But it was fun. I met him years later and told him I had that book, and he said, Really? or Best Offer. A variety of things, Martins mostly, and some Gibsons. He plays it pretty much in the set. The band are playing better than ever and they scored their first No 1 album with last summers Hypnotic Eye, as much of a back-to-basics rock n roll album as theyve made since breaking through the New Wave clutter in the late 1970s. I gave him a hard time for keeping his guitar tech, Steve, so busy during the live show. Well, they all make a different sound, you know? They do make some good ones, but this was not a good one. It was his concept, and he came to each of us. "That was my guitar for several years until Tom sat on it and broke the neck off of it. Theres so many. Thats my favourite, Campbell admits. And he played his Les Paul a bit. Guitars, amps, it's all about tone. When I play it on another guitar it sounds okay, but it just doesnt have the same magic it does in that key with that voice. It's the epitome of picking a niche theme, going all in, and nailing it. "They said it was the next guitar off the assembly line after George Harrisons", Thats my original 12-string, he explains. They wanted me to do a Tom Petty model of that guitar, and I did, though I changed it a bit; I made the neck wider because I always thought the neck was a little cramped at the end. Is there any particular guitarist who influenced the way you play guitar? Do you consider yourself a guitar collector? Well, thats an emotional song for me, because the night they did that record, Tom called and said, Look were finishing a song I just wrote with Bob (Dylan) and George and Jeff. As time went on, I was able to afford guitars which I now buy a lot just because I love collecting them, and I play them all. We took it to Rickenbacker, and they called it a mystery. They didnt know what it was. Vintage Guitar: How were you first exposed to music? I have decided to sell some of the nicer pieces.. We've been notified and are looking into it. If I had to pick one, Id pick that. If you were looking for something that little bit different with a stunning iconic tone then this is the guitar for you. Jan 19, 2019 - Explore Janet's board "Mike Campbell" on Pinterest. I buy a lot of stuff from him. Howie was a great bass player. Theyre both difficult in their own way. He was an amazing person. Jimmy Iovine came in to produce it, and we had a big hit (Refugee). 26) Hank asked: I saw that you use those Danelectro pedals. She . "Occasionally, I hear something that I think I can add to, but for me to bring that artist out the way I think will do them justice is going to take some time out of my life and my career. But I stick really closely to the groove with the instrument. MR. BIG Addicted to that Rush Vintage 1989 Promotional Guitar Pick Paul Gilbert. Angus Young, Malcom, you know, whatever, it's just solid as a rock. Pretty much, yeah (laughs)! The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Fleetwood Mac guitar legend tells the story of his '59 'Burst Les Paul, the '62 SG Junior he played on Runnin Down a Dream and more. That soon changed, though. Featuring a Laminated Flame Maple back and sides with a Laminate Spruce top, this semi hollow design with sustain block allows for a stable, rich, resonant and dynamic tone. You should pick up a set of Virtuoso Cleaner and Polisher. So he got this guitar to me to let Tom check it out and it stayed in a case for two weeks, we were at the Hollywood Bowl, and Nathan came back and said 'Hey, what about that guitar?' But he had this great room in a separate building right next to the studio, with ceilings that are 30 feet high, and wood. But I also wont sacrifice [tonal] colour for convenience.. A lot of bands are like that," says Mike Campbell's guitar tech about the Fender Princeton Blackface Amp. That guitar has the tone. All Mike Campbell Photos: Andy Tennille. Campbells solution was to mount his favourite acoustic and electric guitars above his head on some rigging, using remote control to bring them down within reach. Those are our main ones. Just lays around the house all day doin' nothing. Well you only need one, dont ya (laughs)? Campbell's guitar tech, Steve Winstead, walks us through every guitar, amp, and pedal and lets us in on Campbell's time-tested formula for great tone. That was a nice feeling, like nobody was carrying the whole load. I think its a Supro, but dont know the model it was just some weird-looking thing (laughs). But looking at it closely, we figured out that it was probably a red guitar thats the same model as the small-body one from the Torpedo cover. And Ive always bought one whenever I had the money. Therell be a certain sound that we want, and cant get with a Stratocaster, but a Gretsch makes that sound. