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 Mick Tucker (White Spirit, Tank).
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I got my first guitar when I was around 14 after seeing deep purple on a tv show in England . My mum got me a cheap acoustic that was impossible to play so I kept trying and trying and eventually got to learn some chords .The next Xmas mum got me a Antoria Les Paul copy that was a dream to play then that’s when the fun started.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your favs?
The first guitar player I got into was Ritchie Blackmoore then I discovered Wishbone Ash, superb harmony guitars also around this time I stated listening to Leslie West (Mountain), Jeff Beck, then Thin Lizzy with Scott Gorham and Brian Robbo, Lynyrd Skynyrd and started to look who all these great players listened to. I got into early Eric Clapton and Peter Green. Later on I got into Michael Schenker and Gary Moore in a big way. I love a guitar player who plays with feel rather than the technical shredder types that have none,and most of all solos that are a song within a song not just mindless playing as fast as possible. Most fave player has to be Gary Moore.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I own 15 guitars and two basses. My black 91 Les Paul Custom I have has been used a lot recently and my white Strat but I love them all.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
I have tried loads of amps but I always go back to marshall ,for years and years my rig was a Marshall JCM800 with my Les Paul plugged straight in no fx just pure cranked Marshall and a Les Paul its the perfect combination a match made in heaven for pure tone.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I have used a Kemper and axe fx for some recordings that sounded good but I don’t think they have catured the valve tone yet .Great for fly in situations if your using lots of fx and pre sets but at most shows I play there is always plenty of Marshalls to choose from so I just take a small pedal board with a mini tube screamer ,mini delay, mini chorus, and mini tuner … job done . Far better and easier to fix if anything goes wrong.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I started of recording the new white spirit album (Right or Wrong )using a axe fm3 that had some good sounds especially the marshall 50 watt plexi so I got everything down with that also using a di Chanel for re-amping later The album was mixed just before xmas at Pontus Norgrens damage done studio in Stockholm Sweden . We re-amped the guitars using various Marshall mini heads and some bigger Marshall heads .Pontus did a fantastic job mixing the album with some great marshall guitar tones. Main guitars for the recording where a 91 black Les Paul custom ,2007 white Les Paul custom and a 2005 white Fender Stratocaster all stock guitars except for the Strat that has Seymour duncan pickups in.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
That’s a hard choice to make but if I had to go for just one it would be the white 2007 Les Paul Custom it has a unique tone ,beautiful guitar to play and I have sed it as my main guitar for a long time.
