Sometimes, the integration between guitar and bass is so essential that to look at one apart from the whole would only be telling half the story. Such is the case with Cardiff alt-rockers Kutosis and their guitarist/singer Ian Jones and bassist (and occasional axeman) Jim Deacon, the band’s crushing post-punk assault recalling the likes of Liars, Sonic Youth and David Bowie at their most visceral and fierce.

The band are currently in the midst of writing and recording the follow-up to 2011’s Fanatical Love with Rory Attwell at Lightship95, one of London’s few boat-based recording studios. However, the band have no intention of forgetting the local Cardiff scene that gave birth to Kutosis.

“The South Wales music scene is pretty healthy at the moment. It’s only a small place and having a large university means there are good opportunities for like-minded people to meet and form bands,” says Jim. “Musically, there’s a lot of variation and it’s not really a scene as in, ‘Oh look, they all play the same genre of music’, it’s more that everyone is supportive of what’s going on locally.” The band cite local acts like Truckers of Husk, Islet and Among Brothers as fine examples of the music Cardiff has to offer. 

Kutosis: excellent control over light and shade

Indeed, going back to their roots, both Ian and Jim explain they are self-taught as musicians and offer intriguing and charmingly self-deprecating analyses of their playing styles. “I’m self-taught and my playing is probably a bit unorthodox. Purists would be appalled by the way I play certain chords,” Ian admits. “I’ve always appreciated musicians that have a unique style like Gruff Rhys and Graham Coxon. Individuality and personality in guitar playing are so much more interesting than pure technical ability.”

More frank and borderline criminal admissions come courtesy of Jim. “I learnt guitar from basically learning every note and chord in Nevermind by Nirvana,” he recalls. “My friend at school had the tab book and we used the school’s photocopier to make myself a copy of it, and that’s how I learnt what chords were. The actual names of the chords came a lot later though!”

Guitars

Jim’s P-Bass

That infamous Gretsch Bass VI

Despite their own misgivings, the pair have clearly learned a lot over the years and there are some extremely tasty riffs and aural tricks to be enjoyed across their recorded output so far. Jim’s powerhouse bass work relies on two main instruments: a standard Fender USA P-Bass (with the stock pickups replaced with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders) and a Gretsch Bass VI/Baritone, whose purchase was something of a labour of love.

Ian’s “reliced” Tele

“We were recording at Faster Studio (then called Stir) and it was just after Manic Street Preachers had taken it over and started moving their gear in,” Jim explains. “Originally we only had one standard guitar on the track Small Cities and wanted to beef it up. There was a Burns Barracuda Bass VI (standard tuned guitar but an octave down) in the studio and I decided to try it out. It sounded brutal so I went with it on the recording. The trouble was that I then had to get hold of a Bass VI for live! It took months to track one down – the Fender Jaguar Bass VI cost a fortune and Burns were in the middle of moving their factory at the time so had essentially discontinued the Barracuda. I eventually found the Gretsch in stock on an online store; I love the finish and all the chrome on it so it worked out okay in the end.”

Guitar-wise, Ian opts for some solid, reliable Fenders as his guitars of choice, one of which is a Japanese Jaguar with Seymour Duncan Hot singlecoils and tuned to GGGGBE for tracks on the new album, although Jim is its real owner. “Ian has become her adopted parent over the past months,” Jim says. “It’s fine though, because I still get to visit her on weekends!”

Ian’s other axe is his long-standing mainstay, a Mexican Telecaster. “Telecasters are unbeatable in my opinion,” Ian says. “They look good, they’re durable and have a great sound that cuts through anything. My Tele is Arctic White, although it looks like it’s aged a bit now.”

Jim’s Japanese Jaguar, kindly donated to Ian (at least temporarily)

Amps

Jim’s Ampeg BR2E head

Away from the crazy tunings and extra strings, Jim and Ian take things back to basics when it comes to amps. Jim opts for an Ampeg BR2E with matching 4×10 cab, mainly because it takes fuzz pedals extremely well, a key facet of the Kutosis sound (more on that later).

On the guitar end, Ian makes use of a Marshall MG100DFX combo. Say what you like about solid state, but there’s no denying they’re durable. “It’s been through a lot,” Ian confesses, “including being dropped down a flight of stairs at a venue we played. It’s seen better days but it just keeps on going.”

