This article series is about the tools of popular guitarists. What are their favorite guitars and how is it related to them? This time with Fateful Finality (Simon Schwarzer – Lead/Rhythm Guitarist and Vocalist, Phil – Bass, Patrick alias Paddy Pro – Rhythm Guitarist)
Who am I interviewing?
Simon Schwarzer, Lead/Rhythm Guitarist and Vocalist of Fateful Finality.
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I start playing Classical Guitar when was 6 Years old. It was a Yamaha CS-60. With 12 Years i started play Electric Guitar because it was way more cooler, louder and aggressive than Classical Guitar. My first E-Guitar was an Ibanez Gio. And Today i’m playing a Framus WH-1 Artist Line. She is a little bit customized with a original floyd rose system vintage copper and noiseless floyd rose springs in red. The pickups are active fishman fluence designed by Wolf Hoffman from Accept.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My biggest influence in sound and articulation is Joe Satriani. In Shredding,Tone-Material and fingering (3 notes per scales) i learned a lot from Paul Gilbert and Andy Timmons. In Thrash Metal i love the Kirk Hammett stuff without the Wah-Wah-Pedal;-) In Riffing i like Ian Scott’s Riffing and the Solo stuff from Rob Caggiano on the Anthrax Records and the Volbeat Records. Last but not least Gary Holt’s Riffing and that Soloing.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I own seven electric guitars: Framus WH-1 Artist Line. Framus Diabolo Teambuilt, Jackson King V, Fender Telecaster (Mexico), Ltd Esp MH 400, PRS Santana, Ibanez Gio. My Favorite Models are the Framus WH-1 and the Jackson King V because of the great playability of the Neck and the look of an intergalactic Weapon…hahaha… I love that shape! These instruments make you want more! And they inspire you a lot, for example when writings songs. My Fender is more for bluesy, clean and funky stuff that i play with my Students or on „Non-Metal-Jobs“. But also really nice to play. I like the neck-pickup sound the most about it.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
As i said before. it must inspire. And when you enter the room, the amp or the guitar must constantly urge you to play. Again and again! It’s that true, you’ve found your perfect Guitar and Amp.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
We have to go with the time. Less weight more and more sound perfection. You can every amp bring on stage. Or in the Home Studio you don’t need a lot of Microphones, a cool sounding Room etc. Plug in and press record. At home i play a Marshall JVM410JS and the fat analog sound is always there and i love it. The modeler still need time to perfectly replicate the true sound of a tube amp. And i think you can still hear the difference when i playing both. one day modeler one day Tube amp. But the people out there in front to the stage or listening on their phones, don’t give a damn. It’s gotta rock.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
All guitars are recorded with the quad cortex from neural dsp. The amp in it is an Engl capture with Jens Bogren IR’s. Rhythm Guitar was a Schecter Les Paul Diamond Serie. Solo and Overdub was the Framus WH-1 Artist Line
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
At the moment my Framus WH-1 Artist Line
Who am I interviewing?
Hi, I am Phil, the bassist of Fateful Finality.
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
We founded Fateful Finality in 2000. Back then, I played keyboards in the band. However, we quickly realized that we didn’t need a keyboard, but we were missing a bassist. So I switched to bass. That was about 2 years later, around 2002/03. Initially with an old bass from the local music club, and after a few weeks with my first own bass, a black Career bass for €200. I had no experience whatsoever, learned a few basics from my guitarists, and then took bass lessons for several years.
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
I really like a distorted yet voluminous bass sound, as often heard in metalcore, industrial metal, or djent bands. We try to capture this sound on record with Fateful Finality as well, which gives our thrash metal even more depth and variety. There are incredibly many outstanding bass players. When I look at my favorite bands, John Campbell (Lamb of God), Reginald Quincy „Fieldy“ Arvizu (Korn), and Adam ‚Nolly‘ Getgood (formerly Periphery) immediately come to mind. Since the social media era, there is also Charles Berthoud (without band affiliation), who is an absolute machine on the bass and a huge inspiration.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
I own 4 basses. The previously mentioned Career. A B.C. Rich Beast – 20 years ago, it had to have lots of spikes and look as evil as possible. Ibanez K5 Korn (Fieldy Signature). Dingwall NG3 Nolly Sig.5 Black Forest.
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
That depends heavily on the situation and genre. For me, my Dingwall bass is almost perfect. Due to the multiscale length, all strings, including the low ones, sound rich and massive. Even when tuned down 1 or 2 whole steps. I haven’t gained that much experience with amps yet, but I can no longer imagine my bass sound without a matching Darkglass or comparable preamp, which simply extracts further sonic facets from the bass.
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
We used my Dingwall NG3 and ran it through the Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra V2 preamp.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
It would definitely be a Dingwall bass. Perhaps the D-Roc „Hellboy“ Limited Edition.
Who am I interviewing?
Patrick alias Paddy Pro, rhythm guitarist of the thrash metal band Fateful Finality
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started off playing guitar on a cheap acoustic guitar that didn’t really have a name or branding. Joying a combo that years later will be known as Fateful Finality, my parents bought me a blue Ibanez RG 270, some time back in 1999.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
I’d say my main influences are Bay Area Thrash and Scandinavian Thrash in general. I love the sounds and riffing of Gary Holt and Ola Englund.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
All in all right now I have 10 guitars for all different purposes incl. backups. My clear favorite is the single cut away (Les Paul Style) by ESP.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
The perfect guitar simply needs to feel right. So especially the neck an overall weight distribution play a major role for playing followed by your favorite pickups. Talking about amps I stick to the high gain machines that offer the sweet spot kind of sound, right out of the box.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
High gain tube amps for sure are the real deal when it comes to the right feeling riffing in front of a full stack or for studio recordings… nevertheless on tour (or even at home) modelers and solid state amps clearly have their benefits.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
To be honest I’m not quite sure. I remember we were experimenting a lot and ending up using what sounded best via blind audition.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
I’m thinking of an LTD EC1000 or ESP EII with Fishmans and an Evertune bridge more and more, but until then I’d stick to my trusty old ESP/LTD EC401 loaded with EMGs.
