All These things That I’ve Strummed

Dave guides us through the gear he’s using for the inaugural UK run as a solo artist…

1 Gibson Explorer

“I decided to leave my old Ibanez Destroyer at home because it’s quite valuable and I didn’t want it to get messed up on the road… plus I love Explorers. I own about three in total and there’s something about having that big piece of wood, which might just help when it comes to tone! They look cool too, which doesn’t hurt. It could be the James Hetfield in me, all those hours spent learning songs of Kill‘emall like Seek&destroy. I had a chance to buy a Korina model about 10 years ago, but it was really quite expensive. Now I wish I could go back and get it!”

2 Gibson ES-335

“I own a few 335s including the black one I used to play a lot. I always need a hollow-body with me, some songs just sound so much better using them – for me, it tends to be the cleaner ones, while for the dirtier tones I’ll pick up a solidbody. In The Killers, I would use a 335 for solos and on certain stages it wouldn’t be a problem, other nights it would feed back. So I started backing off or moving away from the amps whenever I found myself panicking about the noise. I prefer my 335s a little brighter and louder, with stock pickups kept in.”

3Gibson

Le s Paul

“I use this for my own tuning – my tech calls it the ‘Keuning tuning’ because it’s the one I made up! I share a Tele with my other guitarist as a backup in case one of us breaks a string, which is also in the same tuning. Les Pauls tend to work well for it and this one must be about 10 years old. I have about four or five Les Pauls and 80 guitars in total – which includes five basses, 12 or so acoustics, a mandolin, four or five dobros… it’s about 50 electric guitars and then basically a bunch of other toys on top!”

4 Fender Hot rod Deville

“I’m still using Hot Rod Devilles, I’ve stuck with them since the early days of The Killers. I have a ton of great amps, but this one I keep coming back to because I know exactly how to use it. There’s a beautiful clean and then a full dirty or half dirty, which is really convenient. Surprisingly, not a lot of amps offer that! I use it with a Roland Jazz Chorus because that’s the best clean sound out there and very 80s!”

5 Fender Princeton

“I also have a Princeton, though sometimes I’ll bring my cheaper Mustang amp to save dragging it out. It’s full of pre-recorded sounds and I stick with the Princeton setting... those things will really make you think twice about how real digital can sound. Plus, if you want to sound like Judas Priest, you can at the touch of a button!”

6 Roland Jazz Ch orus

“I’ve always liked the Roland Jazz Chorus, it’s the best clean sound out there and very 80s-ish.”

7 Strymon Big Sky Multi dimensional rberator

Reve

“I use this for about two or three songs, there’s a setting I made with chorus and delay together. It’s very unique sounding, and I kick it in for The queen’s finest, which will be on my next record, and Restlesslegs. It’s my quick answer to anything that needs to sound dreamy or shimmery.”

8 Strymon Sunset Dual Over drive

“I use this primarily for leads, there are a lot of settings I still need to explore because I’ve just kept it on the first one I liked. It’s really great for solo playing.”

9 Digitech Whammy DT

“Whammy pedals have been around for a while. I really liked what Tom Morello did with them. I use the octave for Boataccident and I have found this is by far the best one for me. Occasionally, though, I might just kick it in, just for fun!”

10 Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster

“This boost is just something my tech recommended. We only use it on certain nights where we need it, on the fly, if the room sounds a certain way. It’s good to adjust whenever we need, almost like an overall EQ.”

11 Ernie Ball Volume

“This gets used a lot! I might use it to control that feedback from the hollowbodies on the fly or just turn myself off. When I start an intro, I might rock forward on it. I have the tuner, which kills everything, but sometimes that’s too much. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing!”