I wasnt playing guitar yet, but I just loved the sound of it, Scotty Moore stuff, and of course Buddy Hollys guitar playing. But my favorite Rick is the semi-hollow blond one I played [on The Tonight Show]. My dad was on tour in Okinawa and sent me a $60 Goya electric six-string, he tells us. And I dont know if I ever really learned much on it I couldnt figure out how to tune it. Whose idea was it? The Beatles were a big deal, and in 1964 everyone wanted a guitar. "As weve gone along, thats become a bit of a good problem to have. Well, it got me interested in the music, but it didnt make me want to play guitar. Equipboard breaks down the gear, tools, and products used by artists, pros, and influencers in their craft. Are you on the lookout for anything in particular? We have a live album that Mikes producing, and a Heartbreakers album that was started a year ago and is a quarter of the way done. All rights reserved. 8,062. So he brought it back, and sure enough it was a mid-60s J-45, which I still use a lot. What are you waiting for. I can see it coming down to fewer shows. Reply . I have recently. The best $150 Mike Campbell ever spent! I had a Gibson Dove, and he had the Stratocaster. (November 18, 1999 -- Please note: Mike looked over the questions and answered the ones he could. I use that on American Girl because its got the right tone, and we lowered the key on that song a half step over the years. Mike Campbell, guitar player from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers does not clean his guitars either. Loves the long road and on through the set," says Mike Campbell's guitar tech ab "That's a custom tweed. Listed for sale on Reverb.com on July 21, 2021. Campbell relies on a rare Dunlop Camel Toe for his distortion, a Line 6 DL-4, the Green Meanie switch (which brings his Fender Excelsior amp in and out), a DigiTech Whammy II, Line 6 MM-4, a custom switch for his 1962 reissue Fender reverb tank, a Boss RC-30, and a Boss TU-2 tuner. It sings. Next is a recent Fender Custom Shop Tele with a B-Bender used as a backup, then a pair of Rickenbacker 12-stringsthe one on the right is used on "Free Fallin." Absolutely, yeah. Well, that may be true, Im just not nuts about putting that much time in on the road. Id like to give it to you.. Tom Petty &The Heartbreakers 2014 Hypnotic Eye 2 Guitar Picks &. In fact, some of the band members werent cutting it in the studio, and the deal fell apart. Paul Gray - Slipknot. The sound textures. It depends on what I need. Do you keep a pretty close inventory of all guitars? This is called Little Ricky. Other guitars include a 1980s Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty '55 Reissue, bought as a road dog to spare his '56 original, a 1950s Kay Barney Kessel Artist and an Italia Monza with a built-in amplifier. Well, it sort of built. $3.39 to $5.99. Campbells solution was to mount his favourite acoustic and electric guitars above his head on some rigging, using remote control to bring them down within reach. But I didnt know any better! (Ed. He augments that with a custom Fender Excelsior and a Fender Vibrotane for Leslie-type effects. Campbell should be proud. That was my main guitar for the first three years I wish I still had it. Its so good. Reverb Homepage Contact Support 8c8a7d09e90f483fb6d37e1764114e10 Get the Best of Reverb in Your Inbox She . On days off, wed go to pawn shops and guitar stores, and buy anything good. You should pick up a set of Virtuoso Cleaner and Polisher. Holding the groove down and a sense of melody, tone all of those things. Rick said, I got this track of Mikes. He then gave it to Tom, and I dont think he remembered it. 1989: Petty releases his first official solo album, "Full Moon Fever," co-produced by Jeff Lynne and Mike Campbell. Mike Campbell talks about the solid-bodied Rickenbacker 12-string he found shopping through the old "Recycler" advertising newspaper, driving to Anaheim, and later discovering it was built on the assembly line with George Harrison's guitar in the 1960's. Click the link to watch the video. Guitars, amps, it's all about tone. I hate to part with a lot of these [guitars], but something's got to go.. So I suggested to the drummer from my band, Go try out. And he brought them over to our house and it turned out they had lost their guitar player, so he said, Theres a guy here who plays. So I sat in, and we both joined Mudcrutch that same day. Mike Campbell Heartbreaker American Standard Telecaster Electric Guitar We're sorry-this item is unavailable. She showed up one day and said, Remember that $200? I said, You caught me on a good day! (laughs). Campbell also tells Agnesi about his huge-sounding, well-worn '56 J-200 acoustic guitar which he purchased while recording with Johnny Cash and his 1968 Dove with a double pickguard, among other stalwart acoustics. Many of your videos are today considered groundbreaking, in retrospect. And which electrics can we hear on the album? Tom Petty and Mike Campbell both know what a good guitar sound is, so the guitar sound they end up with is the one they wanted. 