Equipment Picks from Clarence White, Freakwater, Max Johnston, Dean Magraw, Robin and Linda Williams, Tom Russell, Dan Fogelberg, and Jules Shear
Clarence White used his 1935 Martin D-28 herringbone (currently owned by Tony Rice) for playing rhythm, but for lead work he preferred to play one of his two Martin D-18s. Martin D-18s appear on many of his recordings, including the landmark 1964 album Appalachian Swing. In late 1966, White acquired a custom Roy Noble guitar, which became his main guitar during his Muleskinner days and his main acoustic guitar during his time with the Byrds. Shortly before his death, White purchased a Mark Whitebook guitar from Walecki Music in Westwood, California (now known as Westwood Music), which he proclaimed to be the best-sounding guitar he'd ever heard. The Whitebook is currently owned by Clarence's brother Roland White. Clarence also owned and played a Mosrite resonator guitar, a Randy Wood mandolin, a sunburst 1954 Fender Telecaster (now owned by Marty Stuart), and a white Fender Telecaster. He used heavy tortoiseshell picks, Gibson heavies, or, occasionally, a 50-cent piece, and he strung all of his acoustics with either Martin or Gibson medium-gauge strings. --Dylan Schorer
Freakwater's Catherine Irwin loves the "really great twangy sound" she coaxes from her 1939 National archtop guitar. "It's got a sloppy and string-buzzing sound, not clean-sounding at all," she says. Irwin is thinking about using an on-stage amp to wrest control away from the various sound engineers she deals with, but she currently uses a Fishman pickup run directly into the PA. Janet Bean plays a Martin D-1, equipped with a Martin Thinline pickup. She describes the sound as "rich, bright, and chimey."
Max Johnston travels with a slew of acoustic instruments. He inherited his "loud and black" Reed resophonic from his father and runs the signal from its Barcus-Berry pickup through a Fishman preamp. His no-name fiddle, which he bought from a contest winner who'd earned a new one for himself, dates back to 1903, and his wide-neck 1919 Gibson A-style mandolin is another present from his father. Johnston also plays a 1980 Imperial banjo, which he says is the third one ever made. His fiddle, mandolin, and banjo are all equipped with Fishman pickups. David Gay also uses a Fishman pickup to amplify his Englehart upright bass and runs the signal into a red, sparkly Kustom amp. --Marc Greilsamer
Dean Magraw's main instrument, and the one heard on most of his recordings, is a 1987 Martin D-16 that he calls "a workingman's guitar." He also has a classical built by Twin Cities luthier Stephen Kakos (6381 Maple Rd., Mound, MN 55364; [612] 472-4732), an electric sitar/guitar, and a Gibson L-5 for the "traditional jazz sound." Magraw strings his Martin with his own mix of gauges (.014, .017, .024, .032, .045, .054, high to low) and plays it with a variety of picks (including a wooden one and a stone) as well as his bare thumb and fingers. The guitar is very light and responsive, he says, and "does 90 percent of the work."
When it comes to amplification, Magraw says that "naked is the best. I start off with that premise, then go for the mic." He takes a Shure SM-81 condenser mic to gigs, and he has gotten good results mixing the mic with a Baggs LB6 saddle pickup that he runs through a Baggs Para-Acoustic DI. After trying "about a million pickups," he says, "I find the Baggs to be the least invasive." He finds other sound-processing gear beside the point. "People like to talk in terms of electronic effects," he says, "but all this [acoustic] stuff came first, and they just found ways of enhancing it in those little boxes."--Russell Letson
Robin and Linda Williams have found what they consider the perfect setup after years of trying everything from a plain guitar and microphone to hooking up to "a tin box with big black knobs." Linda plays a 1993 Taylor 615 jumbo guitar of quilted maple. She uses a Fishman Matrix Natural pickup mounted in the saddle. "It sounds so great that sound guys across the country are blown away," she says. Her banjo is a turn-of-the-century Vega White Lady with a neck made by Jay Darmstadter (1724 Allied St., Charlottesville, VA 22901). "He's worked on all our guitars for 20 years," Linda says. She uses a McIntyre pickup (McIntyre Guitar Co., 719 Louise Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; [704] 358-9497), which is mounted under the banjo's head. Both instruments are connected to the board through a Countryman DI.