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, And of course, the Broadcaster I used on the first two albums, I still use. Martin SPOM 16 10. Ill do it. And I loved it. Here are some highlights. (Ed. Its my main Gibson. Also LA, because thats sort of our home town, maybe Chicago and, on this tour, Seattle and Fenway Park in Boston. Mike also has another band called The Dirty Knobs, which is his sideband. This is for everything else for 12-strings," says Mike Campbell's guitar tech about the Rickenbacker 1967 375 Electric Guitar. $3.39 to $5.99. We used a variety of guitars; Jeff has some nice old Stratocasters, and as the months went on, we filled his house with a lot of our guitars. Theyre not noticeably different. I could play the whole show with a Tele or a Les Paul or an SG. Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. Pick your selections. I find it very interesting to see that he runs both the Princeton and the Deluxe clean, and then uses the Camel Toe for overdrive, and apparently the Fender Excelsior for a soloboost. And speaking of reverence, one listen to Petty and Campbell as they discuss vintage guitars and amps, and its obvious these are two guys who make no bones about what has inspired them. I played that right up until Tom sat on it and broke it off, says Campbell. Pettys third solo album, Highway Companion, was released last month, debuting at #4 on Billboards Top 200 album chart, and he and the Heartbreakers spent the summer on the road in support of it. And I have them set up at home, in my studio. Right away, I just loved the song, you know? This is called Little Ricky. And then I started to move forward. The Alliance Series Mike Campbell Hollow is an all-hollow construction sporting our "Destruct-Knob" circuit - an internal 10db booster. Its kind of a Butterscotch Tele. Wake is easily my favorite album of all time. Its got so much history. Malcolm Young more influential than EVH or Clapton? So when I got back to town, I called him and said, Ive got some tracks that Tom doesnt want to use, and said he could listen to those if he liked. $199.97. They really throw it out nicely onstage. That's because Dave Gartland, the custom guitar builder also known . He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halens Panama. I told her that Id seen this guitar, but couldnt afford to get it, and she said, Yeah, Ill buy it for you. That may or may not happen," says Mike Campbell's guitar tech about the Way Huge Camel On page 3 of his interview in Tone Quest Report Vol. I got it for $120. The Garden has always been one of my favourite places. That one is actually owned by Mike. COOL !!! The first song I ever played on guitar was Baby Let Me Follow You Down. A friend had the Bob Dylan record, and he taught me the chords to that. I used a Telecaster and my Vox teardrop. And I said, You gotta get this! And I have a 1940 00-18, which is Rick Rubins favorite. And I was so happy because he took the heat off me, you know? I bought and used it on the early records and I still use it on some records. The songs I make in Satyr is extremely influenced by the grooves on this album. All those albums probably had a whole bunch of guitar licks or guitar parts that jumped out at you? And who else there arent too many new/younger bands that I listen to much. In addition to playing on and co-producing Tom Petty and The Heatbreakers albums and cowriting some of their biggest - . I worked at a music store for a while when I was 15 years old, and I gained a pretty good knowledge of instruments. Paul Gray - Slipknot. I was telling somebody the other day, the only place I feel pressure when we tour is the Garden. Reverb Homepage Contact Support 8c8a7d09e90f483fb6d37e1764114e10 Get the Best of Reverb in Your Inbox Michael Campbell (Guitar/Harsh vocals) Hail the Sun - Wake. Which we didnt discover, but George Harrison discovered because he had the second one. He knows when I come in that its going to be hard for me to walk out without buying something. I just like to step out every decade or so. (November 18, 1999 -- Please note: Mike looked over the questions and answered the ones he could. