My guitar is a VIPER FC (Fabio Carraffa Signature).

Its constitution is very simple and basic, as you can see, it has only 2 pick-ups: Seymour Duncan Distortion to the bridge that gives all the sensitivity, power and dynamics ideal for sounds going from Rock-Blues to Metal and the Seymour Duncan ’59 to the neck that offers all the qualities of a sound very warm and rounded.

In my opinion, these two pick-ups make the Viper FC an instrument by the total versatility.


Technical specifications:

Neck: Maple.

Fretboard: Standard 24 frets in Rosewood.

Tuners: Graph tech Ratio.

Dots: Flash.

Scale Length: 25" (640 mm).

Nut width: 43mm.

Body: Mahogany Body with Curved Flame Maple Top. 

Pick Ups: SD Distortion (Bridge), SD ’59 (Neck).

Pick-ups selector: 3-way.

Electronics: 1 volume control.

Finishes: Black and Red fantasy.

Bridge: Original Floyd Rose.

Strings: LABELLA Hard Rockin' Steel - 09/042 -.

The collaboration with VIPER GUITARS began in January 2020 at the NAMM Show in Anaheim (Los Angeles) with the meeting of the founder of the brand Jeff Heitmann (pictured). I was very intrigued by Viper guitars for their fine workmanship and captivating aesthetics and after the appropriate presentations I was invited to try them in person, needless to say that from the first touch I felt these guitars very suitable for my playing.

I spent almost an hour trying them out playing on my bases and when I finished Jeff proposed that I join the Viper family with an endorsement contract and build a custom Viper guitar for me, and so, after giving all the specifications for the construction and a few months of work the Viper Fabio Carraffa Signature was born! 

Visit Viper Guitars Site!

The Building Phases

Amplification

In my opinion, the "rack systems" are the most professional and versatile systems on the market.

With this system, you can get unlimited sounds with unmatched sound quality. My rack system consists of the following devices:

1) Transmitter SENNHEISER - EW 100

2) Tuner BEHRINGER - RACK TUNER

3) Power unit BEHRINGER (Mounted on the back)

4) Tube Preamplifier MESA BOOGIE - TRIAXIS

5) Multi-effect TC ELECTRONIC - G-FORCE

6) Tube line Mixer ADVANCE TUBE TECHNOLOGY - THE MISSING LINK

7) Tube power Amp MESA BOOGIE - FIFTY/FIFTY


The rack system is fully powered by a Behringer power supply/voltage stabilizer, to avoid sudden drops or degradation of the signal caused by power fluctuations in the electrical network and to keep the valves always saturated correctly.

The guitar signal is transmitted to the rack system via a wireless transmitter for guitar Sennheiser EW 100.

Then the signal enters in the preamplifier Mesa Boogie TRIAXIS to create the necessary sounds.

The preamp output signal is sent to the "Return 1" of the MISSING LINK of Advance Tube Technology.

The "Send" of the Missing Link sends the signal to the input of G-FORCE TC Electronic for adding effects such as Chorus, Delay, Reverb, etc. while the output of the G-FORCE returns to the "Return 2" of the Missing Link.

The incoming signals in the Missing Link (Return 1 and Return 2) are then mixed as desired and then sent to the power amp MESA BOOGIE FIFTY/FIFTY.

Once amplified, the signal is sent to one or two 4x'12 RANDALL XL100 speakers equipped with Celestion Vintage 30 cones that, in addition to being miked using standard methods, it can be connected directly in a mixer or in a recording desk via the MIC ELIMINATOR that acts as a Speaker Simulator without losing the sound characteristics created.

The entire system is controlled by a LEXICON MPX-R1 midi pedal for changing sounds via Midi.

As additional effects, I use the Wah MORLEY BAD HORSIE or the BOSS PW10 (pic) and the Boss SD-1 used as a booster.

Other Guitars/Amps/Pedals

Electric Guitars: Aria XP-9, Aria XM-9, Aria PE-480, Washburn X40Pro Black, Washburn X40pro Blue Cobalt, Washburn WI26 black, Washburn WI26 White, Gibson Flying-V, Fender Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul, Fernandez Revolver, Ibanez Steve Vai, Brian Moore i1F.

Classic and Acoustic Guitars: Washburn, Martin, Ephipone, Ibanez, Cort, Alhambra.

Amplifiers: Bogner Alchemist, Brunetti Silver bullet, Marshall Jmp1. 

Pedals: Wah PW10 Boss, Wah Bad Horsie, GE7 Boss, SD1 Boss, Bogner Ecstacy Blue, Bogner Ecstacy Red, Nova System Tc Electronic, Drop Digitech, Whammy Pedal Digitech.

Cabinets: Friedman, Marshall 1960 Lead, Randall XT100, Hughes&Kettner.

Guitar Picks: Fabio Carraffa Signature by Steve Clayton