Ricky has a very unique guitar tone. He has been on a monotonous quest for years to get that just right sound from his guitars. Here is a run down of his live Guitar rig:

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Guitars:

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Suzette- 1962 Fender Stratocaster -fitted with Lindy Fralin Hot Vintage Strat Pickups in the neck and mid position. Ricky likes the fatness of a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder in the bridge.

​The bridge was replaced in the early 80's with a left handed bridge to emulate the look of Jimi Hendrix guitars. This guitar, like all of his guitars are fitted with Sperzel locking tuners. This guitar is strung with heavy strings to accommodate the beating this guitar takes from Ricky when he squeezes out the sweet Blues Tone. He likes 12, 16, 19 or 20 28, 38, and 56 on the low E.

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Green Irene- Gretsch G6118 Anniversary - This is the newest addition to Ricky's arsenal. It is loaded with factory installed Gretsch Filtron pickups. Ricky replaced the space bridge with a more stable tunamatic type bridge to accommodate his bends and pull offs. It also has been fitted with Sperzel locking tuners. It is fitted with the original 1959 truss under the bridge. Ricky loves the sweet tones this guitar produces. He uses GHS Strings 10-46

 

Skully- Gretsch Electromatic - This was purchased from a private party several years ago. It has gone through some cosmetic changes. The neck was sanded down to remove all the finish to the wood from the 1st to the 12th fret. It has been fitted with TV Jones Classic pickups. The Bigsby Tremolo was fitted with a 1 1/2 " spring. To cut down on feedback, Ricky stuffed the cavity of the guitar with dense foam. The tuners are Sperzel locking tuners. The front of this guitar has a unique design of mosaic mirrored tiles. Ricky picked them up at an Art Supply Store in Pasadena. he also put small metal skulls on the front of the body. This is a one of a kind art piece. The Rockabilly factor on this guitar is off the charts!!!  This bad boy is strung with GHS Strings 10-46.

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Kitty- 2003 Fender Stratocaster - This is a great guitar Ricky found online. It is fitted with a reverse headstock and has a Maple Fretboard. Ricky had Lindy Fralin '69 Woodstock pickups installed in the neck and mid position and a Seymour Duncan Humbucker installed in the bridge. It is covered in Blue Leopard print. The sleek look of this guitar along with it's warm tones are great for playing the Blues.

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 AMPLIFIERS:

 

 The GAGA - Ricky met AL & Michael Milbert at the NAMM Show several years ago. They introduced him to their greatest achievement. The GAGA. This little beauty only weighs 9 lbs.!!! But packs in 90 watts of power through (4) 6L6 Power tubes. The beauty of this amp is its shaping ability. It has a Headroom knob that allows Ricky to dial in the sweetest tones.

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Purple Passion- This amp was built for Ricky by Mike Doty in Thousand Oaks, CA. It is a Band Master case fitted with a Fender Blackface amp. Originally, it was made into a Super Texan by

amp maker Dan Torres. It has 60 watts of power. (2) JJ 6L6 Tubes and 5 12AX7's in the pre-amp. The transformer was replaced with a THD Transformer. It has 2 channels for clean and driven tones. The amp has a built in effects loop, but Ricky prefers to go in direct with pedals through he front end of the amp. It also has a built in reverb tank from a Fender Twin.

 

Pedals :

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Phantom Power Overdrive- This pedal was designed by Jason Robling at DC Voltage in conjunction with David Barber. This is a gem of a pedal! It has a knob to dial in tone in the clean channel. It also has a sweet overdrive that sings.

Maxon - OD-9 - Ricky likes the original tones from the predecessor of the TUBE Screamer.

Digitech Screamin Blues Overdrive - This is placed in the front of the chain of pedals to give a little pre-amp overdrive to his Roland Space Echo.

Dunlop Univibe - Ricky likes the Hendrix tones he gets with pedal.

Signal Splitter Box - This was originally designed for Stevie Ray Vaughan. Ricky picked this up from SRV's old guitar Tech Rene Martinez. It allows Ricky to put his guitar signal in up to 6 amps at the same time!

VOX 847 WAH-WAH - Ricky picked this pedal up used at a local guitar Shop. He modified the circuitry for about $10 to produce some amazing warm full Wah Tones!!

 

Canare Cables -  Upon a recommendation from Rene Martinez, Ricky started using these cables several years ago. ​​​​They have (4) posative conductors in them, so it allows Ricky the ability to make cables 30' & 40' long. They deliver a great signal at long lengths.

 

 

Picks - Ricky uses Steve Claton's Sand Shark Picks .63mm.