Fender AVRI 62 Jazzmaster
This is my main live guitar, which has been slightly modded with replacement Lollar pickups and a Mastery bridge. After initially being very excited about the impressive array of vintage guitars on offer at the studio (Melbourne’s Sing Sing Studio), I found myself coming back to the comfort of my trusty Jazzy.
Sovtek MIG-50
Both myself and (other guitarist) Matt play through these, they are very much the sound of Shepparton Airplane. These small but loud valve amps are a nice marriage of early Fender and Marshall tones (we like them a lot). They break up nice while still leaving plenty of headroom for pedals.
Moog Moogerfooger Ring Modulator
For me, this pedal was a key ingredient for my guitar sound on this record. You can get Spaghetti Western type tremolos to crazy spaced out shudders and everything in between. The drive function on these pedals are great too, it helps push the Sovtek just that little bit harder.
Korg MicroKorg XL
This little workhorse got quite a run on this record, mostly through an Acetone SA-9 solid-state amp, but sometimes directly into the Neve console.Other synths make an appearance (such as the Arturia Minibrute) but the MicroKorg seemed to always find a place in a song, even if it was just a drone note, it really helped fill things out and add to the wall of sound.
Fender Precision Special Bass
These passive/active bass guitars (hence the ‘special’) were in production from 1979 to mid-1980 before being scrapped due to poor sales. However, we think it’s by the far the best bass they ever made (well this one anyway). Especially through a ’70s Bassman running into an 8×10! It’s found its way onto countless albums over the years, from Peep Tempel to Bench Press to Graveyard Train.
Shepparton Airplane’s new album Sharks is out now.
