WHAT L.A. GUNS’ SUNSET STRIP STALWART SEES WHEN HE LOOKS DOWN
Interview by Andrew Daly
“WHEN I STARTED, it was all about creating more gain and distortion. While I began with MXR pedals, the Boss stuff kicked that into hyperdrive for me — and the Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive was my first important Boss pedal. I’ve always called it the $50 Marshall upgrade. My philosophy has changed over the years, but not by much. I still go back to my initial desire to emulate Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen.
“I still use Boss stuff. If you’re putting your board together with your ears rather than your eyes, you know Boss makes some fucking rad pedals. You don’t have to use the crazy boutique stuff to get good sounds. With that in mind, my board begins with a Boss Chromatic Tuner, which feeds into my OC-5 Octave, the brown one. Man, what a great pedal. I’ve always loved it.
“Next is — and all of these are Boss — my PH-3 Phase Shifter, which leads to the SD-1w Super Overdrive. I mentioned that earlier, and honestly, it’s still as essential today as it was back in ’88 during the first L.A. Guns record. I can’t stress how much I love it. But the big difference now is that I use the Waza Craft version. It’s such an upgrade. As much as I love my original SD-1, the SD-1w nails it.
“After that, I’ve got a Fuzz, which is also a Waza Craft [FZ-1w], and that feeds into the ST-2 Power S
