allowed to tell you. Have you heard of
anything new he is up to (laughs)? Can I
tell you off the record?
(At this point, we proceeded to talk
about the new Rivolta Guitars that
Dennis is creating with Eastwood
Guitars. Check them out if you
haven’t already).
PD: Moving back to amps a little, you
have some of the best recorded guitar
tones of the last 25 years, if not ever.
How did you get them?
MS: Just tube amps.
PD: Low wattage combos?
MS: It just depends. You know
Girlfriend, the rhythm guitar on “Divine
Intervention” was when Marshall
reissued the Bluesbreaker combo. It
was always just what we were trying.
AC30s, in recent years I’ve used some
65 Amps. And I’m still experimenting. I
love the baby amps that I can destroy.
PD: And what are you running for
effects?
PHOTOS BY RICH SNYDER
MS: I’m using a Leslie pedal. The black
one that allows you to blend the clean
signal as well as the affected.
PD: Tell me about the Sonic Violence.
MS: The Sonic Violence is a pedal from
Australia. I believe it’s made by
Midnight Amplification Company. A lot
of his pedals have semi-witchcraft
themes. There are so many great pedal
makers all over the world now and I
have fun experimenting, but I really
don’t use them all that much. But with
the Deluxe, there are a lot of cool
things I can do with them. The Sonic
Violence is like a distortion. But in the
middle there is a giant knob with
25-decibel of boost. I only use it at
about noon or less. Who knows what
would happen if it were higher than
that. It would probably just get all
spitty. But it works great at being able
to get feedback.
PD: So speaking of pedals, what’s the
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