2) The second guitar that comes in sounds to me like it has a Tonebender or Rangemaster on it . I think Blair is probably is more locked with the drummer, where Howie played more like a guitar player. I told her that Id seen this guitar, but couldnt afford to get it, and she said, Yeah, Ill buy it for you. If theres something I dont think Id ever use, I usually dont buy it. Vintage Guitar: What goes through your mind when you think about the fact that the first Heartbreakers album is 30 years old come November? Its so easy to play. Whens the last time you couldnt get a guitar that you wanted because you just didnt have the cash handy? The Hfner Club, which I think weve used for everything for the last 10 years now. or Best Offer. says Mike Campbell's guitar tech about the Gibson Firebird Vintage Electric Guitar. 26) Hank asked: I saw that you use those Danelectro pedals. Its a big chunk of work. I don't hear a fuzz on this track. It was playable. Mike Campbell launched The Dirty Knobs after coming to terms with his increasingly prolific creative output. Well, I kinda instigated getting Rick into the fold because one time on tour I got a message that he wanted to know if I had any songs that I would want to give to Mick Jagger, who was working on a solo record at the time. Great great, I've been waiting a long time for a Premier Guitar rig rundown of Campbell's rig. As we begin our nearly two-hour conversation, Mike Campbell admits that even after more than 40 years as the lead guitarist in the venerable Heartbreakers band, the pressure is still on him. Well thats a lot. Mike Campbell Reflects on His Long Career as the Rock Guitarist's Guitarist By Joe Bosso published April 23, 2020 From his 40+ years as Tom Petty's right-hand man to his current roles in Fleetwood Mac and his own group, The Dirty Knobs, Campbell looks back on an incredible career (Image credit: Kevin Scanlon) This guitar looks like the tail of a 1959 Cadillac. Or why not treat yourself? But I did my best, and I didnt really think it was very good. Each instrument includes a small number of guitar picks used by Mike Campbell on the last Heartbreakers tour. I was watching a Rig Rundown and I saw the settings listed below. I thought that it was just the way guitars were. Contact our experts for a recommendation of great alternatives. I dont take it on the road anymore. So far, has everything on tour gone as planned in terms of crowd response, especially to the new tracks? CAMPBELL! Ill maybe do a song here and there, but to do a whole album is really taking on their life.. Well, hes right up there. I could play the whole show with a Tele or a Les Paul or an SG. Rickenbacker makes mandolins, but they look like this: Attached Thumbnails. The first song I ever played on guitar was Baby Let Me Follow You Down. A friend had the Bob Dylan record, and he taught me the chords to that. I like the Broadcaster just because the way it is, I mean that's what was done on American Girl and all the first recordings was all Tele sub. "We actually still like each other and, when we play together, its still like the first time in the garage. It didnt take long at all because I went in with everything written. I have a 50-watt Marshall that I really like, a little 60s amp in red. Its my main Gibson. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The 64 Strat. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halens Panama. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers guitarist and Petty songwriting partner Mike Campbell was recently on tour in Australasia with the new version of Fleetwood Mac, proving to the doubters that the Neil Finn/Mike Campbell combination works a treat as Lindsey Buckingham's replacement. Mike found it years ago through an ad and bought it for a couple hundred bucks. Is there anything in particular you look for, in terms of collecting acoustic guitars? He was real good at that, so it was kind of a fresh direction. And it included something of an homage to the guitar. The part about production Im a little apprehensive with is that when people come to you to produce their record, youve taken responsibility for their career. I mostly played acoustic. I want to get back and finish those things. We were band members again. I have decided to sell some of the nicer pieces.. So I always use that guitar on that song. As soon as I got the guitar and knew a few chords, I tried to write songs, because I didnt know a lot of songs. Unique Guitars. I buy a lot of stuff from him. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Together, the two have been the key to an unmistakable rock and roll sound created by one of pop music's longest-lasting entities. It's not just electrics on tap, though. I just dont want to have someone damage it or drop it.. It reminded me of Jerry Garcia. And the songs, like American Girl and Breakdown, still hold up. Theres a special story behind that guitar, Campbell says of the black Rickenbacker he plays on American Girl, closing just about every show. