June 2012 \ Features \ Artist Interview \ Interview: Billy Duffy - Captain Riffs

Interview: Billy Duffy - Captain Riffs

James Rotondi

The Bob Rock produced "Choice of Weapon," is a strikingly rich return to form, arguably deeper lyrically and broader stylistically than 2001’s "Beyond Good and Evil" or 2007’s "Born Into This."
Premier Guitar June 2012
(4 of 4)

Youtube It


Wearing his go-to White Falcon and a platinumblonde pomp, a circa-’85 Duffy conjures sweet, ’80s-correct flange tone for this classic from Love.


Outfitted with more hair, more gain, and fewer effects, Duffy straps on a Les Paul Custom to crank out a blistering version of “Love Removal Machine” in a 1987 appearance on Britain’s legendary The Old Grey Whistle Test. Killer solo on this one.


In this spirited 2012 SXSW performance of one of the Cult’s biggest hits, Duffy rocks his wah just fine in front of his Matchless/Roland/ Marshall amp wall.


« Previous    1 | 2 | 3 | 4   

Related Articles

Interview: Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho – Fast and Slow
Interview: Eric Gales & Doug Pinnick - Gospel Grooves & Abnormal Blues


Comments

 (7 comments) display by
UsernameComment
Bonio
on 01/01/2013 		Billy used a rented Marshall les paul combo for electric all his gear had been left in london. Electric had already been recorded but the band were unhappy with the results & flew out to the states & rerecorded the whole thing with rick rubin in electric ladyland studios. the white falcon & roland jazz chorus were left at home along with his effects if you listen to electric the guitar is as dry as a bone!
Loveremoval machine is definately a les paul & not the gretsch the gretsch was used on love an entirely different guitar sound,As for any whamy bar on electric it must have been a bigsby equiped Les paul
rotorooter
on 06/22/2012 		Recently Billy has claimed that Electric was "all" Les Paul, but I think his memory has faded and it was actually Sonic Temple when he made the big switch. Compare his tone on this live TV performance in 1987 with the Les Paul: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joR59Izl_ Zw To this live performance in 1987 with the Gretsch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrkIoNTz3 as The White Falcon has the jangle and low end woof of the studio recording and is less midrange heavy than the Les Paul. Also, you can hear Duffy using the Bigsby on his Gretsch on several songs on Electric (Born to be Wild, Bad Fun, and note how he uses it for vibrato in the Brixton Academy video) and I've never seen him play a Les Paul with a Bigsby or Floyd. On some songs on Electric it sounds like he used a Les Paul (like Outlaw), so the truth is it was probably a combination of both. However, "Love Removal Machine" is a Gretsch.
Smash
on 06/20/2012 		Always heard that he played a Les Paul in the studio for "Electric" but then played the Falcon on the road. It wasn't until "Sonic Temple" that he really became identified visually with the Les Paul.
Rocker
on 06/07/2012 		Billy the best !! www.myspace.com/srockdecadadia
Rotorooter
on 05/26/2012 		Duffy did not play a Les Paul on "Love Removal Machine." He played the White Falcon on that. "Fire Woman" was not on Electric, but rather the Sonic Temple album. Next time get a real writer to do your interviews.
guitarboy
on 05/19/2012 		OOPS. Has "got" to be inspired.
guitarboy
on 05/19/2012 		Great article about a great player. Anybody who plays Les Paul Customs and Fender Esquires (my two favorite guitars in the world) and a single cut Falcon has good to be inspired! Billy obviously is. It was great to hear about his amp combinations, too.



Your Comment:  

All comments are subject to editing or deletion by the Premier Guitar staff.

Your Name:  


Please enter the text you see in the image:  
10

5DAFCF32-809E-45E1-B0E4-546016D1964A