Troy Stetina's Guitar Gear

Stetina's current guitars and gear setup:

Guitar #1: Ibanez Jem7
Guitar #2: Jackson Soloist (Kahler vibrato, Duncan Custom pickup, Sustainiac Sustainer)
Backup Guitar: Indiana Tele (click here for review)
Synth Guitar: Washburn with Boss Guitar Synth attachment
Songwriting Guitar (Acoustic): Indiana Scout (click here for review)
Bass Guitar: 5-string Washburn A-900
Favorite Picks: Dunlop heavy (blue or purple)
Favorite Strings: D'Addario 9s or 10s, depending on tuning
Amp: Line6 POD pre-amp, Peavy 50/50 Classic power amp, Marshall 4x12 cabs

"The Jackson was my main guitar for the last 15 years or so. It always played well, but it was this ugly mud-brown color. So one day I ripped it apart and took a few cans of spraypaint and laquer to it. Now it's totally hideous. It's got a Seymour Duncan pickup in the bridge position, a Kahler vibrato system and a Sustainiac sustainer. I like to leave the sustainer on at a low level most of the time, because I record a lot in the studio control room and when you do that you lose a little of the natural feedback and sustain caused by being in the same room with a loud amp. And the sustainer kinda makes up for that. I also wired the middle pickup out of phrase with the others intentionally, to get a wider tonal variation -- it creates a super piercing, hi-endy sound when you have two out-of-phase pickups on at the same time.
My Jackson was soooooo ugly, in fact, that my wife Joan finally had enough and went out and bought me a brand new Steve Vai Jem7 Ibanez. Nice of her don't you think? Well, this guitar is awesome! I play it most of the time these days. Some purists object to the bolt on neck. Makes no difference to me. The thing looks great, sounds great. The strings are slightly wider spaced than the Jacksons. Also, it takes a little getting used to in the picking position... a bit more like a strat in that the neck is pretty much flush with the pickguard. But I've adapted. I like the frets better. Easier to play smooth legato lines it seems to me.
For an amp I use the Line6 POD into a Peavey 50/50 Classic tube power amp and Marshall 4x12 cabinet. My old Marshalls pretty much sit unused. I tend to use the PODs rectifier setting more than anything else. The POD was the first cabinet simulator, direct into a board, that sounded good to me. And it's so fast and easy... you've got like 30 different amps at the flip of a switch. So I find myself use it quite a bit these days. All the recent methods -- Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, Aggro-Metal, Total Rock Guitar -- these were all recorded using the POD, direct. So was the EP in fact. Now I'm recording the POD through the power amp and mic'ing the cab. Sounds a bit better" --Troy

retired Marshalls Previous setups on the Speed Mechanics and Metal Guitar series recordings:

Jackson Soloist (pictured above) with Kahler vibrato, Duncan Custom pickup
Boss PD1 distortion pedal or Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer
Marshall JCM800 50 watt head & 4x12 cabinets (right)