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 Jakko M. Jakszyk (King Crimson).
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
My adoptive father had a battered old acoustic guitar that he had in Poland. And it lay around the house. I would pick it up occasionally, but really started to take it seriously when I was about 11 years old. My first electric guitar was made by my father. He was a carpenter. So he copied the neck of his old acoustic and fixed that to a body that was a big solid triangle of solid wood, like a heavy metal balalaika! Went bought a single coil pick up from the local music shop, a tremolo arm that never worked. And I plugged into my dad’s old reel tape recorder which had a option called ‘amp’.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
I loved Hank Marvin before I started playing. But then an older next door neighbour started playing me albums that he had. My first guitar hero was probably Terry Kath from Chicago, who was brilliant. Then I heard King Crimson and became a huge fan of Robert Fripp. I read an article with him in a music magazine and he mentioned someone called Allan Holdsworth. I saw him play live at The Rainbow in London with Soft Machine and was totally smitten. I got to know him too and he showed me lots of things about guitars and amps. He was incredibly tolerant of a teenage fan like me. My favourite guitar player at the moment is Derick Trucks, who I think is incredible.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I own far too many. I love the two unique special guitars that PRS have made for me. The one with the cover of the first Crimson album and the latest one they made me a couple of years ago with an Indian themed collage. Apart from that I have a ‘61 SG reissue that I love and am amazing hand made acoustic by Nigel Thronbury.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
If I’ve learned anything over the years it’s that it got much more to do with your brain, ears and your fingers than it does your equipment. I remember seeing Allan Holdsworth playing in a pub in London using a borrowed telecaster. Guess what?? It sounded like Allan Holdsworth!!! If you can get close to the sound in your head, the guitar feels good in your hands and the amp is responding in the way you hoped. It doesn’t really matter what the equipment is or who made it.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
Well I like both. And have used both. The ‘modeller’ technology is so great these days. But I always try and mess around with a small valve amp like the PRS MT – 15 or a Vox Night-Train when I want to hear and feel the air shift!
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I mainly used my new PRS, along with some PRS Acoustics and a parlour acoustic made by The Acoustic Centre in London. I also used a Line 6 Helix pretty extensively.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
It would have to be my new PRS. It has the new TCI pickups which both sound great and look cool. It has two outputs as I have a piezo pick up in the bridge.
