Start Guitar & Bass Special Guitar Special Vol. 503 with Mastiff

Guitar Special Vol. 503 with Mastiff

This article series is about the tools of popular guitarists or bassists.. What are their favorite guitars or basses and how is it related to them? This time with the band Mastiff (James Lee-Ross/ guitar & Phil Johnson/ guitar)

Who am I interviewing?

James Lee-Ross, guitar, Mastiff

When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?

I kinda started twice – I got a 3/4 size Spanish guitar when I was about 7 but gave up on it pretty quickly, but then picked my brother’s guitar up of my own volition when I was about 12 and that was it, hooked for life. My first electric guitar was a gold Yamaha Pacifica, a classic cheap starter guitar that my brother-in-law still has as he bought it from me years later, so I can still check in on it, haha. I got it with a Peavey Rage 15w practice amp, which I later learned is actually the go-to recording amp for a lot of grind bands as it pairs so well with a Boss HM-2 (get ready for me to reference that pedal a lot!).

What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?

Like most people my influences have changed over the years, the first guitar player that really made an impression on me was James Dean Bradfield from Manic Street Preachers, his playing particularly on The Holy Bible is so spiky and aggressive whilst still being melodic and hooky. Overall though I would say my biggest overall inspiration and favourite guitar player of all time is Kurt Ballou from Converge. He’s obviously a master engineer so his tones are always incredible, but as a player he’s probably done more for moving hardcore beyond basic power chords and open chugs than anyone else in the past 30 years. Beyond Kurt, I’d say Brian Izzi from Trap Them/All Pigs Must Die is a huge influence on my playing, he’s definitely the king of that kind of modern wave of HM-2 players, mixing Entombed-style riffs with more crust punk/d-beat attitude.

How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?

I only own two guitars and they’re both variations of the same model, which is a Fazley Outlaw series Maverick. It’s a budget brand that I stumbled across online and decided to take a punt on because it was too cheap not to, and I was blown away by how good it looked, felt and sounded. It’s basically a Jazzmaster copy – I love an offset body – I bought a green version of the ‘plus’ model first that has a roasted maple fretboard, and liked it so much I bought a black basic model a few months later. The idea was that the basic model would become my backup, but when it arrived it was actually lighter and looked gnarlier than the green one, so that became my main! I’ve put some new locking tuners on it and I do intend on upgrading the pickups eventually as the stock ones are serviceable if unspectacular, but on the whole I feel like I got away with some kind of crime finding two guitars that look and feel way more expensive than they actually were.

What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?

I think honestly that depends on the player and what kind of music they’re making. For me the guitar just needs to feel comfortable to play, and ideally looks cool because let’s face it, that’s a big part of the appeal of playing an electric guitar to begin with, haha. I’ve always been quite pragmatic when it comes to gear so as long as it works and sounds ok I think that’s enough, I’ve seen more gear-headed people than me drive themselves mad trying to find some hypothetical ‘perfect’ sound. I drown everything I do in HM-2 anyway so I don’t need to worry about nuance!

How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?

Again, I’m not really snobby about gear so I think personal preference is the only decider here. We’ve toured with bands who exclusively used modellers and didn’t have a single amp or cab onstage and they still sounded fantastic, there’s so much amazing stuff that can be done with virtual amps and the idea of not having to drag massive heavy amps around is certainly a tempting one. I’m just a bit of a Luddite who plays in a hardcore band so I still feel comfortable with the tangibility of an amp and a pedalboard, but that’s just because it’s what I already have. If someone wanted to fund and set up a modelling rig for me I’d certainly be fine with it though, haha. For now I’m more than happy with my Orange Super Crush 100, which isn’t even a tube amp! I had an all-valve Bugera 6260 for years which I got super cheap and got me through many tours and recordings, but it died two shows from the end of the tour we did with Avatar last year, and I just wanted something that was a bit less fragile that I wouldn’t worry about getting jiggled around in the back of a van as much. So even though it’s a solid-state, the tone and volume are still classically Orange, so I have nothing to complain about.

Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?

I recorded all of my parts on my green Fazley Maverick Plus, apart from the industrial track ‘Cut-Throat’ on which I played a 7-string Solar A2 that belonged to Phil, our other guitar player. Our producer Joe Clayton had to boost my parts a little as the pickup on my guitar wasn’t quite as hot as the one on Phil’s, but I’m generally really happy with the sounds we got. Amp-wise, we tracked everything through both an EVH 5150 50w and an Orange TH30, I believe what’s on the record is a blend of both signals. The actual guitar sound comes mainly from two pedals – an Abominable Electronics Hellmouth and a custom pedal that Joe had made that was a souped-up and more flexible version of a Dunwich Tyrant, which itself is a boutique HM-2 clone. Me and Phil both recorded through the same pedal chain, but it was tweaked for each of us so his channel was a bit more metallic and crunchy, and mine leaned harder into the HM-2 chainsaw tone, which is 100% my jam.

When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?

If the question is which one of MY guitars I would choose, again it doesn’t really matter as technically they’re both the same guitar! If you’re asking what guitar I would pick out of every guitar in the world, well – if budget wasn’t an option I would definitely love a Dunable Guitar, probably a Cyclops or a Yeti. Aside from the fact I absolutely adore Intronaut so having Sacha Dunable build me a guitar would be incredible, they’re just beautiful instruments with cool offset shapes, and they’re built with heavy music in mind but aren’t your stereotypical spiky ‘metal’ shapes. For basically the same reasons above I’d love a GCI Instruments Deconstructivist, again awesome wonky shapes and you know if Kurt Ballou has his fingerprints on them they’ll be absolute wrecking machines.

Who am I interviewing?

PJ – The rhythm guitarist in Mastiff

When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?

The first guitar I had was a classic Squire Strat copy in black and white that I got when I was 14/15 I think. I’ve had guitars since my mid teens and am 40 now but didn’t really start playing properly (only just) until about 2010 – I played bass and drums (badly) before this.

What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?

I like tough sounding guitar riffs so the guys in Hatebreed were a big influence. I also really like Integrity who mix thrash techniques with more classic punk hardcore. I think these are my biggest influences.

How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?

I’ve currently got 3 and operate a 1 in 1 out policy. They are:

Hagstrom Fantomen in vintage tobacco

Jackson Mick Thomson in Arctic White

Schecter Solo ii Hellraiser in Satin Black

What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?

I like guitars with meaty pickups and fairly flat and think necks. I’ve tried 7 strings and quite like then but am preferring six strings currently. Floyd Rose bridges send me a bit mad!

How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?

I really like my 6505, it’s basic but has the power to punch through. The idea of a modeller is appealing, especially for my lower back, but I’m too much of a computer illiterate caveman to figure one out. I had a Line 6 Firehawk for a bit but found I wasted more time fiddling with it rather than playing.

Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?

I used the Jackson Mick Thomson a Solar t2.6 and a Solar A.2.7. The amps were an EVH 5150 50W and an Orange TH30 blended. I used the Maxon ST9 Pro+ to tighten them up and we used an Abominable Electronics Tyrant (HM2) pedal which I believe was custom built for Joe, our producer.