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Adds character. One of Campbells most prized guitars in his collection is a white Firebird signed by the doyen of white Firebirds Johnny Winter, and by legendary jazz drummer Philly Joe for good measure. The truth is that to have a harmonious group is not easy to do, and we do, Campbell says, evidently feeling lucky at the longstanding and successful relationship he has with Petty and the other Heartbreakers. I mostly played acoustic. "But I also have a 59 kind of Jimmy Page one thats really great, and I have one thats a 56, too. To read about how he and Tom felt like going to music college while working with Jeff was something that made me smile. And all of those Beatles records always have beautiful solos, with good tone and not much noodling; every note serves a purpose to the song, not to the players. I kind of keyed on the last big tour thing. Some were iconic, on his wish list from his earliest days playing the guitar. Jul 28, 2013. Id really like to find one of those. Last year, we were talking one day about how we saw some old film somewhere with that guitar, and we thought, Hows that guitar doing? We got it out, and its doing great. So Ive been really lucky that way. And then, you know, I learned stuff off records, slowing them down to try to hear the guitar parts and stuff. Bath The first nice guitar I got was a Gibson Firebird at a pawn shop when we were on tour in Alabama, says Campbell of his earliest days as a professional musician. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. For instance, you played Vox Phantom in the video for Refugee.. Except for the signature models, were talking 60s guitars, or. And maybe I learned a couple of other Dylan songs. Which guitars did you use on Highway Companion? Well, I liked the first album a lot because that was sort of us discovering what we were gonna be. But this is the stuff that he couldnt part with. I think they made it in a few different shapes theres a teardrop and a 335-style. Guitar World is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Yeah, Heartbreakers records are a democratic process; everybodys got input and its all shuffled around. And even years before the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan, your aunt took you to a movie set, where you saw Elvis. As things progressed for the Heartbreakers, any time Mike and I would run across something we liked, wed get it. For more details and to sign up for an alert once it's live, head over to Reverb (opens in new tab). My dad was on tour in Okinawa and sent me a $60 Goya electric six-string, he tells us. Thats the one I used to record The Waiting and all those classic 12-string numbers. And amongst fans, hes a hero who, while keeping them entertained through parts of four decades, has battled to hold down the retail prices of his albums and concert tickets. So if someone said you had to pick three or four electric guitars to record with for the rest of your days, which would they be? 1) The very first, or intro, tone sounds like a bridge single coil or Gretsch-type pickup into a small Fender amp. I think I gave it to a friend when I got a Stratocaster. I just try to write a good song, which requires enough effort. Mike Campbell is also in my opinion one of THE most tasteful guitar player ever alongside George Harrison. I finally just threw it in the corner and got an electric Kay. If there was three of us playing, one of us might play that. Love all those guys. Brian Jones was a really good rhythm guitarist, I thought, and rhythm guitar is a lost art, you know? With so many guitars, is there one that Campbell would choose if he had to? Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. Wed usually set up acoustic guitars in Jeffs kitchen, which is adjacent to his studio, and just lay the basics down, usually on acoustics. As the song ends, you acknowledge George a bit. ", "Im always proud to play there. His favourite 12-string at the moment is also, of course, a Rickenbacker. Guitars The truth is the new ones just arent as good, are they? Thats when we were learning about how to play, how to have a band. Campbell has been at Pettys side throughout. I use the 67 on [So You Want To Be A] Rock N Roll Star. The bottom line is about tone. caniki Additional comment actions. And I dont think the Wilburys was really about who we were, it was more about that we were friends, and we enjoyed being together. And if its a track were building, the guitar solo would probably come later. Mike Campbell - guitar [3] Bob Glaub - bass guitar [3] Little Steven - rhythm and lead guitar [6] Tony Gilkyson - guitar [7] Production Jimmy Iovine - producer Shelly Yakus - engineer, mixing, overdub engineer Joe Chiccarelli - engineer, overdub engineer Greg Edward - engineer, mixing, overdub engineer Thom Panunzio - engineer, overdub engineer Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. Here he's playing a late-'60s Dan Armstrong lucite model. So, when I have time to listen to a song and digest where the spaces are and what it might need, the guitar solo will get some thought. And, like any guitar lover, he remembers it all via the guitars he crossed paths with along the way My dad always used to play Elvis records, Campbell recalls of his first musical inspirations. Yeah, I do it all the time. And because it was a friendly situation, it didnt