The neck is maple, of course, and rift-sawn where the grain is at a diagonal to the headstock face
The Charlie Christian pickup sounds very clear and detailed, and the notch in the blade underneath the B string helps to balance out the sound
This 1959 Gibson ES-175D has 50s-style plain-top flared-base ‘bonnet’ knobs and an amber-hued Catalin switch tip
I’ve had a Tobias Killer B six-string for many, many years, and that’s my primary bass
Cheese is on my rider and I eat it guiltily. Life would be pointless without cheese
Hinged ‘zigzag’ tailpieces with tubular piping were standard on ES-175s by 1957 until the end of the 60s, when they reverted to the original ‘three raised parallelogram’ pointed trapeze type
I’m really clear about my position as a bass player. I try to make it feel good
Intention is where we diverge. The aim of the song? Only the writer knows that
I have drum nerd friends who have all of their kits set up and they polish them everyday. I’m not like that at all
I get to do a solo on one of the new songs called Diamond Ballgag, a solo with the worst guitar sound imaginable
’59 ES-175D with nickelplated PAF ’buckers and a four-ply bevelled pickguard. The pickup selector switch has a round rubber grommet to dampen noise under amplification
The tonal quality is fairly digital sounding, but that shouldn’t be taken as derogatory. They bring to mind ’90s-style house or classic electro, and paired with the filter and effects, each engine sounds great
The OP-Z is unlike anything else on the market right now. TE might have another cult classic on its hands here.
Lightweight, quick to respond with a fully open and satisfying tone, fast to set up and break down. Ideal for frequent weekend warrior use
A P-Bass going through a Hiwatt amp, to me, it’s the best distortion you could ever want
The fixed attack speed leveled off sharp plucking, or percussive pick sounds, while the OTA added sustain and brought the guitar forward in mixes
In the worst place you’ve ever been in your life, there is somewhere to run and it will cheer you up
This bound rosewood fretboard features double-parallelogram mother-of-pearl inlays, logo and crown mother-of- pearl headstock inlays, with a black-on-white laminated bell truss rod cover (from 1958)
I was obsessed with the drums when it came to recording before. Now the obsessions were being directed elsewhere
I always try and serve the song, but if it’s your sole focus you’re always going to try and tow the line a little bit
I had a ’57 Les Paul Junior and also a ’57 Gold Top, but I sold them in the 80s. If I had known then what I know now, I’d never have done it!
I broke four strings at once one time. I don’t know how it happened… We didn’t have a backup guitar
This rare ’65 ES-175 has a Gibson Johnny Smith-style adjustable ebony bridge with mother-of-pearl inlays, as opposed to a regularproduction adjustable rosewood bridge
The first record that really hit me was Deep Purple’s Machine Head, and the first song I ever learned to play was Space Truckin’
Paul Bigsby, Ted McCarty, Dinah and Fred Gretsch and Fender Musical Instruments Corp. all have one thing in common, an unquestioning dedication to product excellence over the long haul
Fred Gretsch
The tuners look great, feel really smooth and would be an excellent upgrade to the American Professionals
The Fab Tone is a great card to be able to pull out of the back pocket when you absolutely, positively have to destroy every f**ker in the room
All three versions of the tremolo sound true to the original in-built amp versions
Compared to most of the guitars that were around at the time it’s very manageable and comfortable
My pedalboard basically has five different fuzz boxes. The [British Pedal Company] Zonk Machine is my go-to fuzz
The second version of Gibson’s ‘Charlie Christian’ pickup from the 1930s had a notch in the blade underneath the B string to balance out string volume, as on the ’65 ES-175 pictured here
There were right-handed guitars around the house. So I just picked it up, and it didn’t even occur to me to swap the strings over
I see people looking down their noses at professional footballers at the highest level. Most people will never comprehend or understand the amount of time, effort and sacrifice those individuals have put in to get to that level
I’d spent my childhood and formative years with their music, and I knew it
It’s always been in my nature to run the show
It’s taken me a long time to be comfortable in my own skin because when I was younger I would always second-guess everything I did
I give a caveat for my less-than-stellar soloing, and say that when I pick up the instrument, ostensibly to play or practise, I usually end up writing
The beauty of the past few years in Berlin is because I'm not 100 per cent living there, I don't have 100 per cent of what I need… I don't have a lot of amps, I don't have a lot of pedals
When I got into guitar overdubs, I was able to set up five different amps in the room and mic each one individually
My goal this time was to really try to focus on the brightness of music, the ability of it to heal people, to lift people up
All my favourite artists growing up would put out a record - or two! - per year... I like the idea of creating a body of work
I had inherited some ’visitors’ from that horrible motel… let’s just leave it there, shall we?
Although this ’65 ES-175 is considered to be near unique in its rarity, the regular production 1959 and 1962 ES-175D models below are rare in their own right
Gibson tried to phase the Charlie Christian pickup out after the war with the simpler P-90, but it remained very popular