If it were not for these artists we wouldn’t have the development that creates these objects of beauty. Yep, that’s what I think, objects on beauty from both design and sound. They are instruments, both the amplifier and guitar. The two shape the sound and this can be seen from signature series models. Of course, you can have all the same gear as your guitar idol but this will not mean you will be able to play like them. Refining your technique helps but it is always better to find your own voice. I have bought signature amplifiers, pickups and guitars. I can tell you that I have learnt from the players but try not to completely emulate them.

My overwhelming influence will always be Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi being the main riff master. I tend to be more technique driven through Iommi than any other. I have my guitar made by John Diggin’s at Jaydee who built Tony’s main instrument. The pick-ups on that are around 22k, which is pretty powerful so will produce a monstrous tone. The riff-based music that Sabbath produced changed through the years but broadly Tony Iommi kept to the same great formula. It is this to which we see permeation into hard rock. So again we see that Laney produced 3 amplifiers and Gibson a guitar in Tony’s honour. It is one of the greatest tributes that a musician can have bestowed upon him.
 

 

One of the amplifiers I purchased was a Marshall AFD Slash signature. I bring it up here due to the fact Slash was one of the first players to have pick-ups, guitars and amps bearing his name. The evolution was the limited number that is the AFD Marshall. It was a lesson in promotion and development going hand in hand. A standalone website was created that showed the ongoing research. The intention was to produce the blistering sound of the Guns and Roses album Appetite for Destruction. Well they did it and I still play on that amp, as it is an inspirational sound. At the end of the day that is why signature gear is produced, to give musicians more range of choice.