INTERVIEW
With 1.3 million YouTube subscribers and 1.2 million Instagram followers, Tash Sultana is one of the few social media age guitarists best known for making original music. Fender released Tash’s signature Strat in 2020, and the Strat’s become the dominant force in Tash’s sonic arsenal, even for 2022’s questionably-titled Unplugged.
How was it working on Fender’s 70th Anniversary campaign?
I’d made the decision not to go on tour for the foreseeable future. I’d just gotten back home and I get this email: ‘Hey, not sure if you’re interested in this. You’ll have to y back to LA. It’s Grammy week, could be fun. Nile Rodgers is doing it on the day that they want you there.’ I was just like, ‘All right!’ I’ve got a love/ hate relationship with my guitar playing, so to be asked and considered among some of the best guitarists in the world to do this campaign, I think I needed that. You know, Mateus Asato, Tom Morello, Nile Rodgers on the bill, and they’re asking little old me to come along as well! I partied so hard, stayed up till the sun came up every morning. I nally understood what hair of the dog means, and had this amazing week where I just kept bumping into Nile Rodgers everywhere I went. Like, ‘We got to stop doing this, man!’ We really connected and he gave me his number. We’ve been talking so we’ll see what happens from there. I think it was possibly the best week of my life.
What is the Strat you’re playing in the videos?
I bought a 1960 Gra ti Yellow Stratocaster from the Chicago Music Exchange. It’s the most expensive guitar I’ve ever bought. It makes me sick to even think that I spent that much money on a guitar. It’s a f*cking crazy guitar. Straightaway Nile Rodgers was like, ‘That! What is that?’ I did change the pickups, just for three stock single coils. The old ones were super tarnished, very noisy, so they came out. For me, it wasn’t about the internals of the guitar. I just saw this mother*cker on the wall Tash Sultana loves Strats, just like their new bestie – the legendary Nile Rodgers
YELLOW PEARL “The yellow one, ‘Daphne’, has taken first place now” and I was like, ‘What the hell is that?’ It had the ugliest scratch plate on it too, but I could see what it could become.
You’re normally astickler for noiseless pickups. How are you coping with traditional single coils?
I kind of dilute my noise with the way that my guitar is routed and the type of processing that I have on it. I think I can pretty much achieve everything now by removing that noise digitally, with noise gates and other processing. I also reduce the noise oor on my Strats by shielding the cavities with aluminium foil.
Tell us about your signature Strat. I wanted it to be versatile for all di erent kinds of player pr
