TONE ZONE

Mike McGinn

I primarily play a 1984 Fender Telecaster which I bought from the Guitar Showcase in Campbell on the night Ronald Reagan won his second term.  I felt I needed a consolation gift to quiet my disappointment.  It was only $200 new. American made. Black with maple neck. Like Joe Strummer.

I put a Seymore Duncan stacked humbucker in the bridge position and left the stock neck pickup as it sounded better than anything else.

I use Pyramid Gold Chrome Nickel Flatwound strings. Medium Heavy 12-52 gauge. According to Weir, they were the strings the Beatles used. They never seem to break and don’t squeak too much.

My amp for local shows is a Mesa Boogie mk3 combo, SimulClass with an 12″ EV Black Shadow speaker.  It’s an amazing sounding amp. But it is very, very heavy for the size. On the road I rent a Fender Twin Reverb, Deluxe or just about anything close.

Pedal wise I have a ProCo Rat distortion and a Dunlop CAE Wah – MC404. But I rarely use either. For the last Skull and Roses gig I plugged right into the amp.

I knew this great guitar player and teacher way back and I asked him about equipment, like tube vs solid state amps, pedals, pickup, etc.  And he just said, “Forget all that. The tone is in your fingers.” He is correct.