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 „The Lunar Effect“ (Jon Jefford (guitar) and Brett Halsey (bass).
Who am I interviewing?
I’m Jon Jefford, I play guitar in the Lunar Effect
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing guitar when I was 10. I had lessons for about a year then carried on by myself. My very first guitar was an unbranded acoustic. I then had an Encore electric. My first main guitar that I got when I was 11 and still have now was a Yamaha Pacifica 112
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My main influences are bands like The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Nirvana. There are obviously many more but they are have always been my go to bands. As for guitarists, My favourite growing up was Slash, but now it would probably be Ronnie Wood, Dave Gilmour or Jack White.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I own four guitars. A Fender Custom Telecaster. A Gretsch 2622-p90, which is my main guitar now. I also have a Simon and Patrick acoustic and my old Yamaha Pacifica, which I mentioned before.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
The perfect guitar and amp is the one that the guitarist feels most comfortable using. I generally find the simpler the better.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
In an ideal world tube amps are the best. If you have people to carry them and maintain them for you. If you are doing all the hard work yourself and are limited on space, then that’s where modelling amps or pedals come in. They have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
On this album I used both my Gretsch and Fender to double track the guitar parts. I used a Orange TH30 head, with a generic cab for most of the album and a Fender Hot Rod IV for some of the double tracks
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
My Gretsch, all day long.
Who am I interviewing?
You are interviewing Brett and I play bass in The Lunar Effect
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
I first started playing bass as a stand in for the band whilst they found a permanent bassist, turned out to be me after a month or so. I do remember my first bass. It was a 70s lawsuit Columbus Jazz bass copy that I bought unseen from eBay. I still have it although I’ve pulled frets out since and converted it to fretless.
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
Besides the obvious influences like Zeppelin, Free and Deep Purple from my teenage years, I now listen mostly to motown, neo soul and jazz. My favourite bass players are definitely John Paul Jones, Jaco, Pino Palladino, James Jamerson are my all time favourites. Sam Wilkes, Joe Dart and Tim LeFevbre are my favourite more recent players.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
I only have the 3 basses and they’re all Jazz bases. A P bass is definitely the next bass I will get, I’m always checking Reverb and the like for an 82 JV serial Squier P. Fender Jazz and P are without doubt my favourite models, I do kike some of the Musicman stuff as well.
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
To me the perfect bass and amp would be a P bass with old flatwounds (at least a year old but the older the better, my current set have been on about 3 years now) into an Orange AD200 for live as it has great bass response and has a really punchy lower mid range which is where I try to get most of my tone from. It also gets really warm early break up which makes a great platform for adding a couple of extra layers of overdrive and/or fuzz live. For recording I like to use something a little smaller and like an Aguilar or hopefully by the next record I’ll have an Ampeg PF50T purely for recording.
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
On this record I used a Jazz bass that I built myself a few years ago from scratch which I put some Radioshop Pick Ups 62 Jazz Bass model pick ups in. I used an Aguilar Tone Hammer 350 for basically everything on this album that my friend Ben kindly lent me.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
At the moment it is the same bass that I recorded this record with and the one I’ve been playing live shows with for the last few years. If I get a JV P Bass with flats that might change things a little. Or if I can save the money up for an Olinto or Moolon P bass.
