On stage, Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro is rarely seen wielding anything but his beloved Stratocasters – but in the studio, he is always on the hunt for new sounds.
Sometimes that comes from the “extremely useful” versatility of a Gibson Les Paul, or a left-field pedal pick. But when it came to tracking Biffy Clyro’s latest album, Futique, the modern rock giants found an unlikely winner in the battle to be the record’s main electric guitar.
“The Strat is everything to me,” he tells Guitarist. “My favourite model is the Michael Landau signature. I stumbled across one about 10 years ago, and it just spoke to me.
“[In the studio] I flirted a bit with a small and boutique UK company called Fairlane Guitars,” he expands. “I've used their Zephyr model, and I've also used a guitar made by Novo in Nashville. My tour manager bought one and I pinched it off him for this record.”
There was another, more unexpected guitar that also ended up shaping the sound of the record.
“Believe it or not,” he continues, “one of my main guitars for this record was this wee Fender Champ.”
One of Fender Japan's most obscure builds – and that's saying something, considering it just dropped a Godzilla Strat – the ST Champ was a short-scale Strat that featured a speaker built into its basswood body. It shunned the Strat's traditional trio of single coils for a single humbucker in the bridge to accommodate this quirk. There was even a Jazzmaster version, but production of both ceased years ago.
“It was released in Japan back in the 90s. A tech had one, which played and felt so real and right, plus the sound that comes out of that speaker is just dynamite,” Neil purrs. “You can get this really sludgy tone. Obviously, it's quiet, but we mic'd it up for a few songs to get some cheap-sounding warmth.
“I've definitely embraced a few other guitars, but the Strat is my defining sound. It always speaks through whatever's in the mix, no matter how thick it might be."
The ST Champ is something of a cult classic and has been previously praised by the likes of session hero Tom Bukovac, who shared a video of him waxing lyrical about the almost-novelty-esque instrument last year.
Elsewhere in his interview, Neil named another surprise guitar that can be heard on the album – a reissue of a legendary Les Paul.
Neil’s full interview features in the latest issue of Guitarist, which sees Gary Moore’s 1960 Red Strat grace the cover. Single issues can be ordered from Magazines Direct.
