Photo by Jaakko Manninen
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 Tomi Koivusaari, guitar player of Amorphis and BJØRKØ.
Photo by Jarmo Hänninen
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
– I started at age 12, after seeing ”I Wanna be Somebody” video from Sky Channel. I just had to get guitar and start my first band. My first guitar was very cheap Stratocaster copy ”Shiro Sprinter”. I remember when I went to music store and only guitar I could afford was that. There was very famous Finnish prog-guitarist Jukka Tolonen visiting that store and I asked him is this any good. He said it was, haha. I guess he was a friend of the owner. I can’t remember where I sold it back in 80’s but would be great to have that hanging on my wall.
Early days 1990
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
– My very first influences came from bands like Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Accept… Later on my taste went harder, Metallica, Slayer…Then Morbid Angel, Carcass…then suddenly 70’s progressive rock, bands like Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Camel…If I have to name one favorite guitarist that would be David Gilmour.
Photo by Ossi Neijonen
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
– I’m not sure how many of them there are really, they are all over the flat, rehearsing places and so on. Maybe something like 15 electric guitars and a few acoustic ones. Mostly Custom ESPs, some Gibsons and couple of Fenders. My favourite model is customized ESP Eclipse Model, before that I was using Gibson Custom Les Paul so the shape has been the same for long time. I also like telecaster model but I use that more rarely.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
– You know when you take the guitar to your hand if it is for you or not, just how it feels, thickness of neck and so on. Next thing is of course how it sounds, keeping tune and so on. Amp is pretty much the same, you just hear if it is good to play and even more if it inspires you to play. With these elements makes them perfect plus that they are trustful and good quality. And if it looks great even better!
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
– I use both. I always use tube amps on studio, and that is like ”the real thing” to me. On shows I use modeler because they are handy, you can get always the same sound (don’t have to worry about tubes getting old), especially because we use ear monitors so the sound is always ready and always the same every gig. Not to mention that we can carry always our own modeler amps when have fly to some festivals because they are so light and small. Other choice would be rented from the festival and you never know the shape they are, broken tubes or whatever. Both have their places.
Photo by Jarmo Hänninen
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
– I normally trust my 2 fav guitars on recordings, ESP Custom Eclipse and Gibson Custom Les Paul. On amps it is really a lot about what the producer wants, but of course I have to like it as well. Last album I used mostly Fortin Meshuggah-SIG AMP. Sometimes it’s mixture from 2 different amps. Mesa Boogies are pretty much used as well in past.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
– I ’d choose 2 for 2 reasons. Other one is my wooden color Custom ESP Eclipse, which I have used and still use the most in recordings and gigs. It just feel the best, even though I have tried to custom similar guitars for spare if something would happen this guitar. It’s great individual. Other one is my oldest guitar, black Gibson Les Paul Custom from 1987. I played nearly every Amorphis shows and recordings with it only for the first 15 years, it has lot of emotional value for me.
