“I LIKE VINTAGE. THE GUITARS FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE A STORY”
BLACKBERRY SMOKE’S FRONTMAN CHARLIE STARR DISCUSSES HIS LOVE FOR OLD GEAR AND WHY ONE PICKUP IS SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED…
You have quite the guitar collection. Are there some that you just can’t put down?
I’ve had a real affinity for Les Paul Juniors since I was a young man. I bought a 1956 Junior back in 1993 and fell madly in love with it. It was the first 50s Gibson I ever owned and I was hooked. So I’ve scoured the earth looking for good ones. I’ve had a TV Yellow ’58 for a couple of years which is the most recent. I have a new acquisition as well and it’s not a Junior. It’s a 1964 335 that belonged to an old man in Kentucky and the original case still has his receipt in it. He bought it from a music store there and paid $350 for it. I paid considerably more...
What do you love about Juniors and single pickup guitars?
I got really accustomed to playing the old ’56. It was the only guitar I owned for a long time and forced me into searching for different types of sounds. You start to use the tone knob more. Where you pick the string - all that’s relevant with a single pickup guitar. Also with Esquires, there’s not another set of magnets involved to steal signal, ferocity and tone from that one pickup. I’ve had vintage Telecasters and Esquires and the Esquires always win!
Do you always buy vintage?
I like vintage. The guitars feel like they always have a story. The 1964 335 was completely covered in nicotine when I got it. It looked like it had been in a barn out of the case for decades. As it was being cleaned up, the smell of cigarettes was just pouring out of it!
That was very romantic to me.
What about pedals?
I’ve got a Klon Clone, called an Aluminum Falcon, it’s really fantastic. I have an old Echoplex EP-3 which is one of the best I’ve ever heard. I only took it out on the road once - I didn’t want it to get destroyed! Now I use a Belle Epoch Catalinbread and Wampler Faux Tape Echo. Real tape is the key but those come really close!
Do you have any other secret weapons for getting that ‘Southern’ sound?
I have a ’90s stock Fender B-bender. I think they call it the Nashville B-bender. They made a lot with the three-pickup configuration but this one has only two. I’ve used it on every record since our third. That’s it on Lonesome For A Livin’ on the new album. I’d seen those Merle Haggard Telecasters - the Tough Dogs - with binding on the top only. I thought it was cool, so I painted some on. If you see pictures of that guitar, it’s not real!