This article series is about the tools of popular guitarists or bassists.. What are their favorite guitars or basses and how is it related to them? This time with Max Andersson, Max Ljungberg and Dennis Nilsson from the the Swedish action punk band Scumbag Millionaire. Here are three interviews with the boys.
1: Max Andersson (guitar)
Who am I interviewing?
I am Max A, singer and guitarist of the Swedish action punk band Scumbag Millionaire.
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
To be honest I don’t really remember when I started playing guitar. My dad was in a band when I was a kid and he always played the guitar at home so I could pick it up whenever I wanted myself. He had a vintage white 1983 Squire Stratocaster bought in Sundsvall, Sweden in 1984. Which was a reissue of the 1962 model if remember correctly. I remember my first guitar (that I bought for my own money) since I still have it, it’s a Ibanez Darkstone DN500. I lost it for a while though.. It got left behind on tour while in Chemnitz, Germany. A friend of the band kept it safe until we were gonna play there next time but they hade a brake in and somebody stole my guitar among other things. I thought I’d never see that guitar again but years later she found out who stole it and got it back. I was reunited with my first guitar at Stoned From The Underground festival in 2022. Crazy, haha! Thank you Suse! Before I bought the DN500 I always used my dad’s white Strat and I still got that one too.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
Motörhead, The Bronx, The Hives and The Hellacopters I guess. Then again I get a lot of inspiration from old punk, blues and rock n’ roll.
There are so many great guitar players out there, like Fast Eddie Clarke from the number one set up of Motörhead, Cheetah of the Dead Boys and Strings (RIP) of The Hellacopters just to name a few.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I’ve got 7 electric guitars and 4 acoustic. My absolute favorite is my Ibanez Iceman IC400 and my back up guitar on tour is usually my 1983 Ibanez Destroyer DT155.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
The perfect guitar is easy to play and look good, everything else is secondary, haha! The amp should have little to no knobs and sound good. I like the idea of plug and play, I don’t want any obstacles I just wanna rock n’ roll.. Maybe that’s why I still stick with my Orange TH-100.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I like tube amps of course and would not even consider a modeler but I know Tomas Skogsberg that produced our last album Poor and Infamous use modelers a lot and he always get a great sound going.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I can’t really remember but think we used our own amps on most of the recording of All Time Low. Both me and Max L has got Orange TH-100 amps and we tend to use them in almost all recordings.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
When there’s only one choice I will always choose my ol’ reliable, the Iceman.
2: Max Ljungberg (guitar)
Who am I interviewing?
Hello! I’m Max L. Guitar player in Scumbag Millionaire.
I’n doing most of the licks and lead guitar on our songs.
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started to play guitar when I was 13 years old. My mother gave me an acoustic Levin on Christmas. I still own that guitar. My first electric guitar was a black Epiphone Les Paul.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My influences are rock’n’roll and blues players. I really like Chuck Berry, Rick Parfitt, Johnny Ramone, Joan Jett, Steve Jones, Keith Richards and Angus Young. And of course all kind of players who does their own take on the traditional rock’n’roll playing. Euroboy, Dregen, Petter Baarli, Nicke Andersson, Rickard Hellgren, Ruyter Suys and Ian person for example.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I don’t know the exact number, they are spread out. Maybe 5 or 7 guitars right now. My favourite ones are my Joan Jett Gibson Melody Maker and my Greco Les Paul. I also play on a Gibson SG and a Gibson Firebird.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
Almost any Gibson guitar together with a nice tube amp and an overdrive pedal is a great combo. I have been playing my Orange for 10 years and I don’t know much about other amps. Few knobs is good. Same for the guitar, I love my Melody Maker. It only has one pickup and a killswitch instead of a pickup selector. The guitar is based on the 1977 Melody Maker (Double Cut). It also has way better hardware than a standard Melody Maker. The pickup is a PAF zebra burstbucker. I love the sound of it!
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I don’t care much about the question itself. People seem to be so upset about what other people likes or prefer. What ever floats your boat.
A traditional tube amp will always be my goto.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used my Melody Maker on the whole new album. Sometimes I also use the Greco Les Paul for recordings. For my rythm guitar on the new album we used my Orange TH100. And for my lead parts we used a Marshall JCM800.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
My Joan Jett Melody Maker! It’s a fantastic guitar. Very light and durable. Not much that can break. It’s perfect for touring.
3: Dennis Nilsson (bass)
This is Dennis from Scumbag Millionaire!
I am a junkfood eating father and bassplayer, also got talent for selecting wrong lottery tickets and sleeping in the middle of a gunfight.
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
I was around twelve years old when I first picked up the guitar. After a while me and two friends started rehearsing during school breaks. The only problem was that we where three guitarplayers so one of us took the drums and I decided to try some bass.
It felt more natural to me and I discovered that you often have huge parts in songs to jam around riffs to make it feel more ”alive”. I remember my first bass because I still use it as a backup on the road. It’s a black Cort performer series that I borrowed from my dad until he eventually sold it to me for only 70€ (thanks dad). It reminds of a Fender P-bass but less weight and more classic hard rock sound with the Select pickups (designed by EMG).
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
I try to have an open mind when it comes to influences and inspiration. As long as a band has nerve, attitude and groove I will give it a go. But it’s pretty clear in Scumbag what sort of bassplayers that inspired me the most: The ”Lemmy sound” fits perfect for me. Alot of gain, drive and fuzz right in your face. I am also a fan of downstroke maniacs such as Jason Newsted and that punkrock nerve from Duff McKagan. I think the very first bassline that I learned was actually Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix (appears in the solo and at the end of the song). Sometimes during warmup before shows I ”accidently” start to jam around that bassline even til this day. First time I understood that a bass can be the main thing in a riff was probably with a certain song called For Whom The Bell Tolls.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have four basses at the moment. An old six stringed Ibanez BTB-406 from my early metal days. Still use it at home for practice and creating. I also have an Epiphone flying V that you can spot in some of our early music videos including Gotta Move and Full Speed Go. Light weighted and easy to play but at this moment it needs maintance before you can watch me go bananas with it again. The last two is also my favorites: A Cort Performer series that I have for backup live and the main bass is a Rickenbacker 4003. They both kick ass !
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
Without doubt my Rickenbacker. You can’t get any closer to that badass sound Lemmy had.
Then I combine that bass with my Aguilar Tonehammer 500 head together with an Hartke 4*10 TP cabinet and sometimes a Hartke 1*15 XL cabinet depending on how big the space you need to destroy is.
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
My Rickenbacker was the only bass that I used for the whole recording. The head was my Aguilar Tonehammer but I borrowed the studios Ampeg 8*10 cabinet. It turned out great and just as I want it: Big, fuzzy and raw.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
My Rickenbacker. Looks good, sounds great and is more reliable than the earths rotation.
