On April 29th, 2015, Ben Gibbard and Nick Harmer of Death Cab for Cutie met with PG in Nashville’s historic Ryman to talk short-scale Fenders and Acme Silvertones.
Ben Gibbard tours with four 1970s Fender Mustangs with solid maple necks. (He likes their comfy 24" scale.) The Mustangs have had their pickup switches and tone controls removed, and a single volume knob controls both pickups. Tech Jesse Quitslund also replaced the tremolo springs with bolts, locking down the floating tailpiece.
Gibbard has two Acme Silvertone amp heads onstage (one is a backup). Jesse Quitslund made these overbuilt versions of the classic Danelectro/Sears Silvertone 1484 circuit in 2008.
Gibbard is an old-school stomper. His signal runs into a ZVEX Super Duper 2 in 1, then to a Voodoo Labs Pedal Switcher that loops to a Boss TU-2 tuner, EHX Micro POG, MXR Stereo Chorus, ZVEX Box of Rocks, Eventide TimeFactor delay, and an Eventide Space reverb. All reside on a Quitslund-made pedalboard with power supplies, a tuner, an acoustic DI, and a power strip.A Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2supplies the juice.
Since 2007 Harmer has toured with three Lakland P-style basses, all with maple necks and fretboards. The Lakelands feature 5% overwound Lollar pickups and are strung daily with D’Addario XL 50-105 strings.
From the pedals the bass signal goes to a Summit Audio TD-100 Instrument Preamp and Tube Direct Box, then to an Ashdown EVO II 500 head.
Everything runs into Harmer's Fender 2x15 cabinet.
Harmer uses a simple pedalboard with a Boss TU-2, ProCo Rat Duecetone, Boss FRV-1 ’63 Fender Reverb pedal, and a Maxon AD999 analog delay, all supplied by aVoodoo Labs Pedal Power 2.
When Gibbard wants a softer, gentler tone, he goes with one of two 2008 Gibson J-45s with B-Band pickup systems.
Special thanks to tech Jesse Quitslund, the man behind Acme Instruments.
Perry Bean cut his teeth touring and playing in punk rock and hardcore bands, before he got his start in film. He worked his way up from lowly production assistant to become a producer, art director, and most recently, a music video director nominated for ACM, CMT, and CMA awards. Being Premier Guitar's Chief Videographer was a perfect fit for him, combining his two favorite things—guitars and cameras. Perry doesn't have free time, but his massive dog Beef pays his rent by being Perry's intern.
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