Pedals

Fuzz and delay are Ian’s main effects

It’s here where much of the aggression and massive sound come from: Ian and Jim’s pedal selections. Ian uses a ProCo Rat, Boss DD-3, Boss FZ-5, Toadworks Mr Squishy compressor and Boss TU-2, all running into the amp’s overdrive channel.

“I love the warm feedback of the Rat, and I’ve got some great sounds from my delay pedal too, including on our track Island – a lot of people think that’s a synth!” Ian explains. “The FZ-5 recreates three different fuzz sounds but I use the Maestro FZ-1A setting the most, especially on the songs we’re writing for our second album; it goes so well with the Jaguar.”

Electro-Harmonix dominate Jim’s pedals

Jim’s pedals are similarly important, particularly in a three-piece with only one guitarist. He employs an Electro-Harmonix Russian Muff and Polychorus, Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, Boss OD-2, DD-5 and TU-2, powered by an MXR Power Brick. However, there is one pedal he holds above all others.

“My main sound comes from the Big Muff,” Jim says. “All the 80s and 90s alternative bands I was into seemed to use it so I knew I had to get one! The Pickup Booster and OD-2 are used for different sounds on the Gretsch. I’ve started to use the Pickup Booster on the new tracks as more of a ‘clean’ gain instead of covering everything with fuzz.”

Check out the band’s debut album Fanatical Love for a tour-de-force of outrageously catchy, kick-in-the-balls post-punkery. It’s this assertive style that has seen the band play stages as huge as the UK’s Reading Festival – unquestionably the band’s high point and, in fact, an event likely to be any band’s career highlight. “Playing Reading Festival has to be up there with our best moments,” Jim says. “It’s such a legendary festival, so it was amazing to be asked to play.” If Kutosis’ new album is anything like their first, it won’t be long before they’re asked to return.

You can hear Kutosis’ debut album Fanatical Love on SoundCloud and download it on Bandcamp. For updates on the band’s new material and other fun and games, like Kutosis on Facebook and follow them on Tumblr and Twitter.

To be honest, there’s not much for me to say here, since it has all been so comprehensively covered by Thom’s excellent blog Smiths on Guitar. Combine this with Johnny Marr’s own pages on his Guitarchestra and you’ve got a pretty complete picture, and one that includes a lot of guitars. Also worth a look is Fender’s Johnny Marr Jaguar video above, if only to hear some of that quite frankly magical Smiths playing.

Apologies for the short(er) post this week: it’s been a busy old time. There’s been a slight lull in applications to be featured on the blog as of late, so if you fancy being featured please, please send us an email at everydayguitargear[at]gmail.com. Hope to hear from some of you soon.

Of course, an essential part of The Darkness’s sound lies in their back-to-basics rawk approach to gear. Fortunately, Guitarist magazine recently conducted a backstage rig interview with the band, in which guitar-playing brothers Justin and Dan Hawkins reveal their choices in axes, pedals and amps. Unfortunately, we still remain unenlightened when it comes to Justin’s choice of moustache wax, a no-doubt essential ingredient in his tonal supremacy.

Justin avec une white Les Paul Custom (photo: ruleof2thirds)

Both Justin and Dan swear by Gibson Les Pauls. Justin opts for white Customs, while Dan prefers Standards. However, although Dan’s axes may be standard by name, they are most definitely not standard by nature. Two of his Pauls are fitted with Fishman Powerblend pickups and stereo outputs, allowing him to switch to an acoustic sound at any point, but his primary love is still “June”, a Standard Les Paul that has served him well for many years. Several of Dan’s guitars have also had some rather famous owners, which you’ll discover if you watch the video above (around 07:30 in). Justin, on the other hand, opts for stock configurations on his Les Paul Customs and a Gibson acoustic for the ballads, keeping it simple (unlike his facial hair).

While they differ in their choice of Les Pauls, both Hawkinses do agree on their amps. The pair run Marshall Plexi 1959 Super Lead heads with Marshall Power Brake attenuators ensuring maximum tone with lower volumes, before hitting Marshall 1960B cabs with Greenback speakers. In addition, Dan runs a Wizard Modern Classic head EQ’d differently to fill in any tonal gaps in the choruses, which is then run through another Marshall 1960B cab, this time fitted with Harman speakers. A Marshall 1987X head also sees the odd term of service, not to mention a Vox AC30 (boosted by a Fryer Brian May treble booster) for feedback/massive chorus use. Blimey.