Robin plays a small-bodied 1992 Collings 02H guitar with a Fishman Matrix Natural pickup mounted in the saddle and a Donnell microphone inside the guitar (Donnell Enterprises, 24 Parkhurst St., Chico, CA 95928-6856; [800] 585-7659). The pickup and mic are routed into a Fishman Blender, and Robin uses a Boss EV50 foot pedal to boost the volume on stage during leads.
The Williamses and the members of Their Fine Group use John Pearse strings. "The whole band swears by them," Linda says. She uses medium-gauge phosphor-bronzes on her Taylor, and Robin uses light-gauge sets on his Collings.--Lisa Theo
Tom Russell tours with a black Collings OM-2H with a Sitka spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides, ebony fingerboard and bridge, herringbone and abalone inlays around the soundhole, and abalone inlays on the fingerboard. For years he toured with vintage Gibsons and Martins, including a 1948 Gibson J-45 and a 1946 Martin D-18, both of which he describes as "a bit beat up."
When Russell decided to find a new guitar, he looked at a lot. "The Collings guitars are unbelievable," he says. "For what I need, I haven't seen a guitar that matches the Collings. I wanted a smaller guitar to carry on airplanes, and this thing is so loud I don't need a dreadnought." The Collings is equipped with a Fishman bridge pickup and an interior preamp. "I can run it straight into anything," Russell says, "but I usually run it through EQ just so I can control everything."
Russell has an endorsement deal with D'Addario and uses phosphor-bronze light-gauge strings, which he changes every other gig. "They seem to hold up," he says. "They don't sound as bright when you first put them on, but they have a fuller sound that holds up better. They're good rhythm guitar strings and good fingerpicking strings."
When fingerpicking, Russell uses his bare fingers. For strumming, he uses big, triangular Fender picks in medium thickness. He also does a combination thing with a flatpick and his middle and ring fingers.--John Herndon
Dan Fogelberg's acoustic guitars have been with him for many years. His main six-string is a trusty Martin D-45 marked with a sticker that says "No. 1" to eliminate confusion for the sound engineers at gigs. He also has a custom-built Yamaha with jacaranda back and sides shaped kind of like a large 000, which he utilizes as a high-strung guitar. His two 12-strings were made by Ibanez and Guild. Fogelberg prefers D'Angelico strings on his acoustics. He uses a Sunrise pickup mounted in the soundhole for live work.--James Jensen
Jules Shear's acoustic guitar of choice is a Takamine EN-10. But opposed to almost every other living guitarist who chooses an instrument because it sounds good, he said that he's tried many guitars that sound better, but they were wrong for what he wanted. "The more beautiful the guitar was, the less likely it seemed that I should be playing it," he said. "It was a revelation to me that what I really needed was a guitar that sounded as funky as my playing style, not one that would pretty it up or make it sound nice. I don't play nice. It suits what I do, it suits my style.
"It's got another thing going for me that I like," said Shear. "It's symmetrical. It has no pickguard or cutaway, which for me is good because I turn it upside-down to play it lefty. And I use the exact same guitar every time I write and perform. I'm a creature of habit. I don't want to stand around and worry about what guitar I'm going to use."
Despite these sentiments, Shear isn't convinced this is the perfect guitar for him, but he admitted a lot of reluctance to "go into music stores and retune guitars and play them with my thumb in front of people who don't know me." There is one guitar shop, however, where he feels safe: Matt Umanov's Guitars on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. "It's a beautiful place and the only store where I know no fear," he said. He uses medium-gauge Eclipse guitar strings, made exclusively for Umanov's shop by D'Addario.
Shear uses a Korg tuner and doesn't use capos "because I have my God-given capo attached to my wrist, and that seems to be working." He also doesn't use picks because, he says, "There's something unnerving about playing something and not feeling it physically with my fingers. So I gave up using picks. On this record there is no strumming, all fingerpicking. And I know people can do that using fingerpicks and it sounds beautiful. But once again, beautiful doesn't exactly make it for me when I'm playing guitar."
For recording songwriting sessions, he uses a Sony TCS-580 cassette recorder, which he calls "the songwriter's friend." "It has stereo mics, a tape counter, and a little speaker, so you can hear back immediately what you've just done. I've worked with people who have fancy recording gear, and they can spend half an hour just getting it to sound right." The Sony also has adjustable speeds, a feature Shear uses frequently.--Paul Zollo
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