James with his Gretsch Super Axe and a 3 Monkeys Orangutan half-stack at the Charter One
Pavillion in Chicago on August 17, 2010. Photo by Andy Keil
“I had always been curious about it,” he
admits. “I love country music and I love
the sound of pedal steel, but I didn’t know
how to play it, how it was set up, or even
how many strings it had. I found a really
great teacher and he gave me a couple of
lessons and showed me how it relates to
the guitar,” explains Broemel. “There’s
been so much amazing stuff done with it
in country and swing and jazz, and I try to
be conscious of that—but I’m not trying
to master it. I treat it more as an ambient
thing. I’m just applying it to what we do
and trying to make sounds that I feel like
I haven’t heard yet. Now, sitting down and
playing it is one of my favorite things about
being in the band. I’m kind of a beginner,
so I just use it for what I know I can pull
off without falling on my face.”
In addition to constituting a return to
classic MMJ form, pedal steel also boosts
Broemel’s creativity on his main instrument.
“I love the guitar, but sometimes
you get burned out and go ‘I don’t even
know what to do!’ When that happens, I’ll
play pedal-steel guitar for a while, and having
to think about the theory and how the
instrument works and then going back to
guitar helps me picture the fretboard differently.
You get a different perspective.”
A Lot of Gear for a “Minimal” Rig
Whether crafting eerie shimmers or slashing
at minor chords with a reverb-drenched
overdrive, Broemel has a surprising amount
of gear for a man who says he likes to keep
his setup minimal. One of his favorite new
pieces is a German-made Duesenberg.
“Until this record, I used all Les Pauls, all
the time. I bought a couple of Duesenberg
guitars after the last record—my friend runs
a studio in Indiana and he had a couple,
including a 12-string that I used on a session
there. So I bought the Double Cat
12-string, and then a guy from Duesenberg
brought me a Starplayer TV, which is kind
of their version of a Gibson ES-335 and has
the Bigsby on it—and I
love Bigsbys. I’ve
always had Bigsbys on my favorite black
Les Paul Standard, my main guitar. I used
the Starplayer for the whole record, basically.
The neck’s a little bit longer scale than
a Les Paul, and it’s the only hollowbody I
have. The older songs don’t feel right on the
Duesenberg, but the newer songs do, so it’s
cool that an instrument is dictating how I
play and making me play a little bit differently.
It’s like a hi-fi, fancy guitar—like a
BMW guitar. It’s too nice for me!” he laughs.
Broemel and his Bigsby-outfitted 1988 Gibson Les Paul Standard at the Charter
One Pavillion in Chicago on August 17, 2010. Photo by Andy Keil
As for amps, Broemel says, “I’ve always
been partial to combos. I’ve always used
pedals for overdrive, so I just look at what’s
going to work live and be really flexible
and play all the songs on it. But it’s such a
slippery slope—you can go chasing those
zenith guitar sounds, but what’s the point?
Do you want to sound like Stevie Ray
Vaughan or just like Jimmy Page? Or Jimi
Hendrix? I don’t really care about that. If
it sounds like me—if that’s possible—then
great. I’ve been using a Carr Rambler live,
and I love that. I also have a couple of old
Fenders. I have a Vibrasonic, as well, which
I use for the pedal steel—it’s a silverface
with a 15" speaker.”
James stuck to his tried-and-true guitars,
including a 1999 Gibson Flying V
and a Breedlove Revival Custom acoustic.
Amps-wise, he waxes lyrical about a new
discovery: “I have finally found an amp I
love both on the road
and in the studio—
the 3 Monkeys Orangutan. It is unreal how
versatile this amp sounds. It can truly do
everything. I feel like I’m doing a product
endorsement right now,” he admits. “But
I’m really being serious. The amp sounds
amazing and it looks beautiful, too—like
the monolith from
2001: A Space Odyssey or
something. God bless that amp.”