Listermania Neville Marten

Recently got to try his P-90 LP through Aynsley Lister’s high-gain wet-dry rig, and relive the wonders of the ‘dodgy’ 70s Strat

Now, I don’t want to bore you with why I now have a Les Paul Goldtop with P-90s, so I’ll just say I traded the Jazzmaster for it. It’s actually from the first ever run of 12 Tom Murphy aged ones, ordered by a big Japanese dealer in 2000. Mine was made just before Tom started secreting his initials in the cracks on the top, but it has been verified by GuitarGuitar, from where it initially came, and double authenticated by World Guitars, from whom I got it.

Anyhow, I love it. But – the usual ‘but’ with a P-90 guitar – it’s pretty darned noisy. So, chatting to Aynsley Lister about his gig at the Cheese & Grain in Frome (where Macca recently played his infamous pre-Glasto show), he said, “Why not bring it to soundcheck and try it through my rig at decent volume?” Great idea!

Aynsley’s setup has changed a lot since ThatPedal Show’s Mick Taylor helped him sort out a few choice pedals, and devise a ‘wet and dry’ two-amp rig to give him a huge, expansive tone that works amazingly in the trio format. He uses his signature Rift amp dry, and a Fender Vibroverb reissue, wet. His band is seriously impressive, with Craig Bacon on drums, and Jono Martin on bass and backing vocals. You must definitely go and see them when they’re playing near you.

While Mick was helping Aynsley with his sound, they inevitably talked about guitars and played each other’s instruments. It was then that Aynsley turned him on to 70s Strats. These guitars have everything ‘wrong’ with them – big headstock, bullet truss rod, three-bolt ‘tilt’ neck, polyester finish, 184mm (7.25-inch) radius neck, cast saddles and small frets (although both their guitars had larger wires installed). BUT! Find a good one and they really do scream. They can be very light in weight, too, and those dull saddles tend to take away any harsh top-end. I know all about 70s Strats, too, since a black ’76 was my main guitar for many years. It was wonderful and I wish I still had it. Mick and Aynsley both sounded immense, Mick with an ES-335 and 70s Strat through his new Two-Rock monster. They didn’t play too shabbily, either. But no, before you ask, I don’t need another Stratocaster…

Slippery When Wet

Thinking of Aynsley’s wet and dry setup (which Mick also uses on big gigs) and how it works so well within the context and space of a three-piece band, I recalled how Eddie Allen and I both used huge stereo sounds in Marty Wilde’s band back in the 90s. Don’t laugh, but I had a Boogie Triaxis programmable preamp, a Mesa Fifty/Fifty stereo power amp, and two EV ‘Thiele’ ported cabs. An Alesis Quadraverb GT provided even more over-the-topness. Eddie used a Simul-Class Mark III Boogie with a Boogie Satellite amp, linked up with his own Quadraverb.

On one memorable occasion we played at Blackpool Tower ballroom, but our regular gear was on a different backline truck. So, out of necessity, I pulled out my 1982 ‘wicker front’ Mark II Boogie, and Eddie did something similar. You know what? We couldn’t believe how tight we sounded. The big room provided reverb, and without our ping-pong delays flying all over the shop, we could actually hear what we were doing. Our then keyboard player had a similar stereo ‘wall of sound’ approach, and we deduced that, in a relatively big line-up such as this, there’s really no sense in us all working in our individual stereo worlds. So we scaled back down and have been mono ever since.

Of course, stadium-filling big groups might be a different kettle of fish, as the PA will be immense and they can call the shots – not just a couple of backing guitarists like Eddie and me. Also, that was 20 years ago, and today’s wet and dry thing doesn’t necessarily mean a complicated, overwhelming sound; it seems more to do with clarity, like a super-duper version of using your effects loop, perhaps. But it did make me wonder what my much smaller Matchless Lighting might sound like dry, against my Deluxe Reverb, wet. Hmm… See you next time.

“In a relatively big line-up there’s no sense in working in individual stereo worlds. So we scaled back and have been mono ever since”