Collectible Guitar NovDec 2016 | Page 19

[ CG ] Your new album“ Down in a Hole” just released this year. What music gear did you use to record it?
Kiefer: My main guitars are a Gibson Country Western 1959 and a Hummingbird that is a 1967. Those are the acoustic I usually hold. But there is also my’ 39 Martin single A; It’ s quite a booming guitar. That’ s the one I have in my trailer while I’ m shooting or around the house, and that’ s usually what I write with. But the two Gibson’ s are what I record with. And I didn’ t play any electric on the record; that was all Jude Cole. He has a reissue Les Paul, late 50’ s style, and he just wails on that.
[ CG ] Where did you find your Martin?
Kiefer: At a music store in LA in the valley called Norman’ s Rare Guitars. I’ ve gotten a lot of guitars from him, starting way back in’ 68 when I got a’ 67 Strat. Sometimes I think he’ s a little overpriced, but I think he has one of the most incredible collections on the West coast. Gruhn Guitars out of Nashville is probably my other favorite store. I got a’ 67 Tele off of him that I very rarely pull off the wall to play. I actually have a’ 71 Tele that I really really like to play and record with. The reason why I’ ve kept the’ 67 is because Norm showed it to me and I bought it off of him, but I think he sold me the wrong one because this was one he wanted to keep. And for maybe the hundred guitars that I’ ve bought off of him over the years, this is the only time that he called me back and said“ Hey man would you be interested in selling me that guitar back?” And I said,“ Norm, I love to you death, but the fact that you’ re asking me to buy a guitar back that I bought off of you a week ago... there’ s no way I’ m selling this ever – I’ m going to hold on to it until I die!” And he laughed and said,“ I get it,” and we’ ve been friends ever since.
[ CG ] On tour this summer were you only using the two Gibson acoustics?
Kiefer: Yes, and primarily the old’ 59 Western, which has quite a lot of photos and all around the pickguard and all around the neck paint has completely worn off of it. At the Grand Ole Opry I played the Hummingbird. The only electric that I use is a reissue Nash Tele. Seymour Duncan was kind enough to make me a really hot pickup for in the back. It’ s a double rail, and I get an awesome sound out of that. Then my amp package on the tour for that guitar, and I use no pedals at all, is a Wizard. That amp is made by the guitar tech for AC / DC( Rick St. Pierre) and he started making these amps because their amps were so fragile and so old that he kept working and working to develop these amps for them. But the range of these amps is extraordinary. He’ s Canadian, and due to AC / DC’ s recent troubles he took some time off and had time to make some more of these amps, and they’ re very hard to come by. I found one at a store in Los Angeles and then called him up and asked him if he would make me two more and he did. Michael Gurley is borrowing one of mine, and that’ s what he uses on tour as well.
[ CG ] Have you picked up any cool vintages pieces while you’ ve been on the road?
Kiefer: I found a very cool early 70’ s Epiphone acoustic that had just worn time really well. It had a great, great sound, so I picked that up. I’ ve become a huge fan of Fano, and I bought one with beautiful distress work. It was an old kind of white looking Les Paul. But other than that I collected a lot through the 80’ s and 90’ s and then kind of would loan those guitars out. I got a bunch of them back, and then right around 2002 went through another splurge of collecting, and then finally had to pare it down. I had well over 100 guitars, and I started to realize that there were so many of them I wasn’ t playing. Guitars actually start to fail if they’ re neglected. It’ s the guitar players version of a Sophie’ s Choice moment. It’ s just awful, and every once in a while I’ ll find myself looking at a guitar to buy, knowing that I’ m only buying it because that’ s the one I’ m going to get rid of, and that’ s when you start to realize maybe you’ ve got a problem.
[ CG ] How many guitars do you tour with, and how many do you own at this point?
Kiefer: I tour with a maximum of four, and if we’ re doing just two dates and two fly dates, I will obviously try and trim that down to travel with two. Between Austin and myself we’ ll have one backup acoustic for the two of us, so if we ever both had a problem at the same time we be pretty screwed. And right now my collection is somewhere between 30 and 35. And the funny thing is, a collector I think will understand this and someone else might think it’ s ridiculous, but I don’ t collect cars; I don’ t collect as much art as I would like; I don’ t collect baseball cards; I don’ t collect sports memorabilia. Guitars, to me, are not only something that I view as art, but every guitar that I pick up makes me want to play differently. Some guitars, when you pick them up, it will make you want to play for 2-3 hours straight. And I’ ve just always been so intrigued and moved by how one guitar inspires you in a different way from another one. And then there’ s some, like the old Martin that I talked about, or the Gibson Country Western, that are like best friends. I would be in a real panic if something happened to them. The’ 39 Martin is a single A, which is just a little bit bigger than a 3 / 4 guitar, but boy it doesn’ t sound like it.
[ CG ] How did the Gibson Custom shop Kiefer Sutherland model KS-336 guitar come about?
Kiefer: My collection is predominantly Gibson guitars. We developed a relationship with Henry, who I think had only owned Gibson for a few years at that point, and he had come to the studio to listen to some music and to hear our thoughts. He wanted to know what we liked about them, and about the tuning issues that we were sometimes having with them. So we discussed all of this stuff with him. And he just came back and said“ Why don’ t you make a guitar.” And I just kind of laughed and said,“ There are a million better guitar players than me.” And he said,“ Well, I know, and that’ s the point. I mean, why don’ t you make a guitar that just makes it easier to play.” And literally I would
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