Gear

These days on the road I am using a Martin OM-15. It’s an all-mahogany guitar (entry level model in the first half of last century, revived recently) with a 000 body size but the wide fingerboard makes it an OM (Orchestra Model). On The Knuckleball Suite, I only used my Martin on “The Fly ” and “The Fix is On “. On the rest of the record I played Goody’s 1937 Martin OO-17, similar to my guitar but a little smaller, a lot older, and much better sounding.

I wrote many of the tunes for the KBS on the Buckeye, a cheap plywood Sears knockoff that I bought at a junkshop in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania for thirty bucks. I had Yukon at the Music Emporium pimp it out with good tuners and a classical bridge. It sounds awesomely awful. Sounds like a duck. It’s like writing with a carpenter’s pencil.

I also have a Julius Borges guitar, built like an OM-18. Mahogany back and sides, spruce top, bar frets, pyramid bridges… the whole shootin’ match. A great guitar, and if I felt like dragging a flight case around, I’d bring it on the road. Buddy Miller plays one, and is probably as chuffed as I am to do so.

For electronics these days I’m using a Boss stomp-box tuner (they’re great, and ubiquitous) and a Boss bass eq, so I can push 50hz and dump 125 hz. And sometimes a Boss tremolo pedal.

I bought a cheap Mexican Telecaster last summer, and I’ve had a Fender Pro Junior amp for a while, which is great ’cause it fits in an overhead bin and is loud as hell. And I got a Tacoma Papoose, too, and used it on the Redbird record and the UK/Ireland Redbird tour. It’s like a guitar cut off at the 5th fret. Great for sounding vaguely mandolinish without haveing to learn to play in 5ths.

Until it was stolen, I used to play a Lowden, an Irish guitar designed by George Lowden. Mine was made during a brief stay of his business in Japan. It has a cedar top and rosewood back and sides. The pickup is a Sunrise, and there’s a Crown microphone inside the guitar. They are wired each to a mono jack. This is a picture of it – if you ever happen to come across it, let us know.

And for strings, I use (and endorse, both professionally and in the casual sense) Elixir Strings, made by Gore industries. Excellent, excellent strings, as they have a “nanoweb coating” which basically means they are perfect for guitar players with cheesy, corrosive hands like mine.

I should tell you, none of these things really matter, though. There is no definitive guitar, there is no definitive system of amplifying the signal. These things are interesting, as far as they go, but in the end they don’t amount to a hill of beans. I just like them ’cause I’m a geek.

You can buy all of the above mentioned equipment at The Music Emporium in Lexington, Mass. 781-860-0049. Their repairman, Yukon, is one of the most talented around; the sales staff is the most knowledgeable, helpful, and not-slimy staff of any shop, and the owners are true characters with a wealth of esoteric knowledge. Plus they were the best bosses i ever had.