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BEN'S TECHIE PAGE!!! (work in progress)
| This is my world. Lots of
lovely guitars, lots of strings, fancy chromatic tuners and totally secret tuning info.
Anyone who has ever tried to work out a Hipslinky song on guitar will know that it is not
quite as straight forward as you would hope. Almost every song has something weird thrown
in. Every guitar has a different setup. Hence all the tuning changes and a very busy
guitar tech at most gigs! It’s a bit of a juggling act making sure the right guitar
is cued up perfectly for the next song, as well as tuning a spare in case Wally needs me
to throw a replacement at him mid-song if he breaks something drastic. All this whilst
trying to keep an eye on what is going on out on stage, and holding Jon down at those
moments when he tries to take off from the drum riser into the crowd. It’s a tough
life on the road with Hipslinky, but someone has got to do it. |
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| Walter’s Guitars: | |
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This truly is spectacular. The Gretsch White falcon. They kept
Walter waiting for this guitar. Every day seemed like an eternity. Every day was hell (for
me!). We all know how Walter’s voice can be: deep and sensual, soaring like an eagle,
shrill like a dentist’s drill! So many flavours. Listening to Wally when a guitar
delivery is late though is no picnic people. Finally, after lots of pining and
wining……. it came. The box opened, the angels sang and everything was good in
the world. Not even the HGP could ruin that day. Walter spent a few days in a room alone
with the white guitar. Walters White Falcon is a 2003 re-issue of the |
The Falcon has a massive range of tone, so Walt is
able to use it on really diverse live tracks including “Natural”, “So
Cold”, “Taking it Back”. |
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| This is the Fender Lead-ii
(c.1979-1982). One of “the black guitars”. It is a guitar made for small people
and girls. Walter has one. However, despite
it’s size/gender ambiguity, this guitar rocks. The sound has a distinctive aggressive
cutting quality courtesy of its in-out phase pickup switching. It can be seen on stage in
the hands of The Slinky’s front man on tracks such as “Always” and
“Running Away”. It
is one of those items which was once given “on loan” by a very generous investor
in the band which has never been seen again by that poor misguided soul! |
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| This is the G&L ASAT. It is another of
“the black guitars”. It’s black. It’s heavier than it looks, and what
it has in weight it certainly matches in guts. This is a rarely seen version of the Tele,
and we don’t know why because it drives power into everything. It has p90 style
special high output pickups and is an early Leo Fender logo version c.1986. Leo sold
Fender in 1965 but stayed on to develop new designs until 1970 when he became a partner in
Musicman. In 1980 he set up the new G&L company where he developed this ASAT, which is
viewed by many as the ultimate telecaster. This guitar can be seen live on “Had it
occurred to you?” and is used on most stuff in the studio. |
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Walter needed an acoustic
for live versions of English Smile and So Cold. It seemed appropriate to go with another
Gretsch. Nice dark sunburst too. Walter’s
other guitars (some of them anyway) In the studio, Walter also uses a selection of choice
instruments to get that sound: |
This is a customised Epiphone Modern Riviera Studio model, with
Bigsby and Grover Imperial machineheads. It’s a bit of a head-turner. Wally gave it to me for live guitar lines. You probably
won’t hear it on CD releases as the sound is not as pure as some of the other
guitars. But it sure cooks on stage, especially with its solid/hollow construction for
extra sustain and feedback, and the custom Bigsby whammy bar. This beast comes out for
live shows on “English Smile” and “Taking it Back”, the new single!
There were a few technical problems with buzzing when the Bigsby went on, but these were
solved with super-hi-tech electrical skills, and a spare length of guitar string. Look
out! |
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These are the lap slides. The
National is solid metal. I used to use this for live shows. It is a death trap. It was
made back in the 1930’s or something. The electrics have never been overhauled as far
as we know….. . When I move it, it makes clanking noises, and threatens to
electrocute me! After many attempts on my life, the boys agreed to replace it with, yup
you guessed it – the Gretsch lap slide! It was my birthday present last year. It is a
faithful repro of the original slides Gretsch made all those years ago. No danger of fatal
electrocution, and a killer sound! Sweet. This only really comes out at acoustic shows now
on songs like “Midnight”, “Sunday Morning”, “Blackened
Heart”. |
Raph’s Bass Guitars:
These are Raph’s bass guitars of choice for the road.
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A lovely Fender Precision
Bass in sun burst. Totally a classic. But then I like sunburst. Raph customised this one
with a tortoiseshell scratch plate which makes it look extra-special. I’m sure it
makes it sound sweeter too. Raph’s spare is a Squire, in black, also with a tortoise for a scratch plate. Somewhere there is a tortoise feeling very sorry for itself. This spare rarely gets used as Raph is not in the habit of breaking strings on stage (although it has happened!). I wish Walter would take a leaf out of his book. Raph does possess another fender P Bass. It’s clear blonde with a black plate. It is quite stunning, and would certainly add a little spice to my guitar rack. However, Raph favours the Squire as a spare. He says he might ding the Blonde’s lovely tweed case if he brings it out too much. …. Raph !?!?!?!?.. and anyway, the Squire’s colourway matches the sunburst P-Bass better…… WHAT?!?!?!?!? Whatever. The squire is a rare and sought-after model. Suffice it to say, Raph has a few treasures tucked away which do not often see the darkness of the tour van, or the bright lights of the stage. When DO they come out we ask ourselves……….. Perhaps in the bedroom…..? |
Jon:
| JB uses a Pearl Masters
custom limited edition kit. in Silver sparkle, with Steve ferrone signature snare. Jon
prefers Zildjen cymbols sticks. He bashes the hell out of his kit, and likes to do it half
naked. We have to tape his gear to the floor. If we don’t the kit physically leaps
forward and threatens to crush Walter and Raph. Some believe this is Jon’s homicidal
complex manifesting itself against those closest to him. This condition has its origins at
an outdoor festival a couple of years ago when an entire light rig toppled in Jon’s
direction. Dedicated to the end, he continued drumming. It was only Angus’ and my
body weight which prevented certain death for him… just. The other danger everyone
must keep an eye out for is the splintered remains of Jon’s sticks which come flying
at about 100 miles per hour at every gig. It’s like the house of flying daggers! Be
on your guard. He once experimented with some “unbreakable sticks”. In
jon’s world, these shattered quicker than any others… ever. . |
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James:
James has the most technical set up- so technical that I usually
try to steer well clear of it. There are all sorts of magical digital gismos and gadgetry,
as well as classic analogue units. He is of course responsible for all the strange and
beautiful sounds which swirl and spike throughout.
There is a Fender Rhodes, a Nord
Lead 1, a Hammond Module and various Pods and slave keyboards. We did used to carry a full
sized Hammond Organ around with us. That thing was amazing. The sound was grand and
grinding. But it was a pain in the arse to set up, pack down and carry anywhere! It was
massive. Anyway, enough beating around the bush. This is the gear he uses:
Live: Line 6 (Purple thing) Analogue delay pedal |
...and in the
studio: Upright acoustic piano Roland Juno 6 Crumar Stratus Nord Lead Rack Novation SuperNova Roland XP50 Hammond X5 'suitcase' portable with transistor 845 Leslie cabinet Leslie cabinet 147 with preamp for independent amplification Laptop with Reaktor Session All Logic plug-ins - B4,Sculpture,Ultrabeat, EVP88, EVB3, EVD6 vintage instruments, ES1, ES2, EFM1, ESM, ESP and ESE synthesizers........... YADDA YADDA YADDA (too many to list). |
I said it was technical!
| © GENIUS TWIN RECORDINGS 2005 |
