. It's a really sweet little guitar that is obviously meant for finger picking. I'm hoping it will inspire me to improve in that area. It was used, but didn't have a mark on it, and for $350 it was a nice deal.

What Takamine says about it:

6 String Acoustic / Electric

Samick Worthington D5 w/after market Artec pre-amp and pickup

I traded this guitar in for my Takamine. It was a fun project though and I hope the next person that owns it enjoys it.

For fun I thought I'd find a nice, inexpensive dreadnaught and install a preamp and a pickup. I looked on Ebay and found a Samick Worthington D5. It was a second with a minor headstock blemish with an opening bid of $129. I wasn't going to spend that on a project guitar, but I used the "Best Offer" feature to put in a crazy bid of $90. A half hour later I got the confirmation that I owned it. I also got an Artec AG-TN preamp w/tuner and pickup on Ebay for $57. All that was left was calling my friend Matt Lindi, guitar gay extraordinaire and install it. We had a few hick-ups, but got it done. We munged the saddle a bit, but it worked. We conditioned the fretboard that was very dry and that should have given it away. I took it down to Union Music to have Dave Dick set it up. Upon checking it out, Dave to me it was too dry to even try a setup. Well, after 90 days in humidifying solitary confinement Dave put in a new saddle and it plays very nicely. I played it at Matt's open mic with two new songs and a new strap and all performed admirably.

This is another victim of the Takamine. I wasn't using it as I have my Kustom PA, so off it went.

This was the gift I got for myself with a royalty check from some of my plays. I love my when hobby funds another. It was $199 from Union Music. It's targeted for acoustics, but I use it for my hollow body electric as well and it sounds great.

• 30 Watts
• Four 5" Speakers
• Reverb
• 1 Mic Input
• 2 Instrument Inputs
• Active EQ