Pic:Rae Chatten
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 Jonny Nesta (Thunderor, Skull Fist).
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing the guitar at 13 years old, my first guitar was a Univox, I always wanted a strat though, and I kept on trading it up until I got my first Mexican strat a few years later, which I just had repainted, and I’m psyched to get it back into the rotation.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your favs?
I first wanted to play guitar because I saw a video of Hendrix on tv and it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, but that was so beyond my abilities, and it was the 90s so there was a ton of music that was easier to learn for a beginner guitar player. I started out learing a ton of Nirvana and the Ramones. Then when I got better at picking up songs by ear it was all about Ozzy for me. For favorites there are way too many to mention, but three that I really love are Vivian Campbell, Akira Takasaki, and Nuno Bettencourt.
Pic: Adrian Munoz
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
Right now, I have 4 in playing shape and 1 of those is in dire need of a refret haha, and 2 others that need a refret and some work. But basically, I have 3 strats, 2 les pauls and BC rich Warlock. My strats I play the most, but I have a Gold Top Les Paul that’s an absolute road warrior, it’s the biggest thickest heaviest guitar I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t give a shit about temperature or humidity changes, I just check it onto flights in the case it came with, and I’ve never had a problem, it’s a beast. My pops gave me his 78 Les Paul custom, and I love it, but it’s pretty much unplayable past the 12th fret now, he played the fuck out of it, and had so many fret dressings done over the years there’s not much left, but it’ll be sick to get going again with a refret, it sounds incredible. When I got my first full time job I bought an American Strat, which was always my dream guitar, and that’s the one I have played the most over the years. I got it in white because I was obsessed with The Scoripons‘ record In Trance. Uli was playing that White Strat with this huge wang bar, I thought he looked so fuckin cool and played so amazing. I even got one of my best friends to make me a giant bar for my strat too.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
I think it’s the one that can make you sound the way you want really ha-ha. There’s so many amazing amps and guitars, everyone is after a different sound or look, you just gotta go with what suits you. For me one thing I did when we started touring a ton was, I bought myself one of the most common amps in the world which was a JCM900, not because I thought it was the best sounding amp, but because anywhere you go in the world, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be able to get one if it’s on your tech rider. So, I thought fuck, if I can get a sound I really like with this amp, wherever I go, I can just pack a couple pedals, and not have to worry about fiddling and fussing about with some amps I don’t know. Which is really handy if you’re in a situation like playing a festival and have 2 minutes or less to dial in a sound.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I have always been a real amp person. Especially for live situations. Unless you’re playing giant gigs for thousands of people, the PA’s in most clubs aren’t good enough to make modellers sound right, they always get lost in the mix I find. I don’t know the technicality of it, but basically, I feel like the sound through a real amp and cab is much more tightly focused, and you can place it in a mix and you can get definition and hear what’s going on. But with the modellers they aren’t focused enough, so they probably sound massive on their own, but when other instruments are going all the frequencies the modellers are occupying get eaten up and I don’t hear any definition. Like I’ll hear the guitars pop out a bit during leads, but most of the time it’s not very clear sounding. That’s been my experience anyways. I’m sure they’re making them better all the time, and there’s definitely a lot of positive things about rolling with them. But big amps just look way cooler also.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used my white strat for most of it, and the 78 Les Paul to add a bit heavier rhythm track on a few of the tunes, like Fire it Up where it really needed a thick sound. For the amps I did one rhythm track with my JCM900 and I doubled it with my old Marshall JMP. The leads I did with the JCM and the white strat.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
That’s a tough question. For the last 7 or so years I’ve relied almost entirely on my les paul gold top for live and recording, and it really never lets me down. There was only one tour I couldn’t use it on because it was getting a refret. Lately though I’ve been really loving the strat feel and sound. I’ll have to make the choice when it comes to tour time. I’ve been thinking about trying the les paul with some lower output pickups that I can coil split, but I feel like it’s going to be a last-minute call between the Paul and my Uli strat haha.
