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Gear Paul used on the new album: "pink '61 Strat / '61 red Tele / '64 Airline / '67 gibson J45 / National O Style 1930 / Fender '59 Bassman reissue / Magnatone Buddy Holly amp 1960 / 1970 Traynor Leslie / Boss pedals / Binson Echorec (Syd Barrett Pink Floyd model)." He also used his '61 Gibson SG reissue and a 1959 Melody Maker as well as borrowing his brother Michael's Rickenbacker bass. At all the Maryland sessions Paul was using a 100 watt vintage Marshall stack with two 4x12 cabinets. Paul Fenton replies re: Guitars Hi Mike! My webmaster forwarded your letter re my guitars- Yes, the "Esquire" is a Tele- I bought the guitar used in '73 for $100. The body had been refinished the same paint job it still has - if you try and polish the guitar some red paint will still come off on the polishing cloth! The Tele 'lost' its neck pickup years ago (before' you could get them rewound ) so I found a WD Esquire 'guard' and covered the hole. I found an early 60's neck pickup a few years ago and now the guitar is back to being a Tele - it's a VERY light guitar - beautiful swamp ash with exotic grains showing through where the paint is worn off. I actually got a chance to play Muddy Water's red Tele in '81 - I was backstage at a Muddy/ John Lee hooker concert and a roadie walked by carrying Muddy's guitar - I asked to play it and he kindly let me - man! I've never played 2 guitars that were so similar-it was pretty cool- mine is a slab board and you don't see many of those- mostly later ones-mid-60's. "The Pink Strat" (as it's called) is a '61 bought in Maryland in '81. It previously had had only 1 owner and it's totally stock except a 5 way switch and a decal-serial # 66767 (either Oct or Nov. '61 I've forgotten which (I agree with the advice of David Lindley - don't take the guitar apart unless you have to! And finally, the "Sea Foam" ('62) Strat- that was refinished years ago when the guitar was bought (in '75) it was stripped to "Natural" already- it had a few different paintjobs until I "settled" on the colour it is now - the photo doesn't really do the guitar justice. It has a greenish hue to it and is all weather checked - a real "relic" ha ha ! It has a harder more 'direct" sound than the '61 Pink Strat- seen alot of gigging. I used the Tele and the Strat in the 70's with my Punk/Stonesy band the Action- You can find a link to The Action (with photos) from my website- The Tele was (is great) for that Stonesy/Status Quo/Syd Barrett sound that I love- also fantastic for slide (using the neck pickup like my hero Rory Gallagher)! If you have any more questions drop me a line! All the best, Paul Fenton Paul Fenton is first and foremost a slide guitar player. Even though he is a wonderful rhythm guitarist, it is his slide playing that distinguishes him from other players. As such, it is obvious he be enamoured of National guitars in all their incarnations: Airliner, Supro, National acoustic resonator guitars, and National electrics, Silvertones and such. The cover of his 1997 CD "Binson's Blues" shows him playing his treasured Rory Gallagher-autographed 'Airliner' and on "Worldwide Slide" he is pictured with his Danelectro lipstick tube pickup guitar.  Here's a great shot of Paul's "Muddy Waters" Telecaster which is virtually identical to the one played by Mr. Morganfield. (Paul played Muddy's guitar at the Waters-John Lee Hooker show at which John Lee told him to f*** off when he interrupted the septuagenarian with a 15 year old groupie.)  Doug Inglis photo Paul also has a pair of gorgeous pre-CBS Stratocasters: his battered pink 1961 Strat and a pretty 1962 Seafoam Green one with "P.FENTON" inlaid in mother of pearl, a gift from his wife in the late 1970's.  Amp choices have always been fun for Paul and he experiments liberally. He began with sundry amps, graduating to two "Stramp" heads which were not only owned by great Leslie West but the very one used on the recording of Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" - as witnessed by Jimi Hendrix in the control room at the Record Plant in NYC! 
Paul played the Stramps through Sunn cabs and/or a locally - made cabinet called a "Daco", later using the Stramp with Marshall cabinets, VOX AC-30's (again showing his affection for the Gallagher sound), Mesa Boogie Mark IV's and most recently a Fender Bassman combo a la Buddy Guy, Los Lobos and many others. He also has been known to use many funky little vintage amps for studio work.  Here is Paul's 1950's Buddy Holly ear-ah Magnatone amplifier in which he has just recently (May 2003) reinstalled the (long missing) tweeters. The Magnatone features "True Pitch Change Vibrato" - it produces a gorgeous lush Leslie-like sound. It is featured prominently on the coming (2005) "Judgement Day" CD  In terms of effects, he is presently using an assortment of Boss pedals and the Binson Echorec (pioneered by Pink Floyd and others). For slides he wears (defunct since the late 1970's) Mighty Mite brass slides and pill bottles from Fort Frederick Maryland a la Duane Allman. Paul lives and breathes feedback (in the musical Hendrix sense) and his live and studio work feature this extensively, with liberal Eddie Kramer-esque pan pot effects. He especially loves to feature his Boss Octave divider on his slide solo work - listen to it on the killer twelve minute-plus version of "Goin' Upstairs" (on the brand new "Live! In Toronto" CD) and lately has become particularly fond of his two 1940's Stella 12 string acoustic guitars as well.  email Paul Fenton |
