Generally speaking you can play any musical genre with most guitar rigs. No matter what sound you are hoping to achieve most setups will have a basic clean sound for pop and roots based music and some form of overdrive or distortion for punchier, “rockier” styles. Many entry level “bedroom” amplifiers offer so much more these days than just two basic channels with onboard effects and even connectivity to handy apps helping you to produce your desired sound. 

As you develop your playing and move into more specific sounds and styles you may find you will want to personalise your rig to suit a particular genre of music. The good news is putting together a genre specific rig to suit a certain style does not have to mean spending major dollars and the advantage being not only will you get the sound you want, you will also start to feel you have invested in and connected to your chosen musical style. We assembled a panel of dedicated Musos Corner product demonstrators who are very serious about their respective musical styles and asked them to put together two rigs, one for under $1000 dollars to suit someone who is upgrading from their first basic all round set up the second is most or less a dream rig where money is no object just to see what is possible. The caveat here is we are not just spending money for the sake of it rather putting together a pro rig that will deliver the right sound, feel and aesthetics and stand up to the rigours of playing night after night.

All the pricing we are working from are the approximate street prices at time of publication (August - 2022)

Budget Rig

For the “budget” set up we have tried to make this as close to your first upgrade to your rig as possible, with this in mind we are not really specifying a professional rig meant for stage use. We are concentrating on getting you a rig with the sound, playability and vibe of your chosen style. As upgrading all of your rig in one go is a rare thing due to budget we suggest you swap out your equipment as necessary to your requirements. You will find depending upon the style that amp wattage (volume) will vary considerably as required by each style.

Dream Rig

For the “dream” set up we have specified no budget, however, as specified earlier we are not just looking to burn money here like a rockstar but just meet our favourite requirements based on sound, playability, reliability, durability and vibe, this can be often achieved without just going out and buying the most expensive equipment available. As we are “the people’s music store”, you won’t find any boutique or overly exotic gear on these lists, just easily readily available classics that have stood the test of time. 

What's in a rig?

Hypothetically included in each rig:

  • We have hypothetically included all the leads and patch cables you will need for each rig
  • We have hypothetically included a clip-on tuner for the budget rigs and a pedal tuner in the dream rig. We have also included a power supply or power brick for all pedal setups.
  • The other proviso we have is we are hypothetically supplying a road crew for the Dream Rigs so space and weight is not a factor in these decisions as you don’t have to lug it so you can knock yourself out.
  • All the pricing we are working from are the approximate street prices at time of publication.

Budget Funk Rig

for under $1000 (spec’d by ID)

Guitar - Fender Squier 70’s Classic Vibe Stratocaster OLW ($589)

ID - A Stratocaster guitar was a bit of a no brainer for me here, the spanky, crystalline guitar sound of a Strat and the out of phase sounds are very useful in this style and the body contouring of the guitar provides a great dance partner. For the vibe I went with an olympic white as a nod to the great Nile Rodgers 1960 “hitmaker” guitar although I went with a walnut cap rather than maple for a little more warmth. The 70’s model was also an instant pick here as when you are are talking disco and funk it’s the 70’s all the way, and the reissue models feature a stable four bolt rather than the infamous three bolt from the originals, on neck also unlike Nile’s hardtail Strat I am going with a tremolo for some shimmer.

 

Amplifier - Cort CM15R ($139.00)

ID - Although this is only a 15 watt amplifier the clean sound is really glassy and smooth which for me is perfect for funk and dance music. The amplifier does have a gain channel which I will not even be using. Obviously the amp will have limitations in terms of volume, however, we are not necessarily building a stage rig at this price point and if there was a PA with decent foldback available you could probably mic this one up with reasonable results.

Effect Pedals 

Phase 90 ($155) 

Vox Wah V845 ($89.00)

ID - For mine I really can’t go past these two pedals. The Phase 90 gives me a lush platform for 16th note strumming and texture and depth for single notes and the wah is another no-brainer for “Shaft” inspired rhythms and textures.

 

The Dream Funk Rig

+$1000 (spec’d by ID)

Guitar - Fender ’64 Custom Shop 

(Journeyman Relic) Aged Olympic White / Rosewood Neck ($5999.00)

ID - Ok, honestly my dream guitar for this style would probably be the perspex Strat played by Nile Rodgers in the clip for Freak Out, my second choice would be my own ’69 Custom Shop (NOS) Olympic White with a maple neck just because I have already put so much sweat into this one, however, both of these guitars are no longer accessible to purchase so I’m going with the closest thing available which probably would be the ’64 with a rosewood cap for some more warmth. Just like the cheaper rig my primary choice for this style is a Stratocaster for all of the reasons listed above.

Amplifier - Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12 

($1459.00)

This decision is based purely on my own experience and although there are plenty of more interesting “clean” amps out there, the Deville 2x12 has one incredibly clean non master clean channel that with 65 available watts is going to have to be played at gobsmacking volume before it will break up. The sound has a spongy, silky quality and the amplifier takes effect pedals very well. If you don’t need that much headroom Fender makes a 40 watt version (Hot Rod Deluxe) with a very similar tone profile and also produces a George Benson signature model which obviously needs to be clean for his style of jazz funk pop.

Effect Pedals

Phase 90 $155 / Dunlop Cry Baby CB95 Wah Pedal $145.00 / Electro Harmonix QTron Filter Pedal $375.00

Effect Pedals - Similar to the “budget” rig I wouldn’t swap out the MXR Phase 90, however, I would choose a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah over the Vox for this set up. The durability and playability of the CB95 is a factor for me, however, either a Dunlop or Vox will do the job. An Electro Harmonix QTron is the last piece of this puzzle for squelchy filtered goodness and elastic single notes.