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 Laurence Jones.
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing guitar at the age of 7, my dad actually had a classical guitar, one he got from an antique shop and he used to strum the chords to me and i was jealous that he could play better than me. I told him „you got to show me how you do that“, playing about 10 chords, and finger picking and all that. So he taught me that and then i started to have classic guitar lessons at the age of 8 and got my first guitar, it was 50 pounds from a second-hand antique shop in England and it was a free quarter-sized guitar. It was small cause i was obviously small myself.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My favorite guitar players are the classic blues rock guitar players, from Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robin Trower, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, I love that British blues invasion and how it took the blues further. Especially on the rock side of things. I love bands from Led Zeppelin to the Groundhogs, Pink Floyd, so really combining the two genres together from the guitar playing element and songwriting, from the rock side i think it’s a really great combination.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
So i own two guitars, I have one piano black PRS Silve Sky SE, and I have another one which is the blond one, which is absolutely beautiful. I only take two guitars out on the road with me. You’ve got me thinking now about which guitars I own! I also have an acoustic guitar and a classical guitar, with which i did all my school with. I finished school with a distinction with it! So I’ve always kept that. And I have another guitar, a Martin, electric-acoustic, and that’s a really nice guitar which I tend to write a lot of songs on. So I don’t really have a big collection, I used to in the past but I realised if I don’t have a lot I’ll pick them up and play them more.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
For me it’s all about the way that it feels in your hands, and how heavy a guitar is. And how good quality it’s made, same with the amp. I look for the build quality, where is it made, what factory is it made in, when was it made, how do they make them, what’s the purpose behind the models and what style are they representing. So it’s different things that I look for. I’m using the Marshall Origin 50 watt amp and a 4×12 stack amp at the moment, together, and that’s a really great amp. It’s very versatile, it’s a clean platform where i use my pedals to get my sound on stage, and distortion. And then with the PRS guitars, it’s different for what they do, it’s more classical sounding, a bit more vintage, but still meets that modern style.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I always go for a tube amp, with my music I like to try and do things the old school way, I can’t get to grips with computers and getting modulations on stage and fake amp sounds hah! I come from that old style, like Eric Clapton, you plug in your guitar and you use your fingers to make it happen. But I understand why people do it, you can get all these different sounds and plugins. It just doesn’t appeal to me, I like the amp to warm up and for me it has a real authentic sound, nothing beats a real guitar amp for me.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used the Marshall Origin 50 on the record, i used it on the previous record as well, but it was funny because i had a 1980s JMP 50 watt combo with the reverb, very rare, there’s only about 300 made, I started off with that in the studio, and the engineer, Adam at Marshall, said we’ve got to use the other amp as it’s coming across way more clear, it’s modern, the clarity on it is very good and it comes out full Hi-Fi so the way we recorded together in the room was very vintage. But i guess the way it sounds more modern is through these amps and guitars. So we went for the more modern option on the amp front, and I’ve ended up touring with it for the last three years so i can’t seem to put that amp down! And the guitars are the PRS Silver Sky SE. I’ve linked up with PRS Guitars Europe at the start of the year and they’ve sent me some guitars to try out and I’ve fallen in love with them. I ended up coming out to meet them and trying them properly and sitting down in the studio, so they’ve been very supportive of me as an artist. They’re a great company and so many good guitarists play them, Santana, John Mayer with his signature guitar. I use the SE model which is quite affordable – that’s what I like, to try and prove a point. For me, for that price point that’s the best guitar there is.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
I’d have to take the Martin electric acoustic. I ended up buying that off my fiance before she was my fiance, and then she moved in with me! So i ended up buying the guitar for nothing, which was a funny story, haha. It’d be that one as it means a lot to both of us.