Dan rocks out with June (photo: ruleof2thirds)

Finally, the pedals. Again, Justin makes things easy for himself, with a vintage whiteface ProCo Rat and Boss DM-2 running on his solo channel, while a Diamond Compressor is on at all times. And, of course, there are the obligatory Boss TU-2s for tuning. Obviously. In fact, the only aspect of Justin’s pedal rack which is perhaps a little extravagant is his Dunlop Cry Baby wah controller, which allows him to run up to five wah pedals onstage, with the same settings on each. Snazzy.

Dan, on the other hand, gives us a bit more to look at with his effects rack. Designed by Adi Vines of XS Electronics, it uses the Voodoo Lab GCX audio switcher system to minimise tone loss and provide MIDI patches. The pedals getting switched in and out are a pair of Ibanez Tubescreamers (one TS9 and one vintage 808), two Boss DM-2 analogue delays, an MXR Carbon Copy and a Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz. In addition, separate trays play host to a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin preamp (sent to the Vox AC30), the Fishman Powerblend controller and a Korg G4 leslie simulator.

Phew! I’ll be honest: that was more gear than I was expecting. I’m quite tempted to hear it all in action too, just don’t judge me for it! Until next time…

Jack’s gear has been the subject of much debate over the years but a recent interview with Guitar Player has proved most enlightening. His most iconic guitar is the Ward’s Airline, used throughout The White Stripes, a hollowbody Kay used for slide playing and a “red Japanese guitar” used for open-E tuning. Vague. However, for his work with the Raconteurs, Jack got some guitars custom-made. These are a Gretsch “Triple Jet” (Jack’s name), which adds a third pickup to Gretsch’s Duo Jet design, as well as an MXR Micro Amp for overdriven solos, while the “Triple Green Machine” not only contains the Triple Jet’s boost system, but also a microphone and a light-activated Theremin (as you do).

Jack onstage with his iconic Ward's Airline guitar. Note the Fender Twin in the background too (photo: mosesxan on Flickr)

For Jack, nothing quite matches the Fender Twin Reverb in terms of amps, although he does occasionally employ a Silvertone 610 combo for extra crunch. Other essentials in Jack’s rig are on his pedalboard: the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff and Digitech Whammy are mainstays, while the EHX POG also sees plenty of use on tracks like Icky Thump. Of course, his board has been more populated in the past and has certainly had some distinctive customised looks over the years…

One of Jack's customised pedalboards from years gone by (photo: funksheet.com)

Well, that’s it: there’s not much to say about getting Jack’s tone other than a lot of it is down to his playing style, so work on that pick attack! Thanks to Guitar Player for the interview and to you for reading. See you soon!

To put it simply, Cameron Johnson is a guitar-playing chameleon. While he melts faces in metal project Atma Weapon, he also has a master’s degree in Film Scoring and frequently adjusts his playing style, not to mention his gear, to fit the needs of his client.

“I have to be able to cop whatever style the director or my boss at the time needs, which can be challenging,” Cameron says. “The freelance stuff I do now mostly consists of music for short videos and commercials. I do some session work as well, which is mostly pop stuff.”

Pretty varied then. But, as Cameron points out, you need this kind of attitude in today’s musical climate. “In order to be a musician for a living, you either have to be very lucky, or be able to do a lot of random stuff well,” he laughs. “Or at least convince people you can do it well!”

Back to Atma Weapon: while they would be principally described as metal, Cameron doesn’t want that to give the wrong impression to audiences in the band’s main musical haunt, Raleigh, North Carolina. “The word metal tends to scare people off, but we have a nice blend of styles,” he says. “I would describe us as progressive rock/metal.”

Cameron onstage with his ESP Viper and Atma Weapon

Prog, rock or metal, Atma Weapon have got a hell of a lot of power behind them. Although they’re incredibly technically proficient, they’ve also got the compositions to back it up, with a sense of groove and progression not often heard among contemporary metal acts, particularly when some of their songs can last as long as 35 minutes. That’ll be the master’s in Film Scoring coming back into play then.

