Get your signature design

Sometimes some of us have a piece of gear that we love beyond all other pieces of gear. For me it’s not necessarily because it’s the best, it’s often because of a personal connection I have with it… the guitar I saved up all summer for as a kid, the first half stack I bought…. the feeling that now my gear looked like what my favourite guitarists played, which pushed me to practise and get better. I loved that setup then and over 25 years later I still do, because it was part of my musical journey. I feel that gear is part of me, it’s part of my identity as a guitarist and having gear that you connect with is really important, that’s what makes us keep it and learn how to use it effectively. It’s not a bad thing to try and capture some of this magic.

Now a lot of you will be saying that’s not true, I don’t care how it looks, and you might think that, but how many players lust over brands like Gibson, Fender and Marshall knowing that better alternatives are out there and often for less money. That’s branding, it’s a condition most humans have, the visual signalling that we are of a certain group, that we do things a certain way. Branding is the willingness to pay more money for an item because it is made by a certain company.

To all of us the most important part should be the sound. That’s exactly why I built this site. The main three determining factors in building a cab should be cab type, back panel and speakers but if looks is the cherry on the cake then it is still important. Being able to home in on what the different aspects of the cab does and personalise them to you is super important. The first three parts aren’t a visual signal, the fourth part is.

Now we’re lucky, not only can we have a choice of the guitar cab we use…… shape, size, construction and speakers…. most manufacturers will give us control of how our gear looks too. For a lot, this wont matter and that’s probably right, but for a lot of us we like to put some of our personality in to it, and this is your chance. I’ve borrowed a small section of the cab designer program I built for my company Zilla Cabs for you to play with…. This isn’t about Zilla by the way, it’s just I already have this program and it’s now free for me to use.

Putting all this in to one box, I’d call it a sense of ownership. Whether it’s the name on the badge, how it looks, the piece of gear you’ve wanted for years, and obviously how it’s sound, this is all personalised to you. Whatever makes it that bit more special to you is the thing that any builder should be looking to do.