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 Billy Morrison (Billy Idol Band).
When did you start playing guitar and do you remember your first guitar?
I first started when I was about 10 years old, and my parents bought me my first guitar which was a Gibson L6S – you don’t see them around now and I don’t have mine anymore either! It was Les Paul shaped and had a six-way rotary control on it to switch coils and pickups.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
I am a child of the punk rock movement, so I was influenced heavily by the British punk rock bands, The Sex Pistols being the main one. When I heard Steve Jones on Never Mind The Bollocks, my life changed. I’ve always been inspired by thick chunky power chords, so Malcolm Young from ACDC and also Ginger Wildheart from The Wildhearts are also huge influences on my playing and my style.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I think I own around 100 guitars, most of which actually do get used. I tend to switch out the 12 guitars that I use each tour, so that most of them get to come out on the road with me. There are a few that I don’t take on the road and they get used in the studio. I have a beautiful 1972 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe with mini humbuckers that sounds incredible and I also have my first real Les Paul – a black standard from 1980 I think. Doug Feiger’s White Falcon is another one that doesn’t get played live.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
I think most of what makes the perfect tone comes from the players fingers! But it’s very difficult to beat the tone from a Friedman head and a decent Les Paul. Right now, my new Knaggs Signature Keya with noiseless Fralin P90’s and my Friedman heads are giving me the perfect tome for the job – on the road with Billy Idol.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I think that each have their place in professional music. I use the Neural Quad Cortex on fly dates and shows that we can’t get our full rig to, and it sounds pretty amazing! I have the Fractal and the Kemper in my recording studio and they sound great. I think you need to understand how to program them and make them work for the song, but for sure the modelers have their place in my world. But I would always choose a tube amp if I have a choice.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used both modelers and real amps on the new record. I have a Friedman-modded Marshal JCM2000 that I used and a Friedman SS Head, but I also used the Fractal AxeFX modeler a lot. Guitars were mostly a Tom Murphy Gibson Les Paul 59 replica, my Knaggs Signature Keya and an Ibanez Vai Jem that Steve had built for me that I love.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
If I can only use one guitar at a show (which would never happen!!), it would have to be my Knaggs SSC Mick Ronson inspired guitar. It is a one-of-one they built for me, based on the Steve Stevens model they do, with a black body and a natural wood top, inspired by Ronson’s Les Paul. It just has something special when I play it and sounds like a beast!
