pic by geldbier
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 SLOPE – Jizzy (guitar) and Joshua (bass).
Who am I interviewing?
Hey this is Jizzy and I play guitar in Slope
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing when I was about 16, my first semi-acoustic was a Yamaha APX 500 and my first electric guitar was an ESP LTD Horizon MH-330FR in Electric Blue. But I could only really play ‘Your Guardian Angel’ from the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I only really started playing for Slope in my early 20s.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My main and original influences certainly come from hardcore. But my influences for writing usually go beyond music and can also be visual stimuli or impressions. I like to translate percussive playing from other instruments, even if that’s just a beat. As for bands: RHCP, Black Sabbath, Alice in Chains, Oz Noy, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, RATM, Living Colour, 247 Spyz, Parcels, Vulfpeck, The Meters, Eddie Hazel, Infectious Groove, Primus, Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes, Leeway, Tool, Pantera, King Krule, Beastie Boys, Mothers Cake, Lucy Brown, I can’t list them all. Guitar players: Hillel Slovak, Jimmy Hazel, Tony Iommi, Luis Peraza, Jerry Cantrell, Michael P. Balzary (Flea) even when he plays bass, John Frusciante, Dime, Adam Jones, SRV and the one and only Jimi Hendrix
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I currently own 3 guitars:
1: Fender Stratocaster HM 1989 – ice Blue
2: Fender Meteora 2020 – Lake Placid Blue
3: Gibson SG 1998 – Glossy Walnut
My favorite models are:
– Fender Stratocaster HM 1989 – ice Blue
– OnGuitars Fink CT & Star 3S
– Jackson RR1 1999 Blue Sparkle
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
For me it has to be well balanced and feel good in my hands. I have to be able to feel the guitar and it has got to have a certain ‘bang’ to its sound. The action has to be right and the strings should feel like butter when you hit them. Everything else is about the sound! The axe must sound warm, fat and yet precise when distorted. Clean it should sound clear and broad. I think the amp should be able to reproduce a warm, creamy, light vintage sound, but I’m not super picky about that. Of course, the sound should fit, but in the end it’s the playing and composition of the music that makes the melody, which should be well conveyed by the AMP. The sound just got to be versatile.
How do you feel about the question of a modeler versus a tube amp?
I love both. I think you shouldn’t be afraid of having less possibilities when buying a modeler amp and being swayed by negative opinions on modelling amps that many people share. New technology like modelers can also open doors for your creative process. Both have their own charm. I resisted buying a modeler for a long time, but I have now been playing a Kemper myself for almost 3 years and am absolutely satisfied. It’s light, versatile, sounds good and is an absolute „no-brainer“ for touring. Besides, one does not exclude the other. At home I also play a Fender Twin Reverb from the 70s with various pedals and that’s just as much fun and a different way of experimenting and playing.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I recorded most of the last two albums with my Fender guitars. Distorted sound with the Fender Strat HM and clean with the Fender Meteora. Separate clean passages with my Gibson SG. In the studio we used a 5150 and a Diezel going through the Kemper. I also had my Fender Twin Reverb modded and an FX loop installed so that I could connect my ADA MP1 preamp directly to the Twin Reverb’s fat power amp. We used various pedals, some from the Kemper and some directly from the board. Boss Digital Delay, Moog Minifooger Analog Delay, MXR Phase 90, Boss Harmonist PS 6, DOD Rubberneck Analog Delay, Supa – Trem2, MXR Flanger and a Lehle Parallel for leveling some of the effects.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
The only guitar I would choose would be my Fender Strat HM’89
Who am I interviewing?
Hi, you are interviewing Joshua, I play bass in Slope and Cendre.
When did you start playing bass and do you remember your first bass?
I started playing bass around 2014 when I joined my first band. They didn’t have a bass player and since I had been playing guitar for 8 years then already, I switched to bass for that purpose. I got my first bass shortly after joining, which was a 2008 Fender Squier Vintage bass. I had new Seymour Duncan pickups installed two years ago and I’m still using it as a backup for my main bass.
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
My influences draw from different genres and players, mostly from Progressive Rock, Post-Metal and Hardcore. As some might tell from my playing, Flea from RHCP used to be a clear influence. However, as my playing evolved, I started digging into different bassists and embracing their riffs, for example Justin Chancellor (Tool), and Juan De Alderete (The Mars Volta). Aside from them, I’ve been taking huge inspiration from Brian Cook (Russian Circles) and Liam Wilson’s style (The Dillinger Escape Plan), who have a pretty unique approach when it comes to finding your own way in the songwriting, tonality and rhythm.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
Right now I own 3 basses: an FGN J-Standard Mighty Jazz Alder bass (late 2010s), a 2008 Fender Squier Vintage JB and I recently acquired a 2011 Squier Jaguar with Jazz/P-Bass pickups. In terms of sound, the FGN JB is my favourite one, but I love the punch from a Jazz/P-Bass pickup combination and playability from Fender Jaguar basses.
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
I rate playability (neck, fretting) a bit over sound. You can always make alterations to your sound at a later point, but the way you can play and use your fingers is more important, in my opinion. Still, having proper pickups and solid low-end is key for your bass sound. A perfect amp should have grid, decent saturation and a good EQ to find your spot in the mix.
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I only used my FGN Jazz Bass on all tracks that I recorded. We didn’t use any amp with a miced-cab set-up so we went straight into the console and the DAW. I played around with some Darkglass pedals in the signal chain but eventually ended up recording through Universal Audio plugins. With them we dialed in an Ampeg-style, saturated tone but also more distorted sounds for certain parts in some songs to get a punchy tone cutting through the mix.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
Out of the ones I own, I think I would go for my FGN Jazz Bass.
Photo Credits: Anthony Chardonnay/Philipp Jeske/ Tobias Müller/ Mathieu Dutot/ Markus Tertocha/ Jonas M. Wenz/ Joshua Müller/ Tobias Müller/ Maxime Hillairaud