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. Yeah, I do it all the time. Theyve cloned it for me and are going to reissue that soon. Right away, I just loved the song, you know? In the history of the band, what are the most important guitars? We recently caught up with Petty and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, with whom Petty has been working since the earliest days of the band. Well, the new Martins we used on Highway Companion are very nice-sounding. Explore Mike Campbell's incredible vintage guitar 'carousel' in new episode of Gibson TV's The Collection By Jackson Maxwell published April 12, 2022 The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Fleetwood Mac guitar legend tells the story of his '59 'Burst Les Paul, the '62 SG Junior he played on Runnin' Down a Dream and more And Ive always bought one whenever I had the money. Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. And we did it at Jeffs home studio. So in my spare time, I would just try to invent them. I saw Bruce Springsteen had one and I was telling him I invented that! (laughs). 5. His reluctance, and his clearly busy schedule, leads to an obvious question: with the Heartbreakers on such a high after Hypnotic Eye and a successful tour, how long does he think it will go on? Please try again. Serial: 2023 The tolex is a bit worn and has a fair amount of tears here and there as well as some dirt. As for guitars, perhaps the most noteworthy items are a Gibson Les Paul Custom Lite that has an onboard compressor a far-out choice that he used while rehearsing with Fleetwood Mac and a B-Bender-equipped 1970s Gibson Les Paul Standard. I gave him a hard time for keeping his guitar tech, Steve, so busy during the live show. Wed build tracks up, usually with acoustics, and overdub the other instruments to finish it off. On almost every song there was at least one or two acoustic Martins. Mike also has another band called The Dirty Knobs, which is his sideband. Then, of course, that turned around years later, where the old ones became much more expensive than new ones. The thing about it was he was on vacation in Hawaii in thereally late 80s early 90s and just happened to walk into a shop and this was hanging th " '64 Firebird lll, His tech is mistaken; it's not a VII. I wanna give you my guitar. I thought he was crazy on drugs or something. I have a couple Vox teardrops I use on the road; ones a white three-pickup that makes a nice rhythm guitar. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Mike Campbell (vocals, guitar, bass); Benmont Tench (piano, electric pianos, organ, Chamberlin, Clavinet); Howie Epstein (bass, background vocals).Additional personnel: Scott Thurston (acoustic & electric guitars); Steve Ferrone (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).Producers: Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Rick Rubin.Engineers . The solo records are more about a collection of songs, not about a band performance. Only one thing that got me hooked. Actually, I did form a band before that a three-piece sort of blues-jam band. "Second of all,I dont know if I want to be responsible for their career, you know? I got it in Florida for $200, which I did not have at the time, but a friend of a friend had been in an automobile accident and got a settlement, so she had some extra money. Fast forward to you first bands, the Epics, and then Mudcrutch. You cant just walk away from a dot-neck 335 that nice.. That was it, I think, though Mike has always got some sort of exotic s*** going on. Thats the one I used to record The Waiting and all those classic 12-string numbers. Rickenbacker 4003 (love this bass) 8. He plays it pretty much in the set. A subscription makes a thoughtful gift for both family and friends. Today, nearly 50 years beyond Love Me Tender and Love Me Do, he is the personification of the rock star created by the Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. And 30 years after his band, the Heartbreakers, formed in Gainesville, Florida, he is still making an impact, still being a force in a medium famous for devouring all but the biggest of its stars. The laconic raconteur of rock very much appreciates that his style never goes out of style, and in selling some 50 million albums he has pandered to nobody not fans, not managers, not record labels. (Specs Below). BA1 1UA. So every lead on those first two records is probably that Broadcaster? Are there a couple of especially fond memories of those recording sessions? Its got so much history. There was a whole different viewpoint for me. After Torpedoes, we started to make a little profit, and started buying guitars basically as we saw them. