INTERVIEW
A minute’s all it takes to find out what makes a great guitarist tick. Before they jumped into their limo for the airport we grabbed a quick chat with Billy Duffy, guitarist and co-writer for The Cult.
GT: Do you have a type of guitar pick that y ou just can’t live without - make, gauge and why?
BD: Herco Flex 50. Why not?
GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be, and why?
BD: Overdrive and two delays, because they are the most essential.
GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to do so in a band? If so what, and have you ever done it?
BD: NO!
GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?
BD: NO!
GT: Do guitar cables really make a difference? What make are yours?
BD: I’m sure they do, but I’d have to ask a guitar tech why.
GT: What kind of action height do you have on your guitars - any quirks?
BD: I have the top E string (first string) slightly higher than the rest so I can more easily bend the string above the 12th fret.
GT: Is there anyone’s playing (past or present) that you’re slightly jealous of?
BD: Jimi Hendrix. Obviously.
GT: Your house/studio is burning down: which guitar do you salvage?
BD: Gretsch White Falcon and Gibson Les Paul Custom. The rest I can live without.
GT: What’s your favourite guitar amp and how do you set it?
BD: I like my Friedman Brown Eyes and also my Kolbe modified JCM800. Also obviously a Roland JC120, set loud enough to breathe and move some air.
GT: What strings do you use?
BD: Ernie Ball strings for as long as I can remember (ain’t broke so not fixed). Different gauges for different guitars.
GT: Do you recall your first influence that made you want to play the guitar?
BD: Can’t remember. I recall a live cheap Jimi Hendrix album that had a version of Johnny B Goode on it, and also a Bill Haley And The Comets one in my local newsagents that seemed to grab my attention prior to me ever picking up an instrument. So I’d assume old-school rock and roll tickled my fancy as a child.
GT: Can you remember the first guitar that you really lusted after?
BD: It was a 1950s cherry red doublecutaway Les Paul Junior in a shop in Altrincham, Cheshire.
GT: What do you think was the single best gig you ever did..?
BD: Can’t remember but a close friend says he saw one somewhere in Hungary at a festival and that apparently I “played a blinder”. Hopefully there have been more.
GT: …and your worst playing nightmare? BD: Worst nightmare is a bad sound. As a youth, a bad guitar sound due to poor equipment, and more recently just a bad onstage sound. It’s uninspiring!
GT: What’s
