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 Ida Haukland (bass), Marius Silver Bergesen (guitar) and Tor Ole Byberg (guitar) from the band TRIOSPHERE.
Ida Haukland (bass)
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
Sure! It was back in the early spring of 1998, and in addition to playing guitar in a couple of bands, I started playing bass in a kind of prog metal band. The very first bass I played was a 5-strings Rickenbacker copy that one of the guys in the band had borrowed from someone. I saved up money for some months and then bought my first own bass on New Year’s Eve in 1998. This was a black Washburn MB5 Mercury series, and that’s been the only bass I’ve played all the way up until 2014! 😊 It’s not an expensive bass, but the sound in this is just amazing, and in many ways it’s still the best one I have. And perhaps more importantly; I used this one on the album recording for our upcoming album!
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
Well, I started playing the bass because it just seemed like a fun thing to do, and I kept playing for the same reason. I’ve been lucky enough to have always played with really good and inspiring musicians that has made me want to keep getting better. And when it comes to favorite bassplayers that certainly have been inspiring to listen to, I’ll mention Billy Sheehan, Geddy Lee, Les Claypool and (in more recent years) Henrik Linder from the Swedish band Dirty Loops.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have four 5-strings basses; my first Washburn + an identical twin of it that Marius found for me for sale maybe 10 years ago, an ESP LTD F-415 and a one-of-a-kind prototype Amfisound Routa bass. Both the LTD and the Amfisound have a custom finish that I had done after getting the basses. And as I mentioned in the previous question, my first Washburn is a great bass that always will be a favorite, but besides that one; the Amfisound. Both because it plays really well and looks amazing. However, because of it’s v-shape it’s quite long and therefore have a HUGE case that makes it a bit of a challenge to travel with 🙂
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
I have to admit that when it comes to equipment, I’ve never been very eager on testing alternatives. For me and the bands I’ve played with in both the past and with Triosphere, I early on found a sound I loved with my Ashdown rig (pre- and poweramp + cabinet with 2 x 10” and 1 x 15 “), Washburn bass and Tech 21 SansAmp (Programmable Bass Driver DI), and just stuck with that 😊
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
As mentioned, I used my Washburn MB-5 Mercury series bass. It was recorded with a split DI-signal, giving one clean DI-track and one through the SansAmp. During the mix in Fascination Street Studio by Jens Bogren, the DI-signal was re-amped using a Darkglass pedal, Ampeg SVT amp and an Ampeg 8×10 cabinet.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
It would certainly be my first Washburn! No doubt about that 🙂
Marius Silver Bergesen (guitar)
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing guitar two months before I turned 13. I got my first guitar from a relative who saw me playing the piano at my parents house, and more or less just said „You play piano? Really? You should be playing the guitar!“ He was a supercool guy a few years older than me with long hair and a motorcycle, and he was a great rock drummer. Pretty much the coolest guy I had seen, and when my parents and I went to visit his family a few months later, he was a man of his word and actually gave me his electric guitar. It was a 1977 Ibanez Silver Series Stratocaster, and I still have it. It was love at first sight for me, and that guitar didn’t leave my hands for as long as I was awake for years after that😊I remember going on a vacation to sunny Spain with my parents the following summer and coming home even more pale that when we left wintery Norway. I didn’t have time to go to the beach or try the pool even once while we were there, playing my guitar was far too important! 😊
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
I would say one of my first influences was Slash. I have a brother who is quite a bit older than me, so I was introduced to some of his music at a really young age. He actually hated Guns n Roses, but his girlfriend loved them, and had a bootleg of a liveshow that she showed me. I wouldn’t say he is a big influence on my playing necessarily, but he definitely made me want to be a guitar player. He was just so damn cool! 😊I still think his playing on songs like „Estranged“ is just pure magic! As for my favorite players, I would say Ronni Le Tekrø has been a huge inspiration for me, and also Gunnar Andreas Berg and Terje Rypdal. All those are Norwegian players that are unique, amazing, and showed me that it is completely possible to become a world class player even though you come from a small country and not one of the music capitals of the world. Apart from those three I really liked Zakk Wylde and Nuno Bettencourt when I was younger, and learned a lot of their stuff in my formative years.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have around 20 top of the line boutique guitars. I love both of the classics, the LP and the Strat, but for modern playing I think it is hard to beat Suhr and Prs. I also love Amfisound guitars, and have three of them which I have toured all over the world with, but they have become hard to get unfortunately, and the guy who made our guitars is not making guitars anymore as far as I know. If you can find one though, they are amazing.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
For guitars it is a combination of a few different things. First of all, it needs to play well. For me, the fretwork has to be on point, and the intonation and tuning stability needs to be flawless. But, there is another factor and that is the mojo. There are some brands that are perfectly built, but just in my opinion lacks mojo. It’s hard to say exactly what that means, but I guess if you have a guitar that you can’t put down, and that makes you wanna pick it up and play every time you see in on the stand, that’s the best guitar for you. For amps, I am actually still mainly playing my very first real tubeamp, a one-channel Jcm800. I love it!
