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 Jack Kosto (Seven Spires, Threads of Fate)
„I want to start by saying that I own a handful of guitars from various manufacturers, and I have no particular love for any specific brand at the moment aside from using what I use. I do truly believe that you can find a quality instrument from any major manufacturer or boutique builder, and everyone’s preferences are different, so finding the correct instrument for yourself that makes you want to play is what really matters!
That said, I’m a 7-string player 99.9% of the time, and the two 7’s I own are both Dean guitars from a few years ago that have since been discontinued. The first, and my favorite that I have never found anything to beat it, is a Dean MAB7 Warrior 7 string. It’s stock from the factory aside from setup adjustments, and I swapped out the EMG pickups for Fishman Fluence Moderns, the Alnico variant in both positions. This guitar was my first 7, and I bought it basically only for the paint job (flames are cool, and you’ll never convince me otherwise)! I realized that the extra string was such a great thing to have and expanded the range of what I was able to do and write musically, without sacrificing the higher range of the guitar that I also use a lot. I’ve not looked back since.
After a few years of using that guitar almost exclusively, my band Seven Spires became more popular and we started traveling further distances and playing much bigger shows, so I decided it would be a good idea to get a second 7 as a backup for touring. I was endorsed by Dean at the time, back before the previous owner, Elliot, passed away, and they still had Rusty Cooley on board as an artist, and made for him this import model called an RC7 Exotic, which basically meant it had a transparent finish and maple fretboard rather than the standard ebony board with his usual graphic. I absolutely loved the aesthetic of that guitar, and knew I had to buy one. I’ve since used it on a few records and at a lot of shows, and it does something the MAB7 does not sonically. Again, I swapped the EMGs for Fishmans.
I really love those pickups and am proud to endorse Fishman as a company. The cutaway on the RC7 lets me go so far beyond the 24th fret that it’s a little ridiculous!
The third instrument I really use often is my newer Epiphone acoustic, I think the model is EJ-200SCE. I became aware of this one via our mix engineer, Sascha Paeth, who’s also a pretty legendary producer, songwriter, and guitarist. If Sascha uses or recommends something, I know it’s going to be good quality. Super old school looking guitar, but really solid modern build quality and attention to detail. It records amazingly well for such a low-priced acoustic.
Any acoustic guitars on our upcoming new album, „Gods of Debauchery“, were done with that guitar. This one is completely stock, it came out of the case playing amazing so I didn’t mess with it!“
Unfortunately, I don’t have any great shots with the acoustic I mentioned, but I did use it in a video that I’ll link down below, as well as two others where I used the other two instruments I mentioned.
https://www.facebook.com/ThreadsOfFateMusic
