A minute’s all it takes to discover what makes a great guitarist tick. Before he jumped into his limo for the airport we grabbed a quick chat with ex-Strangler and now solo artist, Hugh Cornwell.
GT:can’t live without?
HC: I sure do, it’s a Jim Dunlop .73. It’s the only one I’ve found that has any grip on it. I don’t think it’s what they intended but the writing on it gives you something to hold on to. I can get by with an .88 but prefer a .73.
GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be?
HC: I guess a tuner doesn’t count, right? It’s an easy question for me, as I only use three basic pedals. They are a distortion pedal for soloing, a digital delay, and the Electro Harmonix Small Stone, which gives that round envelope you can vary the speed on, sort of like a flangy tremolo.
GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to perform in a band?
If so, have you ever done it? HC: I started out as a bass player and played bass in my first band at school with Richard Thompson. I learnt to play on a homemade bass I bought from a classmate and the neck was a piece of wood 3x2”. It made playing the violin bass I bought next really easy!
GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?
HC: I could figure it out if I had a week to study it, but I never learnt to read music fluently. I’m glad in a way because I had to rely upon my ears and my imagination to work out how to play things. And because of not learning the rules of written music there are no laws for me when it comes to composing songs.
GT: Do guitar cables really make a difference?
What make are yours? HC: I think guitars sound different when the sound travels down a cable. It’s a bit like recording: things recorded in an analogue way sound warmer and more substantial than things recorded digitally. I think you get a broader spectrum of soundwaves generated using analogue cables.
GT: Is there anyone’s playing (past or present) that you’re slightly jealous of?
(And why?) HC: Not really. You get to a point where you
HUGH CORNWELL accept that what you do is what you do, and that’s it. I’ve never been a twiddly twiddly soloist, and really, the more notes you can play the less value each of those notes has.
GT: Your house/studio is burning down: which guitar do you salvage?
HC: Always the number one Telecaster, without doubt. My life depends upon it, and my sanity too.
GT: What’s your favourite amplifier and how do you set it?
HC: I’ve been a Vox AC30 man for many years. I like the tone it creates and always have done. And because it is only 30 watts it will very rarely be too loud. Mine have been modified,
