Anatomy Of A Fuzzlord
Scott Holiday is a fuzz connoisseur withsome unusual tastes
If you’ve heard the last two Rival Sons albums you’ll know Scott has some of the finest fuzz tones around, and it’s been a very natural direction for him to head in. “I don’t use overdrive pedals really,” he confesses. “The only overdrive I use – the Keeley Time Machine – is really a boost. It’s got to be either a genuine amp overloading sound or a fuzz. I’m not into creamy pedal drive, it’s just not my thing, man. I’m really into valve drive or transistors fighting – that’s more my zone. With that in mind he’s got a fuzz armoury at hand…
“I used a [ElectroHarmonix] Bass Micro Synth on this. That’s something new that created a really angry little fuzz tone. And my normal guys too; an old Roger Mayer, a ZVex Fuzz Pro. Most notably I brought in some stuff from by buddy Du [Menegozzo] at Deep Trip Pedals. I brought a couple of those and they’re fantastic. I like all his boxes. I used his new Hellbender as well as the BOG on this record. The Hellbender is all over it. A lot of the stuff I used is what’s on my ’board, I just bring my live stuff in when I’m working. I used the JHS Colorbox on this record and also put that on the ’board.
“I also have some friends from Poland who build me stuff; individual custom boxes. They’re called Karaluch Custom, and every time I play in Poland, these cats will show up with something really beautiful. And they made me this custom box, they called it the Go Ahead Mr Fuzzlord based on Go Ahead John by Miles Davis [Mr Fuzzlord is Scott’s nickname and Go Ahead John was Davis’s collaboration with John McLaughlin, recorded in 1970]. It’s based on this almost-horn-sounding fuzz, so there’s a trumpet on the graphic as well. There’s a picture of me one the bottom. But this pedal sounds amazing and it’s like a really, really compressed bumble bee. I don’t know exactly what it’s supposed to be after but it sounds a lot like the one John McLaughlin used on Go Ahead John.”