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. (July - 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 80's Hair Metal Rig

for under $1000 (spec’d by BB)

Guitar - Kramer Baretta Special in Purple ($379.00)

This rig must scream attitude and this guitar certainly does that. The Baretta was Kramer’s flagship model and the single coil reverse hockey stick headstock design was very similar to models played by Eddie Van Halen. It is also notable that right in the middle of the 80’s Kramer was the biggest guitar seller on the planet. This stripped back axe is perfect for letting BB’s incendiary licks shine with just a single volume control; nothing will stand in the way when he is stalking the fretboard with blinding speed. Sling this one low for the photo and the stage.

Amplifier - Marshall Code 50 ($445.00)

Again we are all about the attitude so we have to go with one of the most iconic badges in music history. The feature packed Marshall Code 50 boasts 100 adjustable presets and with 24 different effects where up to five can be used at once BB will be up and shredding in no time. With 14 pre amps, 4 power amps, 8 speaker simulations, delay, reverb, phasing, flanging and chorus BB can dial up a stadium sized sound from this small and versatile rock machine.

Effect Pedals - Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor Pedal ($169.00)

Ok with this high octane sound from this rig things may get a little raucous so any extraneous noise is going to get zapped by a trusty Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor.

The Dream 80's Hair Metal Rig

+$1000 (spec’d by GS)

Guitar - ESP George Lynch Signature in Sunburst Tiger ($7299.00)

BB really wanted a BC Rich for his dream rig and they really howl hair metal, however, without a current Australian distributor that ain’t going to fly. We also did try to avoid signature artist guitars synonymous with a genre as we wanted to give everyone a challenge, in this case it’s 80’s hair metal so BB gets exactly what he wants just like his backstage rider requirements.

This guitar ticks all sorts of boxes here, firstly ESP were originally building Kramer necks in the early 80’s, secondly George Lynch was a shred pioneer and is still lauded today for his outstanding speed and agility and most important of all the looks and appointments of this guitar are perfect for some straight up high octane shredding.

Amplifier - 2x Kemper Power Rack ($3849.00 each) or 4x Marshall 1960B ($1329.00 each)

Ok, this may seem a strange choice at first, however, 80’s hair metal pioneers really embraced the latest technology for achieving their required sound. Rack pre and power amplifiers and effects were all the rage back in the day so although the Kemper series of profiling amplifiers were just a dream in the 80’s BB has taken a similar route with specifying his rig by using the latest and greatest technology available.

The Kemper is a profiling amplifier allowing users to capture the sound of any existing amplifier and map that sound to the unit. All the charm of expensive and delicate vintage amplifiers can be secured without risking the originals, the studio sound you and the engineer spent so much time on can be mapped to the Kemper so your live sound is exactly the same as the recording and if you don't have access to amps you consider worthy of profiling then the Kemper has hundreds of amps and rigs pre installed, the applications here are endless. As well as amps, the Kemper also boasts guitar pedals and effects.

Classic and Kemper original overdrive and distortion pedals are on board as well as reverb, delay, modulation, pitch shifting, wah, compression, EQ, noise gate, etc are all on board with endless tweaking possibilities. Every tiny nuance of a perfect guitar sound for any genre is right here in the box.

Of course hair metal is all about excess so of course BB gets two with four Marshall bottom cabs just for looks, why should he care whilst the roadcrew packs up BB is on his way to the after party in a Limo with a couple of lovely ladies.

Effect Pedals - Kemper Remote ($805.00)

As described in the amplifier section all of the effects are on board the Kemper and the Kemper Remote is a plug in play one cable solution which will seamlessly communicate with the Kemper rack.