Gear
Recording King
“Recording King makes great, reliable road ready gear. I was drawn to the company because they offer quality instruments and they price their gear for the gigging musician. They have a wide selection of guitars, banjos, and resonators that draw inspiration from the great instruments of each era. This informative design and commitment to quality means that Recording King makes a great sounding, quality instrument for the common working musician.”
Lars currently tours and records with the R36-BR banjo, RD-318 and RO-318 acoustic guitars, RR-36S-VS square neck, RM-993-VG Swamp Dog resonator, and RG-32-SN lap steel.
Glasser Violins
“I have had trouble with traditional, all wood violins for as long as I have been on the road. They are easily broken and don’t handle climate change well. Since I have started using the Glasser Carbon Fiber Violin on the road, I have been amazed with its durability and organic sound. I can travel across the country with no fear of my instruments falling apart or not working!”
Lars currently tours with a matched set of Glasser AE Carbon Composite Four String Violins.
Music Man by Ernie Ball
“Music Man is a long standing name in the guitar and bass world, known for their attention to detail and innovative designs. Music Man builds in small batches so as to keep quality high and to allow customization in a way other companies at their level just cannot keep up with. I am glad to tour with their gear and am always impressed by the quality of the instrument as well as their impeccable customer service.”
Lars currently tours and records with the Music Man Sabre Guitar HH Trem.
Gibson
“Gibson is one of those brands that has a unique voice. It is possible to incorporate aspects of a Gibson guitar into you build, or to borrow aspects of the guitar, but at the end of the day they really have an individual sonic finger print. The Les Paul Classic is an awesome example of that. It incorporates the basic specs of a 60’s Les Paul and combines them with the wiring and pickup options that a 70’s or 80’s rock player would have hot-rodded the guitar with at the time. It ends up being a super playable, dynamic instrument that just fun to play.”
Lars currently tours and records with the Gibson Les Paul Classic.
Westone Audio
“Westone Audio makes a reliable, clear sounding, and well fitting in-ear-monitor. With a wide range of custom fitted and universal fit in-ears options, Westone has continually delivered quality monitoring and hearing protection at a competitive price, as well as excellent customer care.”
Lars currently tours with a set of the ES80 in-ears with flex canal.
LR Baggs
“Every acoustic instrument is different and needs a unique approach to amplifying itself. From their pickups to their active DI’s to their line of acoustic effect pedals, Baggs offers intuitive, easy to use gear for the acoustic musician that wants to plug in. The pickups are tonally clear and incredibly durable and the DI’s and pedals give straight forward control for tone shaping.“
Lars currently tours and records with the Element Pickup, the Baggs “Fiddle'“ Pickup, the Para Acoustic DI, the Voiceprint DI, and many of the Align Series pedals, including the “Reverb”, “Delay”, and “Chorus”.
Fishman
“I love Fishman’s approach to amplifying instruments with resonators. For banjo, Fishman uses rare earth magnets to create a “humbucking” circuit to pick up the vibrations on the banjo head while cutting down on feedback. For square neck resonators, they used a combination of a pickup and a pedal to get the full tone of the resonator without the common downsides of feedback and a high noise floor. These systems allow easy use on stage with far fewer feed back problems and a much nicer natural tone profile.”
Lars currently tours with the Classic Series Banjo pickup, the Nashville Series Resophonic pickup, and the Jerry Douglas Signature Aura pedal.
Moody Leather
“Moody Leather is an American leather working company that make guitar straps that are durable and handsome. They cover a range of styles from traditional two tone leather straps to their “Hippie Strap” line that marries leather and woven fabric. These straps are sturdy and comfortable while being great looking and eye catching, making them perfect for the road.”
Shubb
“Shubb understands that one capo will not work for all instruments. They have taken an individual approach to capos, specifically designing models for each instrument and setup. Shubb capos have become a central part of my touring and studio rig because they give me complete reliability in regards to tuning for each of my instruments.”
Lars currently tours and records with the Shubb C5b capo for banjo, C6b capo for dobro, S1 capo for guitar and ganjo, and the SP3 dobro slide.