based on the little keyhole.
MS: Yeah, that’s the first Sectis.
PD: So what kind of speakers are you
using in them?
PD: Ever?
(brief interruption for autograph
signing)
So it’s fun that you are here to talk
about gear. We sort of expected that
we’d get guys saying “What are those
amps?” But no one really has.
PD: The amps are awesome, but let’s
switch gears and discuss guitars, and
specifically Dennis (Fano). It seems
like the Novo is your number one
now, is that accurate?
42
TONE TALK //
It’s been like that since the Fano days.
I’ve played nothing but Dennis’s guitars
since I got my first Fano because they
are just perfect to me. They just are the
ones I love. They’re magic. It’s been a
joy for me as a person. For a long time,
I just bought and sold guitars and
bought and sold guitars and I never
really cared that much, even when I had
an old one. But with his guitars, it’s
“these guitars are for me!” I’ll go
somewhere and see vintage Fenders,
and think “I could get one of those,
but why?”
So the Serus T will have a little more
aging and look a little older. The one
I’m getting is in Uffington Green,
From Girlfriend to Gear Fiend: A Chat With Matthew Sweet
PHOTOS BY RICH SNYDER
MS: The speakers are Ted Webers. I’m
not sure how I knew which ones to get,
we must have read online and ordered
the correct ones. The electronics came
from Mojotone. I’d never really made
an amp or cared to, but I was so
impressed with the sound of a brand
new version of the circuit that I just had
to. And I came to believe, which is kind
of working out, that if I toured with
only a Deluxe that I might be able to
really blow it up and get that sound
that they never let me get anymore.
And on this tour I’ve been
experimenting with pedals to help me
get it to jack at the right moment and
it’s been pretty fun. And no one has
told me to turn down yet! By the end of
the last tour, I joked “Do I need to play
through a Champ or a nine-volt Fender
plastic amp? What will be small
enough?” So anyway, that’s what led us
to these.
MS: Yeah. He was working on them and
then I was sort of out of touch and then
suddenly I went and looked and saw
that one which is called a Cinnaburst.
The Sectis is sort of the real fancy,
Cadillac one in the line. It’s not reliced.
It’s sort of another thing. It’s awesome
and it plays so great. I also got sort of
silver foil pickups in it. They’re lower
gain, but fatter, and a little darker. I
used it a bunch on the new record. I
also ordered two more guitars. The
Serus T, which is sort of the Tele one. I
always see one he’s made and then I
want that one and he’s always saying
“pick any color and I’ll make it.” But I
always see one and say “I want one
like that.”