feel intimidating at all? "This '54 Tele - it's a favorite Tele. Please try again. The first couple of albums, I had a Broadcaster and Les Paul, and Id gotten a Rickenbacker 660/12 for 120 bucks its the one on the Damn The Torpedoes cover. His favorite 12-string is the Tom Petty solidbody, which we did use on the record quite a bit. Starting with guys who are alive; J.J. Cale has always been an inspiration to me. Though Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Fleetwood Mac electric guitar legend Mike Campbell slightly thinned his enviable guitar collection with a Reverb.com sale last summer, his stash of vintage six-strings is still world-class. So in my spare time, I would just try to invent them. I did take it out to one of the local gigs back when we were doing a soundcheck in LA, and [front of house engineer Robert] Scovill came out and said, Whats that? Whereas, the other direction is just going by the seat of your pants and jumping on with the band and riding the wave. The Hfner Club, which I think weve used for everything for the last 10 years now. 1. Yamaha SG1000 13. Are you on the lookout for anything in particular? He seems really keen on getting good songs, I said, And, hes got a really cool vibe. So thats how we started working together. Well, I get to do a solo record about every 12 years (laughs). I (used) a Martin 12-string from the 70s a little bit. It's a mandolin with a whammy bar which tells you all you need to know about Mike Campbell. My dad was in the Air Force, and he was leaning on me to sign up so I could make some choices of where I might be deployed. Get the latest and greatest Guitar news with one of our guitar magazine subscriptions. I have a 50-watt Marshall that I really like, a little 60s amp in red. Mike from Indianapolis Good interview! Mentioned in this March 1983 Musician article. Mike had some really weird little guitar that he played slide on. Campbell wasn't always a Gibson man. Plus, I was also below the weight limit, so I got a temporary deferment and never got called back. did you use to get the sound f "Rickenbacker, 370, 360? To follow the signal path, next are the effects. Boiled down, the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is defined by a handful of essential elements: their leader's character-filled voice, songs about life and its toils, swirling B-3 organ, and - much as anything - Mike Campbell's . Itd be okay. Still, I think wed get sick if we didnt tour. It depends on what I need. Ive refinished it since that day. Amongst his peers today, Petty is revered. YouTube Link: Mike Campbell Continue reading "Mike . Well, the new Martins we used on Highway Companion are very nice-sounding. Mike Campbell has a resume that speaks for itself. I bought it like it looks now, with the three pickups and the John Lennon body. Well, I think that has been exaggerated I think I said that in a very tired moment one day, and its become something thats hounded me all year (laughs)! But the 59, theres just something about it, and I think there is a reason why all those guitar players gravitated towards it. Jimi Hendrix compared to George Harrison is a way other universe, but still equally inspiring. That was a real exciting time. My mom went to a pawn shop and got me a Harmony acoustic. Product Description To commemorate over 30 years of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Duesenberg have along with Mike Campbell created a beautiful signature guitar brings you classic Doozy tones in a hot rodded semi hollow design. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Agnesi begins the proceedings by asking Campbell about his 1959 'Burst Les Paul Standard. And so yeah, I think the 12-string is always that solidbody Rick. Its hard, theres just so many great guitarists from that era, its just hard to narrow them down to who your favorites are, but George is definitely one of mine. Those were the only acoustics we used, and they sound beautiful. First of all, I dont have that much time. Whens the last time you couldnt get a guitar that you wanted because you just didnt have the cash handy? I dont take it on the road anymore. I think I was 16. Gibson SG 9. If theres something I dont think Id ever use, I usually dont buy it. 