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 the band „Plaguemace“
Who am I interviewing?
Anton Holm Smidstrup (Ant)
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
Been playing guitar since I was 9, 15 years in total! My first guitar was a second hand Squier Bullet Strat, production year unknown. It has shitty pickups, but it was actually great to play!
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
I am a huge fan of Joshua Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, etc..) His ability to write quirky odd riffs and his instant recognizable tone is pretty sick. Love the way you can just hear it’s him playing! Same thing with Matt Pike (Sleep, High on Fire) He almost fights his guitar and is a pentatonic maniac… The king of tone and feel imo.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
Esp Eclipse hollow body (1996), Squier Bullet Strat, Fender Musicmaster (1975), Reverend Manta Ray Kyle Schutt signature (customized). My main guitar is my trusty Epiphone Les Paul from 1993. I’ve upgraded the hardware, refretted the things and swapped the original bridge pickup with a Bare Knuckle pickups Warpig.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
Depends on the situation. But power and watts are always important for me. I like powerful clean amps for Plaguemace, since the distortion we use are pedal based. I use a lot of different amps, but my main one for the moment is a Crate GT3500H. It’s obnoxiously huge and 300 watts makes it a beast. Great clean channel and face melting Cannibal Corpse tones on tap!
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
Personally, I would never use modeling amps. They just don’t cut it for me. There is something about the presence in the sound that’s not quite the same, even though many modelers sound amazing. It is also not so rock n roll not to have a wall of amps bursting;)
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
The Epiphone Les Paul is used for everything. I use 2 amps on the album, the Crate GT3500H for sloppy oversaturated tones and an Orange Thunderverb 200 for the valve punch.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
That’s tough, but I would play with my Epiphone all day anywhere! It has an awesome neck, extremely fat frets, and a crushing high output pickup… what’s not to like?
Who am I interviewing?
You are interviewing Crob, keeper of the lowend in Plaguemace (bassplayer) 23 years old at the moment, probably a little older next year 😉
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
I started a long time ago when I was around seven or eight years old. I went to a music school concert where my big sister was playing, and the principal of the school asked if anybody in the crowd would like to start on the double bass. My dad looked at me, said he used to play bass and asked if I wanted to start, surprise I said: “why not.” The first bass was a rental which I had for a few years, the smallest double bass you can get. My first electric bass was a cheap no-name short scale, one of those where you get both an amp and a bass as a pack.
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
Since I started on the double bass most of my early influences have been jazz, funk and in general classic big band music. Through the years I have played all jazz-standards. When it comes to fav bass players from heavier music – I have to mention Jeff Matz from High on Fire, I can’t play anything like him but i really like his style. Also, the almighty Al Cisneros from Sleep and OM, his way of playing is so unique, his style wouldn’t fit Plaguemace but I really enjoy listening to him walk around the fretboard.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
Throughout my life I have only owned three basses in total, at the moment I have two. The bass I use for everything is my dad’s old Santana lawsuit jazz bass from Japan. I think it’s from around the 70’s or 80’s. I’ve put in a pair of Lace Transensor pickups and some thick strings, and that’s it. The other bass is almost not worth mentioning, it’s an old double bass that does not play.
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
For me the perfect bass is the Santana, what makes it perfect is probably the fact that it’s the only bass I really have played, I know that bass like it is a part of my body and that’s why it’s perfect. When it comes to amps, I have a few and I like them for different reasons. The two I like the most is my Orange AD200 mk1, which has the warm tube sound not the loudest but the sound of quality. The second one is my Acoustic 370, an old solid-state amp with extreme POWER. It gives you the opportunity to make an earthquake with your bass and your amp which i really enjoy.
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used two amps on this album, one clean and one dirty. The clean amp is my Acoustic 450 solid-state working horse, an old 70´s amp (I think) with too much power. The Acoustic 450 is also the amp I use when we play live. I love that old amp. The other amp is my beloved Orange ad200 MK1, a one of the kind tube amp. Most people know the ad200 mk3 which has been mass-produced, but Orange ad200 MK1 was the original one point-to-point wired. I used an Ampeg 8×10” where the top 4 speakers were run by my Orange and the bottom 4 was run by the Acoustic. On my pedal board (aka the ground) I had my Boss tu-3 for tuning and splitting my signal. I used Tech 21´s OMG Overdrive to give the spice for the ad200. I only have that one bass, an old Santa jazz-bass (my dad’s old bass) it´s set up with Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky strings and Lace TranSenor j-bass pickups.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
As mentioned earlier, I only have one bass so that’s the one I will take!
Who am I interviewing?
Simon Truelsen
When did you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I actually started on bass in 4th grade. I then switched to guitar when Andreas (the vocalist) and I started back in the summer of 2019.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
Uhhhh that’s a tough one. The first few that popped into my head was David Davidson from Revocation. And after that it was Dean and Toby from Archspire. I listen to a lot of tech death metal so I think that is the reason I was them.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have 5 guitars. My favorite to practice on is the Ibanex RGA42FM. And my favorite live is the Epiphone Gophic with EMG HZ.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
Something that is reliable and Orange amp but have the ump of the Peavey
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
It isn’t something for us but totally get why people would go that route.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
Crate – Thunderverb – Anton
Peavey Ultra – Orange crush – Me
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
The Ibanez just because it is so damn good to play!
