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Sam Totman (DragonForce) Gear

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15 years 9 months ago - 15 years 8 months ago #303 by SonEsmonduu
Ok, so I'll split this into 2 sections, his original gear and the new gear that's come about along with the signature guitars.


Original gear (Valley Of The Damned - Final Inhuman Rampage Tour)

On the earliest DragonForce recordings Sam used Kramer Vanguard FR440S guitar that was all stock with no modifications.
This Vanguard was used for the Shadow Warriors recordings too.

Picture one

Sam Totman using his Kramer Vanguard


Soon after Valley Of The Damned Sam got a Jackson RR3 (stock) which was used as his main guitar and an Ibanez RG which belonged to Herman that he used.


Sam with his RR3


Sam using Herman's RG for the Young Guitar magazine special.


After that he had a signature VBT700 "V Blade" guitar from Ibanez made for him.
It's a neck-through string-through v shape with DiMarzio pickups. This guitar was soon discontinued by Ibanez and even Sam as it was a limited prototype guitar.
His custom guitar was used as second best to his then main guitar, the Ibanez IC400 Iceman.
Not long after he first had it he covered it with stickers such as Lego Men, "I Love Men", Michelin Tires and other random stuff. Sam also removed the AX1 neck pickup and wrote in white "SiC" where the pickup used to be. He also replaced the bridge AX2 pickup with a DiMarzio Evolution bridge pickup (which he had come to favour by that time).


Sam showing his signature V-Blade while endorsing DiMarzio pickups.



The earliest picture of Sam with his Iceman before the stickes. (Young Guitar Japanese DVD menu).



Sam with his IC400. Note the neck pickup now removed and the stickers added on.


While his guitars changed a few times his amplification and effects stayed the same for a long time.
Sam used a Laney GH100L which is basically the same as the GH50L which was used by Paul Gilbert.
With his Laney amp he used Laney TT412S and Laney TT412A 4x12 speaker cabs.

To be able to jump around on stage like he did he used the pretty expensive Sennheiser Evolution G2 wireless system.
Sam didn't use wah, whammy, delay or any effects pedals.
He used a Rocktron Prophesy II pre-amp.

New Gear (Ultra Beatdown)

Sam now uses 3 guitars almost exclusively they are:

The Ibanez STM1 which is Sam's signature Iceman guitar released in 2008.

The Ibanez ICT700 Iceman, this used just as much as his signature guitar. He did use it with the DimArzio D Activator pickups that come stock. However upon changing the bridge to a DiMarzio Evolution pickup he now uses it slightly more than his signature guitar.

And finally, an STM1 prototype which is a black Iceman with trapezoid inlays and an Edge III bridge.
This is used very rarely.


Sam using his STM1 signature guitar.


Sam using his prototype STM1.

Note how it is black with trapezoid inlays (unlike the ICT700) and has an Edge III bridge and a non-reversed headstock (like the STM1).


Sam with his ICT700.

This picture is from when he was using the stock model.
Later on the bridge pickup is a half white-half black DiMarzio Evolution (like with his STM1)

These 3 guitars are used along with a Peavey XXX cab.

Due to a recent endorsement Sam has stopped using the expensive Sennheiser Evolution G2 system and is now using the Samson Airline 77 wireless guitar system which features:
The CR77 receiver and AG1 Guitar Transmitter

Sam and Samson

Picks and strings.

Both Sam Totman and Herman Li are endorsed by D'Addario Strings.
Sam uses D'Addario XL .10 - .42s
These are the strings that come stock with the Ibanez ICT700 and STM1

For picks Sam used Dunlop Small Stubby picks (the 2.0 mm ones).
When the Inhuman Rampage tour came around Sam used Dunlop 2.0 Tortex picks that were custom made to have the DragonForce logo on them.
During shows he would throw picks into the crowd. Some he signed and others were pre-print signatures.
However, somewhere between the Inhuma and Beatdown tours he used No Fear picks. (Yes, the clothing brand). He now uses Dunlop 2.0 Tortex again for the Ultra Beatdown tour.


Misc and trivia:

Sam posing for his future pickup of choice.



*For the hardcore fans*
When performing live and for the music videos Sam always wears his t-shirt that has the letter A followed by Japanese kanji. This t-shirt is made by the Japanese clothing brand Gokigen-Factory.
This clothes line is only marketed in Japan (he obviously obtained his Gokigen t-shirts while there on tour).

Caps.
Sam often wears a cap in interviews or casually.
The main cap he wears and the most noticeable is a black Trucker cap with a white front.
It has the MySpace.com logo and underneath reads "a place for friends"
These caps were a MySpace promo giveaway and a hard to find and when they do pop up they are expensive.
---

Edited.
I added pics of the guitars etc.
The strings and picks he uses and misc stuff on his clothes.
Don't publish it just yet I still think I missed a few things.

-Edited:
-We had to change the IMG tags to links, as UberProAudio doesn't allow hotlinking.
Last edit: 15 years 8 months ago by SonEsmonduu.

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15 years 9 months ago - 15 years 9 months ago #304 by uberpro
Thanks for taking the time to share your research. Looking forward to your updates.
Last edit: 15 years 9 months ago by uberpro.

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15 years 9 months ago #305 by SonEsmonduu
That would be awesome, but I'm in the UK. Postage might be a bit much?
I updated it and I'll check back tomorrow in case I missed anything.

Thanks.

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15 years 8 months ago #317 by SonEsmonduu
Ok, had no connection for a week but I'm back now.

This is ready to be published. Thanks.
Got a few people waiting for the link too.

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15 years 8 months ago #318 by uberpro
Cool. I'll work on laying it out and getting as many licenses to use images as possible, and let you know when its up. You get credit for researching/writing the article - I'll list it as SonEsmonduu unless you want it different.

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15 years 7 months ago #327 by uberpro
The Sam Totman article is now live.
Sam Totman Gear

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