As a band, Atma Weapon are influenced by metal and prog like Opeth, Metallica, Katatonia, In Flames, Soilwork et al., but Cameron’s individual influences are more diverse, whether they be Pat Metheny, Paul Gilbert or his own jazz teacher Greg Hyslop. However, whatever genre Cameron’s playing, one aspect remains constant: he never takes the easy route. “I really enjoy the challenge of playing lengthy songs, where you have to memorise a lot of material,” he says. “If I wasn’t playing progressive metal, I would be playing jazz. In fact, I work on my jazz chops way more than my metal chops these days. Both genres are pretty similar actually; it takes a lot of technical ability to play either style well.”

Guitars

The main axe: ESP Viper

The backup: Ibanez RG550

The smooth jazz semi: Gibson ES-137

With all those different styles, it’s unsurprising to learn that Cameron has a few different instruments to hand. “I’m up to 15 or so guitars and it seems there is always something on the way from UPS,” he says. “I love all types of guitars; every guitar has its application, so I wouldn’t be able to choose just one.”

That said, Cameron does have one main axe when it comes to his work with Atma Weapon: an ESP Viper. “It’s an SG on steroids,” he says. “It has 24 frets and a Gibson style tune-o-matic bridge, which is pretty uncommon. Apparently, this particular ESP Viper is a somewhat rare bird. It was special ordered by a music store in Colorado (a group of 12 in total) in a natural finish that isn’t available normally.”

Also notable about the ESP is that the original EMG pickups had been swapped out for PRS HFS and VB humbuckers by the previous owner. In conjunction with the body’s natural sustain, these pickups make the Viper Cameron’s weapon of choice. “It plays great, sounds great, and has the longest sustain of any guitar I own; it’s pretty unbelievable,” he says. “It’s my best sounding guitar for heavy sounds hands down.”

For jazz, Cameron employs a Gibson ES-137 Custom, while he also brings his former beau, an early 90s Ibanez RG550, to gigs as a backup. “It’s hard to beat the sheer playability of an old RG550,” he adds.

Amps

Just a few of Cameron's amps

When it comes to amps, Cameron has a mighty selection to choose from, including a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, Boogie Rectifier, Marshall JCM800, Soldano Atomic 16, Polytone Minibrute and an Axe FX Ultra. But once again, there’s one that shines above all others.

“My main amp is an Egnater Mod50 Custom Shop head,” Cameron explains. “It uses these swappable modules, which are basically preamp sections of different famous amps and tones. Right now, I have the ‘Bassman’ and ‘SL2′ modules loaded in there, which gives me a Fender Bassman and hot-rodded Marshall all in one amp.”

It certainly sounds like a dream combination, especially when the Egnater is run into Mesa Boogie Stiletto 4×12 cabs with Celestion Vintage 30s. Jealous? You should be.

Pedals

Cameron's down-to-earth 'board...

After hearing about all that gear, it’s refreshing to see that Cameron keeps things simple on the floor, letting his fingers (and maybe that amazing amp) do the talking. “I have a pretty sparse pedalboard,” he says. “I used to have a rack and MIDI switching setup, but I was always troubleshooting something before a gig, and that is no fun. I’d honestly like to have more stuff to fool with on the board, but it just gets too complicated.”

Indeed, Cameron’s pedalboard has been narrowed down to the bare essentials, partly thanks to the Mod50 covering all his overdrive and distortion needs. There’s a Boss DD-20 in the effects loop, along with a homemade solo boost, while a vintage MXR Phase 45, ISP Decimator and RMC Wizard Wah go in the front end. Of course, Cameron does have a few more effects lying around at home, as the enviable image below shows.

...and the rest of his collection

When he’s not recording or buying new gear, Cameron is up onstage with Atma Weapon. But what makes a good gig for him? “To me, the best gigs are when I can hear myself and there aren’t any technical issues,” he says. “At my first gig with Atma Weapon, my pedalboard wouldn’t pass signal and I had to plug straight into the amp. We didn’t have time to troubleshoot so I just had to go for it. I did the whole show without a tuner, which I hope to never have to do again!”

You can hear Cameron’s playing with Atma Weapon on Facebook. The band will be heading into the studio very soon and plan to release the results towards the end of 2012. For more information on Cameron and his gear, visit his YouTube channel.

Guitars

Anyone who is even vaguely aware of Kevin Shields will know that he is synonymous with Fender Jaguars and Jazzmasters, so much so that the latter of which featured on the cover of MBV’s seminal 1991 album Loveless. Kevin’s use of the tremolo arm proved incredibly influential on an entire generation of alt-rock guitarists, creating a hypnotic, jarring detuned effect which reinforced the band’s dream-like soundscapes. He also made use of an Ibanez Talman Jazzmaster copy in MBV’s early years.

