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 Toby Knapp (Onward, Waxen)
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing guitar at age 10 and my first guitar was a Harmony acoustic. I was taking lessons and got discouraged because I couldn’t play the F minor chord. My grandfather upgraded me to a 60’s Beatles style Vox and a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. When I was 14 I was so blown away by Jimmy Page in the „Song Remains the Same“ concert movie, I became determined and have been playing since.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My influences are Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, Uli Roth, Yngwie Malmsteen and pretty much all the albums Mike Varney released on his Shrapnel Records label, which I was fortunate enough to be a part of.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have about 25 guitars, mostly Fender Stratocasters. I also have some good Squier Stratocasters and Telecasters plus a cool Tokai Explorer. My favorites are a Japanese Lake Placid Blue Standard Fender Stratocaster from the 80’s, a late 90’s Vintage Sonic Blue Standard Fender Stratocaster equipped with Dimarzio Fast Track 2 pickups. Lately, I’ve really been loving this totally stock Cream Squier Stratocaster. I paid under $100 for it and it has such great sustain and an aggressive single coil attack.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
For me, any combination of a Fender and a Marshall. In my early years I had a Fender Strat Bullet with a 12 watt Marshall combo. That’s when I knew what I really liked. The Ritchie Blackmore sound. In the years since, I just upgraded to better Fenders and Marshalls. For a long time I used a 70’s Fender Stratocaster through a 70’s Marshall 50 watt Tube amp head. I wore both of them out.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I go for the transistor amps and sometimes the tube/transistor hybrids like the mid 80’s Marshall Mosfets. I love those. I use a couple AVT 50 2000 heads and recently picked up a Marshall Origin head that sounds really good. I’ve accumulated a large selection of Marshalls of all types through the years.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I’ve been recording with the guitars mentioned earlier; the Squier Stratocaster for solos and the Vintage style Sonic Blue Standard Fender Stratocaster for solos and rhythms. It looks like a Buddy Holly Strat. Many guitarists have inquired about what I used on the new Onward album „Of Epoch and Inferno“. Nobody believes I was using a stock Squier Stratocaster, Ibanez Tube Screamer and recording direct line in to the recording unit with a Marshall Valvestate Head.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
That’s a tough question! I would probably keep the Vintage Buddy Holly style strat because it can deliver a single coil bite or a razor sharp rhythm tone with the Dimarzio Fast Track pickups. It’s not my favorite, but for working it’s the most practical. I prefer the standard 3 single coil setup but sometimes the rhythms need a bit more aggression if I’m playing Thrashy type stuff.
2023 is another busy year with a new Waxen album coming on Moribund Records, the new Onward album will be released by Alone Records on vinyl and I’ve just finished an instrumental EP for Shredguy Records. I’m already working on new music as well. Thanks for the interview!
