MAKING NOISE:
The Guitars & Pedals for Paul's Glastonbury Set
The Guitar Line-up
Check out Paul’s guitars for his set on The Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury at 2pm on June 29.
THE GUITARS
A ) Fender Strat Plus (Regular Tuning)
“My Black (Emerald Green) Fender Strat Plus is in regular tuning. It has a really close action; it was set up for me in Newcastle by Les Tones when I toured with Chris Rea. He set up Robert Ahwai’s guitars, which I loved, so Robert hooked me up with him.”
B ) Fender Strat Squire (Open E-tuned Slide Guitar)
“My red Fender Squire Strat (the Biffy Clyro signature guitar) is my open E slide guitar. When I first played it in my local music shop, Henderson’s in Derry, I loved it right away. For a budget guitar it sounded amazing, and I really like the weight of it.”
C ) Fender Tele Squire (Open D-tuned)
“I’ve tuned this Squire Telecaster Thin Line to open D. Having the Tele in Open D gives me the option to play some songs in the Lowden style (see below) – only with a bit more bite!”
D ) Lowden F10 (Open D-tuned)
“My Lowden F10 is always tuned to open D. I write mostly in this tuning and play a lot of solo gigs on the Lowden in this tuning.”
RIG RUNDOWN
Introducing... Paul's Glasto Pedal Board
Here are Paul’s ‘go-to’ pedals for Glastonbury...
THE PEDAL BOARD
1 ) BOSS Super Chorus
“I know the sound of this backwards. It’s handy because it has two outputs if I want to run another amp. It’s great for when I’m looking for a clean slide sound.”
2 ) ODSP Dumbloid 2000 Overdrive
“It’s got such a buttery overdrive, it’s just beautiful for slide overtones. The Dumbloid adds that big overdriven sound for solos, with the top row pedals used for a bit of Chorus, Tremolo and delay.”
3 ) Ibanez Tube Screamer
“This tube screamer is my ‘go to’ overdrive. Back in 1993, I got backstage at a Chris Rea sound check in Belfast, and introduced myself. Chris took the time to talk slide guitar to me. (At that time, as a bottleneck, I was using a piece of copper pipe that a plumber had left behind at the house!) He suggested getting a compressor pedal for sustain and a tube screamer for overdrive. The following day, I bought the gear, second-hand, in Smithfield Market in Belfast. More than 30 years later, I’m using the very same second-hand compressor and tube screamer. Sound advice is a precious thing.”
4 ) Cali76
“I love compression over everything. A friend convinced me to swap out my second-hand – but reliable! – Boss Compressor for the Cali76. It was a good call! Now my main sound comes from the Cali76, along with the Greer Amps Lightspeed (see #10).”
5 ) BOSS Chromatic Tuner
“Starting the electric guitar chain, before the compressor, I use a BOSS Chromatic Tuner.”
6 ) D’Addario Tuner
“I link this D’Addario tuner into a Fishman Pro EQ. That’s my Lowden F10 acoustic setup. It’s a very basic setup – because the Lowden is a 28 year-old guitar that just sounds amazing.”
7 ) Providence Chrono Delay
“The Providence Chrono Delay is last on the chain. It just sounds beautiful. John Mayer uses this pedal.”
8 ) Jam Harmonious Monk
“This is a funky little pedal which I love for when you need an extra bit of something special.”
9 ) Tremolo
“This is a lovely Tremolo, and I’m just so used to it. It’s really handy to dial right into the sound you want.”
10 ) Greer Amps Lightspeedz
“This is always on. I have it set to add a little bit of heat before my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue (Tweed of course!), which is also overdriving a little bit.”
11 ) Fishman Fluence Pick-up
“My Lowden has a Fishman pick-up. There’s no EQ on the guitar. I got it because it matches my pickup. I really like the sound of it. I tried a newer version a few years ago but it didn’t sound like this one; I like how simple it is.”
All the pedals are powered by the Cioks DC7 and a 4-extension.
See the Paul and the band at 2pm, Saturday 29 June on The Acoustic Stage, Glastonbury
Pre order the new album, LIFE IN REVERSE – The Studio Recordings of the Glastonbury Setlist
MERCH DROP! Get the special limited edition Paul Casey T-shirt to mark his Glastonbury performance