Kevin onstage in 2008 with one of many Fender Jaguars and his arsenal of amps (photo: TJ Chung)

Amps

Back in the Loveless days, Kevin ran two Marshall JCM800 heads, but for the band’s 2008 reunion shows, he also used what looks to be a Vox AC30 head, JMI and Hiwatt heads, as well as a Fender Tone-Master and Divided by 13 stack. He switched between each of these amps using channel switchers located on his pedalboard. Here‘s a good shot of his reunion-era amp rig.

Pedals

If you thought Kevin’s amp rig was excessive, you’d better brace yourself for the pedalboards (plural). The shots below all come courtesy of the Guitar Player Gear Guide blog. While Loveless-era shows predominantly relied on a number of different parametric and graphic EQs, the ProCo Rat and Boss PN-2 Tremolo/Pan pedals, Kevin has obviously picked up a few more effects over the years.

Kevin's remarkably wide, foot-controlled pedalboard

This first pedalboard features a variety of Devi Ever fuzz pedals (Truly Beautiful Torn’s Peaker, Godzilla, Dream Mangler), plus a Boss TU-2, Ernie Ball volume pedal, Pete Cornish Kevin Shields fuzz, Roger Mayer Octavia, Z.Vex Johnny Octave, Catalinbread Ottava Magus, a heavily-modified white Dunlop Cry Baby, Digitech Whammy, Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz and Morley wah. There’s a lot of fuzz basically.

The second, smaller 'board (note the extra Whammy)

Thankfully, the second pedalboard is significantly smaller. This one only features an ultra-rare Lovetone Meatball envelope filter, MG Effects That’s Echo Folks, Z.Vex Lo-Fi Loop Junky, ANOTHER Digitech Whammy and Death By Audio Octave Clang.

The monster: this sits on top of Kevin's rack and is controlled by a MIDI switching system

Finally, there comes this beast of a ‘board. Yes, I’m going to give it a shot and try to name them all, one row at a time. Starting from the top-left then: Vox Tone Bender, HBE Power Screamer, Boss DD-6, Boss TW-1, SIB Nick Nitro, Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, Digitech JamMan, Cornish SS-3, Boss AW-3, Cornish ST-2, Death By Audio Supersonic Fuzz Gun, MXR Six-Band EQ, Boss GE-7, Boss PN-2, Devi Ever White Spider, Boss DD-7, Z.Vex Box of Rock, Ibanez AD9 (modded), Dr. Scientist Tremoloessence, vintage Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff, Boss FT-2, Boss AC-3, Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, Shere Sound Whirligig, Roger Mayer Mongoose X, another Boss GE-7, Vorg Warp Sound, Devi Ever Shoe Gazer (appropriately enough), Boss PS-5 and finally a Malekko Echo 600 Dark.

God knows when or how Kevin actually managed to use all of these in a set, but it’s certainly impressive. In fact, it’s even more impressive than my ability to name them all with minimal Googling. And at that I’ll leave it for another week. Until next time.

When we play the guitar, we don’t often think about its position in the world or how it communicates in a philosophical sense – it’s more about how to best nail the next lick. However, for psychedelic acoustic-looping philosopher Michael Garfield, the player’s relationship with the guitar is more than just audible: it’s spiritual too.

In his essay on Exaptation of the Guitar, Michael says, “When I pick up my guitar and play, I’m agreeing that this is an instrument, that this is a guitar, that I play the guitar, and that I play the guitar in some specific way. That this is what it’s ‘for.’ There are an infinite number of ways for the universe to express itself through the functional relationship between a human being and a guitar.”

This message is something which Michael carries throughout his playing and compositional style, which is, at times, a transcendent exploration of what one man can achieve with an acoustic guitar, an eBow and a few stompboxes. Michael probably puts it better though.

“I play percussive, touchstyle, guitar looping freestyle cyberballadry,” he explains. “A combination of etudes, loopscapes, and anthems all woven together by the common theme and expansive vision of boundary-less technique, and celestial communication through the interference pattern of acoustic tradition and electronic adventure.” Phew.