'Cept it's not a Rickenbacker. If Im going to produce something, Im trying to make it the biggest hit Ive ever made. Yeah, Breakdown, American Girl, I Need to Know a lot of those solos and rhythm parts were on that Broadcaster. This is the bypass switch for the Whammy. Absolutely, yeah. It was frustrating because it was it didnt have what youd call easy action (laughs)! He was a huge inspiration to me, and fortunately, I got to be a bit of a friend with him. What I remember most was that all of us fell out of the front-man thing, you know? Signed by none other than Johnny Winter, the guitar was sold to Campbell just a few years ago, mind you for $500, because of its broken neck, and the fact that the pawnbroker evidently didn't know who Winter was. Heres how it works. I dont really care as long as it comes out good! Then Mick got stuck with it, and when we started working with Rick, we needed a song. Damn The Torpedoes was kind of a breakthrough record. Guitar World is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Serial: 2023 The tolex is a bit worn and has a fair amount of tears here and there as well as some dirt. It was funny how the song went around the corner and came back to where it shouldve been. Did that stem from the fact that you wrote with an acoustic? It's so haunting and demonic in many ways, both in lyrics and music. He said, No, Ive got it in my trunk and I cant really play it. As we wind down, we ask Campbell why he doesnt take to the producers chair more often. He played with Petty in the pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch and co-wrote, co-produced and played the searing guitar. Mike Campbell talks about the solid-bodied Rickenbacker 12-string he found shopping through the old "Recycler" advertising newspaper, driving to Anaheim, and later discovering it was built on the assembly line with George Harrison's guitar in the 1960's. Click the link to watch the video. So far, has everything on tour gone as planned in terms of crowd response, especially to the new tracks? For more episodes of The Collection, visit Gibson TV (opens in new tab). So when we started doing that song live, I just wanted to honor him. Overview A phenomenal reproduction of a great guitar. I added a treble pickup and it became a really nice guitar. And he plans on doing likewise with The Dirty Knobs guitarist Jason Sinay, whom Agnesi has just hooked up with a matching white Firebird.His was not signed by Johnny Winter, though! retorts Campbell. On your solo records, do you do most of the bass playing? Next is a recent Fender Custom Shop Tele with a B-Bender used as a backup, then a pair of Rickenbacker 12-stringsthe one on the right is used on "Free Fallin." I like the new album, Highway Companion its really cool. "The Deluxe is probably a '54 or a '55," says Mike Campbell's guitar tech about the Fender Deluxe Amp. Were you paying attention to guitar tones, or more focused on sounding good as a group? Our drummer at the time, Stan Lynch, and Ron Blair, our bass player, who had both played in other bands in Florida, were in L.A. Heres how it works. They just instinctively picked up on the tones and the feel of it.. That Excelsior, because they have the green one and other ones, but Nate White, at Fender, when these came out Mike did something with Danny Harrison at A&M and that Green Fender amp was there and he asked about getting it. I think Blair is probably is more locked with the drummer, where Howie played more like a guitar player. From most interviews that I have read, it looks like the Blackface Princeton and Tweed Deluxe do most of the heavy lifting. I listened to lots of John Lennon, Keith Richards, Brian Jones. "I could hardly push the strings down, and I figured, Man, these guys Im watching play the guitar must be strong! Then I went to my friends house and he had an SG. For more information on Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and the Mike Campbell guitar series, please visit TomPetty.com. But I dont think there were any vintage acoustics, per se. Duesenberg Starplayer TV (best guitar I've owned - awesome!) CD LOT - Hard Rock, Pop, Metal: Stewart, Aerosmith, Elton. Mike found it years ago through an ad and bought it for a couple hundred bucks. One record that I really studied a lot was Paul Butterfields first album with Mike Bloomfield. Here's another thing about Mike: if you clean the necks you're fired, haha, especially on a maple! We still have that kind of awe about what we do.. Well, I was very excited about it. Equipboard breaks down the gear, tools, and products used by artists, pros, and influencers in their craft. "'That's weird,' Tom said, 'it kinda sounds like me,'". I did buy a few guitars while I was [on the first leg of the Highway Companion tour]. Those days are kind of gone now, but still, collecting guitars is about loving the sound and liking instruments, you know? And speaking of the Heartbreakers as a band, in the 80s you guys backed Bob Dylan. I realised that when you produce somebody, you really need to give it 100 per cent of your energy. As artists, they have to go on with their career and live with it, while I can produce it and move on to something else. Its just a magic guitar. Youve said that it was kind of cool for you personally because it didnt carry the pressure of being