Swamp Music
A closer look at the vital ingredients behind The Magpie Salute’s wall of sound…
Rich 1. Gibson ES-335
“This guitar I recently bought in Chicago because I’m always up for getting more 335s. It’s ’68 and when I played it, I got that feeling right away... it generated a sound that was pleasing. It’s one of my favourite new ones.”
2. Gretsch Falcon
“This Black Falcon is something Gretsch made for me with a few tweaks here and there. It’s got TV Jones pickups and is literally one of my favourites; a real go-to guitar for me. I would use it on songs that need more of classic Gretsch sound… I had it back in the Crowes for songs like BadLuckBlueEyesGoodbye or GoodFriday. The guitar has a crispness to it, but when you turn it up there’s a real bite too. A lot of my favourite guitarists play Gretsches: Neil Young, Stephen Stills, even Malcolm Young used to bust out a White Falcon.”
3. Gibson Le s Paul Goldtop
“The Goldtop, like my other 335, was in the flood. It got destroyed and was totally rebuilt by a company called RS Guitarworks. It sounds better than it ever did! It doesn’t make sense how seven feet of seawater flooding my space and a 10-month drying period did that. They found the age-specific pickups, wound in the classic 50s PAF style, and it came back sounding and playing better than ever. I made Shake
YourMoneyMaker on that guitar, that’s how long I’ve had it. I bought it for $400 in Atlanta back in 1988. It’s a late 60s Gibson, right when they started making Les Pauls again after a period of Les Paul SGs. They used the same wood from the 50s in the warehouse. The bodies were cut and never used, I guess there was a falling out with Les Paul or whatever. When they started remaking them, there was a bunch of leftover bodies from the 50s. It’s like a ‘68 50s reissue!”
4. RR Boost
“This is made by the same people that restored my Goldtop. They took the actual paint from that guitar, because you could pretty much peel it off with your hands, and they mixed it in with other things and sprayed it onto that!”
5. Vox AC 30
“This is one of the hand-wired models like then ones I toured a lot with in the Crowes. I love the way they sound, whenever I can get one – I’ll use it!”
Marc 6. Asher Electro Sonic Neck Thru Goldtop
“This is a model that Bill Asher came up with after I was already working with him on what would become my signature model. I fell in love with it immediately – how it felt and how it hung off my neck. It felt like guitar. Technically I guess it’s a Firebird of sorts – one piece of wood down the centre, no neck joint and then two sides laminated on. It’s like a Les Paul without the cap or arched bit. The scale length is in between Fender and Gibson, which gives it a unique voice.” my
7. Satellite Amps Eradicator
“This pedal is made in San Diego by a guy called Adam Grimm. He’s like a dragster guy – and the stuff he makes is just like a dragster. It doesn’t need bells or whistles, it just works. This thing is practically a tube amplifer. So if I get a rental or backline amp that’s beat to hell, I can slam it into submission with a nice front-end gain.”
8. Be arFoot Re d Booster
“This was a prototype brought to me when I was playing with Ben Harper. I’ve been using it forever.”