In more tangible terms, Michael is currently based in Austin, Texas, and hopes to have made his mark on the city at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. So far, however, his gigs have been mostly positioned in the weird and the wonderful category. “I just moved here and I’ve angled into the scene in kind of a weird fashion,” he says. “I’ve been doing more shows with electronic acts and DJs than with other acoustic musicians. But there is something for everyone here; there are more niches than there are acts. Pretty much everything is a venue: food trucks, ice cream parlours… I’m playing a Chinese Restaurant for one of my gigs at South by Southwest!”

All it took was one album to spark Michael’s curiosity in all things looping. “It all started back in high school with Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds’ Live at Luther College EP,” he says. “I learned from them that it was possible to make a complete musical arrangement on acoustic guitar; that if you did it well, that was all you really need.”

Michael in a typically zen-like state

Since then, a number of more leftfield players have also influenced Michael’s music, including Andreas Kapsalis, Stanley Jordan and even Emmett Chapman, the inventor of the Chapman Stick. It’s not just music either: Michael also cites hard science fiction, yoga and walks in the forest as inspirations. Of course, this makes total sense when you listen to the glitched-out grooves which populate his compositions, simultaneously calm yet very much switched-on.

Guitars

Michael’s primary guitar is a Martin D35 from 2001, which he’s fitted with some new electronics. He explains, “I have an L.R. Baggs Anthem pickup in it, which is the best-sounding pickup (mic and piezo blend) I’ve ever heard, and is perfect for looping percussion on the body of the instrument.”

All he really needs: Michael and his acoustic

Unfortunately, after fitting the Anthem, the Martin needed a neck reset, so Michael has currently settled for a Revival RG-26, which will have to do for now. “It’s small and light, with super low action,” he says. “Strangely, it doesn’t sound too great, but it doesn’t have to with a magnetic pickup in it.”

Pedals

Michael uses each of his pedals for a specific reason but all are crucial for the otherworldly sounds he creates. Let’s let him explain…

“My pedalboard, at this point, is almost more of an instrument than my guitar,” he laughs. “You could plug a saxophone into it and the music would come out sounding more similar than if you kept the guitar and took away the gear…”

Michael's sources of strange and wonderful sounds

Below is Michael’s signal chain, replete with explanations of what he’s using and why:

• L.R. Baggs M1A active soundhole pickup (magnetic pickup that works beautifully with an eBow);
• L.R. Baggs Venue D.I. (used as a preamp and EQ);
• Boss PS-5 Pitch Shifter (for bass and synth tones);
• Boss SL-20 Slicer (which generates awesome rhythms, although the interface is awful);
• Boss DD-20 Gigadelay (for doing techno- and Jimi-scapes);
• Dunlop Crybaby Wah (the problem pedal in my rig, for feedback, but indispensable);
• SourceAudio HotHand Wah Filter (for fluttering gestural wizardry & acoustic dubstep jokes)
  …and the keystone that brings it all together:
• Boss RC-50 Loop Station (which I tempo sync with MIDI to the Slicer and use in multi-track looping mode to do cross-fades)

These effects not only see use in live performances of Michael’s compositions, but also in his spontaneous live improvisations. “I dedicate some of every show, and sometimes the entire show, to roaming improvisations that perform an intuitive reading of the venue’s and audience’s energy, and that’s pretty unpredictable,” he explains. “On any given gig it could go from twinkling folksy stuff, to ambient electronica, to jagged Reznor-esque acoustic techno, to something approximating Sigur Rós, all in 20 minutes.”

In the zone: Michael in live performance mode

Witnessing a Michael Garfield gig sounds like one hell of an experience, but actually playing one as the man himself sounds terrifying. “I think my whole career would be a horror story for most guitarists,” Michael laughs. “Constantly improvising with new gear on stage is a total tightrope act. I bring everyone on the trip with me – we’re all there watching and listening to something come together from the nexus of artist, audience, and venue. It’s like making love: when it’s good, it’s so good, but when it goes wrong, hopefully we’re all able to laugh about it.”

You can purchase Michael’s music from Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-want basis, like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter. For more information visit his blog.

These gigs currently alternate between Chris’s frontman duties with grunge pioneers Soundgarden and his highly-rated acoustic tours, encapsulated on last year’s Songbook album (although, in my opinion, it could have been a lot better). So, with the announcement of UK dates (recently expanded to include Scotland and Ireland), I thought it appropriate to take a look at the surprising amount of gear behind these acoustic shows.

