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 Joey Landreth (THE BROS.LANDRETH).
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing the guitar when I was eight years old. My first guitar was a Telecaster knock-off made by a company called Maya. Sadly, I gave that guitar to a friend to have it painted and never saw it again. I would love to find it!
What are your influences and which guitar players are your favs?
My favourite guitar players are Mike Landau, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, SRV, Robben Ford, Aubrey Ghent, Chuck Campbell. That list goes on and on of course! I pull so much from them and from may others as well. I don’t try to sound like any of them on purpose but I love them all so much that I can’t help but tip my hat to them. I like to jokingly say that my sound is just an amalgamation of bad impressions of all my favourite guitar players. Not really a joke in the end!
How many guitars do you own and what are your favourite models?
I have lost count of all the guitar I own… As for favourite models, I love the usual suspects: Les Pauls, Strats and Teles. I also love hollowbodies of the 335 variation. While I don’t actually own any original specimens of any afore mentioned guitars, I do have many clones and love them all (mostly) equally!
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
I’m going to say that the perfect guitar and amp combination always lies in the hands. You can have an amazing guitar and an amazing amp sound awful in the wrong hands and a garbage guitar into a garbage amp sound incredible in the right hands. That said, any classic guitar plugged into a good Fender Deluxe can’t be beat in my books.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I like a lot of amp modellers and don’t mind them in a bunch of settings. I use an HX stomp quite regularly. When it comes to playing my own music live, however, give me a tube amp or give me death:)
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
Guitars:
– Sorokin Gold Top
– Josh Williams Guitars Mockingbird
– Mule Resonator
– Mule Mulecaster
– Collings i35
– Collings OM1
– Yamaha LS16
– Duesenburg B6 Baritone
– Duesenburg Starplayer TV Phonic
Amps:
– Two Rock Bloomfield Drive
– Two Rock JL Signature Prototype
– Benson Nathan JR
– 1960 Fender Super (Brownface)
– 1966 Fender Deluxe Amp (Blackface)
– Revv D20
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
I hate this question! If I absolutely had to choose – life or death situation – I’d choose my Soroking Gold Top. It’s my number one and I love it!