the front man, so you got to sit back and play. So I always use that guitar on that song. The truth is, I could do our whole show with one guitar if I wanted to, he admits. Ill take it. And so we formed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers around that group of people. We just discovered things as we went along. Its a six-string. I didnt care what year it was, he says. Its completely different from the 58s and the 60s, different necks, different feel. Mike Campbell: The Guitars" is a fifteen chapter web-documentary series directed by Justin Kreutzmann. On the single, Saving Grace. He used a Vox for that for the slide part, and actually I played the rhythm part on it. I also bought an early-60s Les Paul Custom in white. And hes one of the few rock stars who has actually been quoted in print saying, I dont think we need that much money.. But I used it in that video because its the guitar I used to record the solo on Refugee.. I wanna give you my guitar. I thought he was crazy on drugs or something. Re: Mike Campbell Playing Rickenbacker Mando with the Heartbreake. It makes a beautiful sound. Just doing a Heartbreakers album can put you in a home (laughs)! And there was a couple of Gibson J-45s. $24.99. I got it in Florida for $200, which I did not have at the time, but a friend of a friend had been in an automobile accident and got a settlement, so she had some extra money. I have a couple Vox teardrops I use on the road; ones a white three-pickup that makes a nice rhythm guitar. "[Out of] all these guitars, [the 'Burst] is the only one I put back in the case when I'm done with it.". Each day, wed bring a new one to check out. [The Monza] is a nice guitar to have if you don't have an amp handy, said Campbell. I think I just played the Telecaster after a few times, and Jeff Lynne had some really nice Stratocasters at his house I think they were 54 to 56; there were three of them we picked up from time to time. That was my main guitar for the first three years I wish I still had it. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Talk about your red Rick 660/12, the guitar thats very closely associated with you and is pictured on Damn the Torpedoes. I passed the other day on a Mary Kaye Strat. Weve found more of them, but none quite have the same sound and this feel. I want to get back and finish those things. He augments that with a custom Fender Excelsior and a Fender Vibrotane for Leslie-type effects. "This is one of my favorites. Those few years of collaboration really made me come back to the band with a more experienced, wider scale of music to work with. I like really narrow necks, and its a very thin neck really nice. Mike has been using a small collection of amps with his rig for a while. The cool thing about the guitars on that record, the electric guitars anyway, was that some were recorded direct. The sound and the feel of those records. We used to call it the mystery guitar. There were some long friendships made there. As long as weve been doing this, we still draw from the same places and people who inspired us when we were young. Well, it got me interested in the music, but it didnt make me want to play guitar. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Like with Bob, wed worked together for years at that point. See more ideas about mike campbell, campbell, tom petty. Taylor Swift 6 Guitar Picks RED Concert Tour Souvenir Set . The show runs well over an hour, and features more gorgeous guitars than we have time to tell you about, but you can see the whole episode above. So it has the same wiring and sound as Georges. It was the first one where we broke away from lip-synching altogether. Yeah, the Red Dog. We bought that in Florida from an old guitar student of mine. We were floundering. I was walking around in Hartford, Connecticut and saw they had an SG Junior and the Gretsch Clipper. Its such a good-sounding guitar. Campbell has been of significant play in the Heartbreakers and has been co-writers with petty for many of the band's hit songs. And those are the things I end up going back and listening to again, more than the newer stuff. One guy had a Gibson, one guy had a Fender, so youd learn the differences and how to use them. I dont buy something unless it works, and I can use it. The one that I bought, I took it in here in this room, and plugged it into an amp, and the tone was just I usually play bright guitars, jangly stuff and this thing was like thick and full, says Campbell. H eartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell vividly remembers the first time his star bandmate Tom Petty heard a recording of him singing. Speaking of, thats the track you played on your recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and you guys were amazingly tight.