Guitars

Chris's acoustics: note the tuning stickers on the sides (photo: niceguyollie)

With acoustics, Chris tends to gravitate towards Martin. He has to bring a hell of a lot of them with him wherever he goes too: his penchant for unusual tunings usually requires at least half a dozen or so guitars per night. These include [low to high] DGDGBC for Like Suicide, as well as EEBBBE for Seasons. Chris also uses a Fender Telecaster for Badmotorfinger-era tune Mind Riot, which offers perhaps the most awkward tuning of all: DDDDDD (EEEEEE on the original recording). Yeesh. As much as I love the guy, I’d hate to be his guitar tech.

Amps

Divided By 13: real good-looking amps (photo: niceguyollie)

Cornell’s gone all boutique amp-wise, taking a few cues from his ex-touring guitarists Yogi Lonich and Peter Thorn and making fine use of a Divided By 13 FTR 37 with matching 2×12 cab, miced up with a Shure SM57. I can’t be 100% sure whether he’s running the acoustics through this or just using it for the occasional electric tune, but, whatever he’s doing, his tones have been fantastic on every night of the Songbook tour.

Pedals

Chris's tasty selection of pedals for both acoustic and electric (photo: niceguyollie)

Considering his reputation for being a vocalist rather than a guitarist, Chris clearly knows his stuff when it comes to pedals. He runs two pedalboards, one for acoustic and one for electric. The acoustic board consists of an Ernie Ball volume pedal, Boss FRV-1 reverb, TU-2 tuner and a Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre acoustic preamp. Electric-wise, there’s a Menatone King of the Britains, Electro-Harmonix HOG, Digitech Jamman, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man and MXR 10-Band Graphic EQ, all powered by a Dunlop DC Brick. It’s an impressive selection and one that ensures Cornell’s acoustic shows are so much more than just, well, acoustic.

Okay, that’s the fanboy-a-thon over with for now, at least until I cover Soundgarden’s current gear in a future post! Thanks to niceguyollie over at the Harmony Central gear forums for the photos. EDGG over and out.

However, the most intriguing aspects of Rhodri’s guitar playing come courtesy of his work in solo project Ratatosk and rock duo Right Hand Left Hand. Both are uniquely dynamic and intricately layered, with looping forming the primary impetus for both acts. I was lucky enough to sit down with Rhodri, talk gear and film a performance of new Ratatosk composition The Ni’ihau Incident.

Like his music, Rhodri’s influences are an unusual blend of the traditional and the avant-garde, with the likes of Johnny Greenwood and Nels Cline contrasted with Guided by Voices’s Doug Gillard and Kavus Torabi (Cardiacs, Monsoon Bassoon). Nowadays, however, Rhodri has a clear stipulation for new influences. “I like inventive guitarists,” he says. “By this point I just like people who surprise me! Everyone plays guitar so the whole thing can get stuck in a rut.”

Guitars

While he’s been using the same electric guitar for some time, the number of options it has on offer ensure Rhodri never gets stuck in a tonal rut. The axe in question is an Aria Pro T-500 Thor Sound and you certainly don’t see too many of these around, which is frustrating considering how customisable it is: Rhodri took the time to demonstrate its myriad series/parallel switches and lo-/hi-cut filters and the effect on the sound was, at times, fairly dramatic.

Rhodri onstage with Right Hand Left Hand and his Aria Thor Sound (photo: Pippa Bennett)

However, there is one switch that sees more use than the others. “My favourite part of the guitar is the overdrive switch,” Rhodri says. “It’s got a hell of a kick to it when it comes in, which is a big part of the Right Hand Left Hand sound. If there’s anything with any distinct nastiness, it’s usually that switch.”

Also notable is the tuning Rhodri employs: it’s [low to high] CGCGBE and he uses thicker strings as a result. “I love the sound of detuned guitars,” he says. “It’s easy to do barre chords because you only need one finger down to get a really gnarly sound.” That sound can be heard to full effect in any number of Right Hand Left Hand recordings, filling out any missing bass frequencies with a growl and a snarl, enough to scare away any naysayers.

Amps

While he loves his guitar, Rhodri is pretty clear on the importance of amps. “I think the best investment I made was my Orange [DT30 Dual Terror] amp,” he says. “I always liked Orange amps just because I saw Steve Malkmus use one. Nobody liked him so I wanted to be more like him!”

