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 Kevin Comeau from the band Crown Lands.
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I started playing bass guitar when I was 11 years old. My first bass was a Squire Bronco bass. I still have it. It’s covered in stickers and fond memories! My dad always played guitar so when I started playing the 6 string guitar when I was around 16 he gave me his 1984 Fender Stratocaster which I still use all the time.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My biggest musical influences are Alex Lifeson from Rush, Chris Squire from Yes, David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, and Duane Allman. Pat Metheny is currently my favourite guitar player, but his writing isn’t as big an influence on Crown Lands. His playing just blows my mind!
How many guitars do you own and what are your favourite models?
Honestly I’ve lost count. It’s upwards of 20. I always say if you know how many guitars you have, you don’t have enough! My favourite guitar right now is my Yamaha SG 1820. I recorded almost all of the rhythm guitars for the „Apocalypse“ album with it. Another long-standing favourite is my Gibson SG classic – the P90’s cut through a dense mix like nothing else.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
The player! Good gear is fun, but it’s all about the player: their ideas and the execution of said ideas. That being said, I do love getting creative with Guitar and amp pairings in the studio. I particularly love running my Stratocaster through my Hiwatt amps for the clean bell-like chime I get from that set up just as much as I love running my humbucker guitars through a Marshall type amp like my Lerxst. My favourite amp in the world is still my 1965 Fender Bassman. It breaks up beautifully and has a certain clarity to it that works for pretty much everything.
How do you feel about the question of modeller or tube amp?
For years, I ran away from the model world until I started working with Yamaha and Line 6. The helix is a fantastic solution both on stage and in the studio the first time I went full model was when we toured with Kiss a couple years ago we couldn’t afford to freight our amplifiers across the country for the first show with them so we compromised and used a full virtual rake and I ended up loving it. The consistency night after night is unparalleled and it has been the most reliable rig I’ve ever used on stage. In the studio, I’ve always been a big fan of using vintage Rockmans: I have an old Sustainor and a Soloist. I’ve programmed a bunch of great patches in the Helix that get you close to that tone and it’s ended up on a bunch of records as well. Big fan!
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
My main rhythm guitars were a Yamaha 1820 SG and Mike Gibson SG classic. I’ll usually record my main rhythm guitars through my Boss CE-1 in stereo to two of my fave amps: One side is a 1965 Bassman through an old BF Bandmaster cab with a Jensen 12″ and a Greenback and the other side is a 1968 Traynor YBA-1 into a 15″ JBL K140. I’ll usually mic both cabs with a 57 and 421. I love using a 57 on axis and 421 off axis to really get the snarly upper mids to sing. I’ll bus the two mics into one channel on Pro Tools so I’m committing to the sound early. I used a couple of my fender strats for the cleaner tones, usually through Hiwatts. Normally, I’ll play all my rhythm guitars with a Humm guitar like my Yamaha SG or my vintage 1968 Gibson SG. I’ll pan that hard to one side and double it with something with P 90s, then I will triple that rhythm tone with a 12 string electric built by Brock Stoyko ran through a Leslie speaker. All of the bass on this record was done with my custom double neck and I split the signal three ways: a clean DI, a dirty Sansamp and a mic’d amp; usually a ‘68 Traynor YBA into a JBL K140.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
Probably my Albarez double neck acoustic! Alex Lifeson gave it to me and said “make something beautiful with it”. I’ve played that guitar every day. I love it so much.
Equipment List:
Guitars: Stoyko Double Neck (4 string Bass/ 6 string Guitar), Stoyko 12 String, Yamaha SG 1820, Gibson SG Classic, Alvarez double neck acoustic
Amps: Hiwatt DR504, Fender Bassman
Effects: Line6 Helix
Keyboards: Oberheim OB6, Moog Taurus 3
