As Helmet prepare to perform Betty in full one last time, we take a look at the guitars, amps, and pedals that helped Page Hamilton forge one of heavy music's most distinctive sounds.
Helmet changed the face of modern heavy music with its precision riffs, jazz-stained chords and avant-garde funk rhythms with their 1994 album Betty. Now, 32 years later, Helmet have announced they are retiring the concept of playing one of their albums in full, and to celebrate, they’ll be performing Betty in its entirety for one last time. To mark this momentous occasion, the band have announced a one-off show in Melbourne, ‘Betty Fest’, on April 26 at Northcote Theatre. Before the band takes to the stage, let’s take a look at some of the gear frontman Page Hamilton used to record the album and what his current rig is like.
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1989 ESP Horizon
Bought in 1989, Hamilton’s magenta Horizon has been his main guitar since the inception of Helmet. Hamilton set up the guitar for drop D tuning and, throughout the years, has modded it by removing all the stock electronics and replacing them with a single volume, as well as removing the neck pickup and replacing it with a spring to create experimental noises. Inspired by guitarist and collaborator Casper Brötzmann, Hamilton has also removed the backplate, allowing him access to scrape and pluck on the springs for the tremolo. Nowadays, Hamilton plays his signature model, which is a custom replica made by ESP, as the original is too fragile due to it being smashed and glued back together a few times and has too much sentimental value for him to take on the road. He also carries a custom silver-leafed Horizon with the same mods as the magenta for backup.
G&L SC-2
The story goes that Hamilton had just restrung his SC-2 and had to go out for lunch with his parents. Upon his return home, he picked up the guitar, and it was tuned to an A7 chord tuning. Inspired by what he heard, he wrote the song Biscuits for Smut.
Fryette amps
Since the mid to late ’90s, Hamilton’s live amp setup has morphed from using a Marshall JCM800 2204S in conjunction with an Orange 50watt head to using a Fryette Pittbull Ultra-Lead 3-channel head running into a Fryette 4×12 cab outfitted with Eminence P50E speakers. Hamilton has settled on this amp and cab combo because of its percussive response and has noted that more complex chords and melodies don’t get lost in the mix, as they tend to do with mushier amps.
Boss pedals
Over the years, Hamilton has used many Boss effects. In some of his most current rigs, there have been sightings of PS-5 Super Shifter, MT-2W Metal Zone Waza Craft, TS-2 Turbo Distortion, NS-2 Noise Suppressor, FB-2 Feedbacker/Booster and a Boss ES-5 Effects Switching System to control his entire rig.
Eventide H9
The H9 is one of Hamilton’s modern go-to pedals for when he’s travelling, as it can cover all his modulation, octave and delay sounds. Hamilton is such a fan of the H9 that his full rig has two of them, one at the start of the signal change and one at the end.