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I feel that it is just a matter of choosing the right tool for the right gig. I love tube amps, I have a big collection of Marshalls, plus a 5150, an Engl and a Hughes&Kettner. My main amp, like I mentioned, is a one-channel Jcm800, and that is the amp I have recorded all my albums with. However, both me and Tor Ole have been touring with modelers for years and years now. For festivals and fly-dates it is just the best option. There is no way we can bring our own heads to such shows, and renting backline is just such a gamble. More often than not you will end up getting a head with bad tubes, or noise-isues etc. So what we do is that we bring our modelers, and still order rental-amps, but we only rely on those for stage sound by running the modelers into the return of the effect loop, while running direct to FOH. When we have the chance we do bring our own heads, but the setup we travel with is so dialed in now, that even in those cases we run direct to FOH.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used two amps, the Jcm800 which has been on all the 8 studio albums I have done(including all four Triosphere albums, and also what I did with my previous band), and a Jvm410h. My speaker of choice is always a Greenback.
For the guitars on this album I used two Prs guitars, a Suhr Modern and my Amfisound Routa.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
That depends a bit. If you mean I can only choose one guitar for a studio session, I will bring my Suhr modern. If it is for a liveshow, I will bring my Amfisound Routa. If it is for a writing session with my bandmates I will bring an old Prs guitar that I have(that one has actually also been on all my studio albums, along with the 800 amp). Lastly, if you mean that the house is on fire and I can only save one guitar, it will be my Ibanez Silver Series, my first guitar will also be my last guitar 😊
Tor Ole Byberg (guitar)
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing guitar when I was thirteen. We learned some basic chords in school, that made me want to learn how to play like my favorite guitar players. My first electric guitar was a Stratocaster copy called Hondo that I bought from a friend. Still got it.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
Influences and favorite players have changed through the years. When I first started listening to rock & metal, it started with TNT, Europe and Metallica. Later I discovered a whole lot of great bands and artists. To mention a few, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Extreme, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Steve Vai. It’s hard to pick one favorite player, but some of the ones on top of my list are Jimi Hendrix, Ronni Le Tekrø, Steve Vai and John Petrucci.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I think I have around 15 guitars, counting both electric and acoustic ones. My two favorites that I definitely use the most, are my Amfisound Routa and my old PRS ce24.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
In the endless quest for the perfect guitar sound, we have tried out ALOT of different amps and modelers. I think nothing beats the feeling of cranking up a tube amp to the point that you really can feel its punch. But in a live situation there are several reasons to use a modeler. Stage volume, easy setup, size/weight when travelling etc. Have been using fractal audio modelers for years, love them!
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used the EVH 5150 III and two different PRS guitars for all of my recordings on the latest album.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
I would definitely choose my Amfisound.