It’s lucky Rhodri chose the dual channel version of the Tiny Terror: that amp has to be versatile, especially when Rhodri’s playing with a few different acts. “If I’ve got a couple of different instruments running through it – like for some bands I use a pedal steel and guitar for the same thing – I set up an A/B switch and switch between those two sounds,” he says. However, when you’re a guitarist who also keeps organs, synths, a zither and a saw in your music room, channel-switching is likely to be the least of your onstage problems!

Pedals

Again, Rhodri isn’t shy of playing favourites with his pedals, in this case the Ibanez DE7. “Delay is still one of my favourite things, ever since hearing Mogwai do the multiple note kind of thing with tons of delay,” Rhodri says, before launching into a solo rendition of New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 1. “That’s the sound I copied for years and years and years when I was in Vito,” he laughs.

The rest of his rig consists of a Boss TR-2 tremolo, Digitech Digiverb, Burford Electronics Robot ring modulator, Boss RC-50 and, oddly enough, a Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver. “I’ve always liked it when bands like Kyuss run their guitars through bass amps,” he explains. “So when I’m not using an amp I need something to give it that little bit of an edge.”

Rhodri's pedal setup, for both Ratatosk and Right Hand Left Hand

There’s also a background behind the Burford Electronics Robot, which tends to get used more on vocals than guitar. “There are a couple of songs from the sixties which use ring modulator really well,” Rhodri says, before putting on a few tunes by Jodi Henske and Jerry Yester. “It’s so sinister. When we were recording the Right Hand Left Hand album, I actually played this to Charlie [Francis], who was recording us, and told him to make me sound like that!”

Of course, it’s the RC-50 which is Rhodri’s primary love since, without it, neither of his current projects could exist. His looping epiphany came courtesy of a Matt Elliot gig at the Barfly in 2001. “He did this looping apocalyptic folk style stuff and it blew my mind,” Rhodri enthuses. “I hadn’t seen anything like that at that point.

Rhodri's well-used Boss RC-50

“In the wrong hands looping music is the most boring thing in the world, but in the right hands it’s amazing. Matt Elliot’s the only person I’ve seen who’s got the balance between songwriting and looping down. It’s very hard to mix the two together because repetitive looping doesn’t make for good songwriting.” Judging from Ratatosk and Right Hand Left Hand’s exquisite compositions at both ends of the dynamic spectrum, we’d say Rhodri’s found the perfect balance.

You can hear Rhodri’s playing with Ratatosk on Bandcamp and follow him on Twitter. Right Hand Left Hand’s debut album Power Grab is also available via Bandcamp and you can follow them on Twitter too.

Steev and Simon onstage at Clwb Ifor Bach

As is becoming a running theme with many of the artists covered on EDGG, Fender is the brand of choice for the Glaswegian axe-men. Steev uses a white Fender Stratocaster, while Simon complements his guitar partner with a red Fender Telecaster. Amp-wise, the pair were utilising Orange TH30 Thunder heads, with matching PPC212 2×12 cabs: these proved to be sturdy, reliable tone machines onstage and for the audience.

Simon's EHX heavy 'board

Finally, the boards, as is so often the case, are where the magic happens. Keen Errors fans will note the excellent pun here [the band’s latest album is entitled Have Some Faith in Magic]. Simon was sporting an impressive lineup of Electro-Harmonix pedals, including a Memory Boy, POG 2, XO Worm, NYC Big Muff, Little Big Muff and Cathedral, as well as a Boss TU-3, DS-1 and DD-3 and an MXR EQ. These were all powered by a T-Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon (bar the Worm, whose awkward 24V power requirement necessitates a wall-wart, but sounded excellent as a leslie-esque rotary emulator).

Steev's pink-labelled pedals

Steev, on the other hand, opted for a simpler setup. EHX still reigned supreme with a Small Stone, Little Big Muff and Cathedral on his board, but a Boss TU-3 and DD-3 also made an appearance, as did a Dunlop Cry Baby and, unusually, a cheapo Chord CH-50 chorus. A T-Rex Fuel Tank Junior powered all this, while an ABY box allowed Steev to switch to a Boss RC-30 (not shown) which controlled synth loops and overdubs.

So there you have it: Errors’ guitar rig for 2012. With all the keyboards those guys have to deal with, it’s not surprising they keep it so simple but, my word, is it effective. Less equipment means there are fewer opportunities for errors too (sorry).