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 with Pontus Sköld (Wildness).
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing when I was 11, my best friend’s older brother had an electric guitar that I borrowed for a while. Then on my 12th birthday my dad gave me my first own guitar, a dark blue Cort Stratocaster. I still have it somewhere.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
I think Thin Lizzy, Van Halen, AC/DC and Extreme have been the biggest influences on my playing. Ed and Nuno taught me the value of rhythmic and percussive playing, while my love for guitar harmonies is thanks to Gorham/Robertson. But loads of other players have had a huge impact on my style of playing – Eric Johnson, Warren DeMartini, Pete Lesperance, John Sykes, Andy Timmons, Gary Moore… Yeah, it’s a long list!
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have around 12-13 or so right now, I think. I’ve always been a Strat guy, and I‘m a sucker for the over-the-top super strats from the 80s. I’m a big fan of vintage Kramers and I have a couple of those as well. Most notably my 1986 Kramer Pacer Deluxe in Flip-Flop Pink with a maple fretboard. All original, too!
My most recent guitar is a black late 70’s style strat that I had custom made by MJT and Musikraft. This has been a dream guitar of mine since I was a teenager and this year I was finally able to get it. It has Gotoh hardware and DiMarzio Area Series pickups and so far I’m loving it!
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
The perfect guitar is the guitar that feels right when you pick it up. Don’t focus on how expensive it is or where it’s made – if it feels right, it feels right. You can always upgrade
the pickups or the hardware or whatever if you want. For an example: For the past 2-3 years my main guitar was an Indonesian made Squier Vintage Modified 70’s Strat that I bought used for $250. It looked just like the strat I’ve always wanted and it was really cheap so I thought „Hey, why not?“. It felt incredible from the moment I first picked it up and I played it all the time. Meanwhile my custom $2.000 Warmoth (a beautiful Koa Superstrat with super-high quality parts) was hanging on the wall gathering dust for most of the time… Makes you think!
When it comes to amps, I favor practicality over authenticity. I don’t want to lug around a big Marshall stack or a 2×12 combo. That’s the reason why I exclusively played a Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister for many years – It’s small, sounds great, has built-in effects and lots of other practical features. And these days the amps keep getting smaller, keep getting new smart features and keep sounding better every year… I love it!
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
These days, I personally don’t think it matters anymore. I love the sound and feel of tubes as much as the next guy, but modellers these days are so advanced that you can get so close to the original amps that you probably couldn’t make out the difference… I sure know I couldn’t. And why would you say no to that, haha!
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used a couple of different guitars. For most of my rhythm parts I used the Warmoth I mentioned earlier, but that one’s sold now. My solos were recorded using a Squier (the cheap one!) and my beloved white „Swan“. It’s this weird superstrat made from a bunch of different parts, and I’ve had it for around 10 years or so. Easily the guitar that I’ve been using most, both live and when recording. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the surrounding restrictions I had to record the guitars from home, so I used software amps for all of my guitar parts. Mainly Overloud TH-U and Mercuriall Spark. However most of it ended up being reamped through other plugins in production, so I’m honestly not sure what was used in the end.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
Of course I would like to say that I’d go for my new black strat, but if I can only bring ONE… I have to go with the Swan. We go way back, and I don’t think it could ever be replaced. It truly is a one-of-a-kind guitar.
