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A minute’s all it takes to find out what makes a great guitarist tick. Before he jumped into his limo for the airport we grabbed a quick chat with Grammy-winning Australian rock legend, Rick Springfield.

Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, actor and more, the multi-talented Rick Springfield.

GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without?

RS: I use medium Fender basically but I rub the edges along the strings and notch the pick so it pulls on the strings a bit. It’s like playing with a metal pick. I get them made in Australia and they do great graphics on them.

GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be?

RS: I’m not a pedal guy unless I need a bit more hang time on the notes. I prefer to match a guitar with an amp for the sound. In the studio I use a 12-watt Morgan amp a lot and sometimes need a bit more growl so I put any good distortion pedal in front of it. There is also the awesome wah-wah pedal that I still love the sound of.

GT: Do you play another musical instrument well enough to do so in a band?

RS: I play a mean blues harmonica but sadly not well enough to be able to solo more than two or three times. Not enough licks. I’ve played keyboards in a band and bass but that’s all.

GT: If a proper notation music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?

RS: Absolutely ...not. Thank god for tape recorders and small digital recording devices on our phones. I have a pretty good ear though and can get stuff pretty fast.

GT: Do guitar cables really make a difference? What make are yours?

You’d have to ask my tech that one.

GT: Is there anyone’s guitar playing, past or present, that you’re slightly jealous of?

RS: Pretty much everyone I hear I wish I could play that well or know those scales or have that sound. But I have to say I don’t really get jealous, I’m more kind of in awe. But there’s Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Brian May, every jazz player on the face of the earth... and of course Django Reinhardt.

GT: Your house is burning down: which guitar do you salvage?

RS: It would be my 1969 Gibson SG. The fires have come close (I live in Malibu which is fire central) and that is the one guitar I put by the door. It’s the only guitar I have from my teen years. I bought it new in ’69 and it has been with me all over the world. I’ve written songs on it, played it on records and even used it in a movie (Ricki And The Flash).

GT: What’s your favourite amp and how do you set it?

RS: The Morgan boutique amp I use in the studio. I just twist knobs ‘til I like the sound. On the road I use Marshalls and Bogners.

GT: What kind of action do you have on your guitars?

RS: I actually like my action to be a little high because the early guitars I learned to play on all had crappy high actions. If it’s too low my fingers slip off the notes.

GT: What strings do you use?

RS: Ernie Ball Paradigm on the electrics because they resist breaking a bit more and I play pretty hard. And Elixir bronze on acoustic, 0.52 to .011 gauges.

GT: Who was your first influence to play the guitar?

RS: Hank B Marvin, of course. I was living in England as a kid when I first fell in love with guitars so it was like all British kids of that era, Hank B!

GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after?

RS: A red Fender Strat. The one Hank played.

GT: What was the single best gig you ever did…

RS: The Nürburgring in 1985 with U2. 250,000 people. It was insane. Also Live Aid was a biggie.

GT: And what about your worst playing nightmare?

Playing to three people (who were only there to get drunk) in 1975 in Florida in a bar. Horrible.

GT: What’s the most important musical lesson you ever learnt?

RS: To face the audience when I play live. At 15 I was so shy I’d play in bands with my back to the audience. I got over it.

GT: Do you still practise?

RS: I do, but it’s usually involved with songwriting.

GT: Do you have a pre-gig warm-up routine?

i was livin g in en gland when i fell in love wit h guit ars so it was like all britis h kids , hank b!

RS: No. I just strap on a guitar and hope for the best.

GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, who would the other players be?

Paulie McC on bass, Hendrix on guitar, Keith Moon on drums, Keith Emerson on keyboards, Elvis as lead vocalist and me as the faithful roadie.

GT: Present company excepted, who’s the greatest guitarist that’s ever lived?

Jeff Beck possibly. And Hendrix.

GT: Is there a solo by some other guitarist that you really wish you had played?

RS: You Really Got Me by Dave Davies of The Kinks. At 13 years of age it blew my tiny mind. Also anything by David Gilmour.

GT: Which solo or song of your own are you most proud?

RS: Judas Tree solos off the new CD, The Snake King. And song: My Father’s Chair (from 1985) and Orpheus In The Underworld off The Snake King.

GT: What would you most like to be remembered for?

RS: Not being a complete dick.

GT:What are you up to at the moment? Gigs, albums, etc...

RS: New album The Snake King (have I mentioned it enough yet?), a matching tour, sold-out cruise in March, TV gigs coming up and writing a new novel.