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited. And if its a track were building, the guitar solo would probably come later. Do you have any specific plans or goals for the Heartbreakers for the next few years other than finishing the various projects? The hits keep coming. See more ideas about mike campbell, campbell, tom petty. One side of Campbell's guitar arsenal covers all the bases. . Campbell's melodic sensibility and guitar tone have helped to shape the sound of American rock, and there are some super-collectible pieces in his collection. He's had it for years and years and years, but he's just really fell in love with it for this tour. "I believe strongly that you just take whatever the gift has given you that day. Ive only bought things that I actually play. Mike got us a green one and then we brought it in "The Princeton is probably a '63 or '64. As a subscriber enjoy big savings off the shop price! In fact, over-the-top great. Mike Campbell is selling a trove of vintage gear on Reverb, including a number of electric guitars and amps he has used through the years with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Don Henley and Fleetwood Mac. Ive bought many guitars from him, and a lot from Norm Harris. COOL !!! Campbell, who died on Tuesday, aged 81, of Alzheimer's disease, was a guitar prodigy at age 10.He spent his childhood on an Arkansas farm with no electricity, where he was the seventh son in a . Theres a 1956 J-200 acoustic guitar, a Gold Top Les Paul Standard with coverless P-90s. We think somebody wanted it to look like John Lennons, so they had somebody carve that top horn. Itd be okay. By the end, I think he was overrun! Thats a good amp, but for me, theres something in the tone of the Fender tubes thats just fantastic those blackface Deluxes, the Princeton I love those in the studio. Mike Campbell: The Guitars" is a fifteen chapter web-documentary series directed by Justin Kreutzmann. His tours are not sponsored by corporations, and his songs are not used in advertising. It's the epitome of picking a niche theme, going all in, and nailing it. All rights reserved. But throughout the whole tour I felt the band played really well, and I was very proud of everybody.. They really throw it out nicely onstage. As long as weve been doing this, we still draw from the same places and people who inspired us when we were young. 9 #5, published March 2008, Mike Campbell states the following: We love them because we love the Beatles and we assumed that they were using AC30s. Hes been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player (opens in new tab). Then I got a 64 Strat, which I still have, and weve played on almost every record weve done. But this is the stuff that he couldnt part with. Thats when we were learning about how to play, how to have a band. So when I got back to town, I called him and said, Ive got some tracks that Tom doesnt want to use, and said he could listen to those if he liked. Its got so much history. They wanted me to do a Tom Petty model of that guitar, and I did, though I changed it a bit; I made the neck wider because I always thought the neck was a little cramped at the end. As a subscriber enjoy big savings off the shop price! If youre playing with the same five or six people throughout an album, you make a different noise than if, say, its just yourself on several overdubs. I think especially the singing sounded really young, Campbell says when we ask him what, after making so many albums, was different this time around. I liked just the sound of it, and the spirit of what they were doing. Yeah, its a mid-60s model with three pickups. Featured in this page from the Elite Guitars website. There are some very desirable amps going on sale, including the very first amp Campbell got a Heathkit TA-16. BA1 1UA. He was an amazing person. With more than 80 million albums sold worldwide, and countless anthems from Refugee to American Girl and Free Fallin to Mary Janes Last Dance under their belts, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers are in the DNA of an audience that encompasses all ages and walks of life. Ive played on several things over the years with Rick most of his acoustic records, and on the new Johnny Cash record, American V, I played on the whole thing. They were a huge influence on me and everybody in my generation it was a great time for guitar inspiration. Youve said that it was kind of cool for you personally because it didnt carry the pressure of being the front man, so you got to sit back and play. Well, I dont know its over 100, and theyre all really good ones. For more episodes of The Collection, visit Gibson TV (opens in new tab). I actually auditioned for Tom on that thing. That soon changed, though. "On I Wont Back Down, I have the Gretsch Clipper tuned to an open tuning that I use for that slide part. The songs mostly came from acoustic rhythm standpoint. Were really tuned into different tones when were making records, you know? Id really like to find one of those. The first couple of albums, I had a Broadcaster and Les Paul, and Id gotten a Rickenbacker 660/12 for 120 bucks its the one on the Damn The Torpedoes cover. [The Monza] is a nice guitar to have if you don't have an amp handy, said Campbell. 3-4 of this interview in Tone Quest Report Vol. We were out of control!Over the years, Campbell has picked up a laundry list of dream instruments. If it fits into a certain bag or feel, I think generally thats an accident! Its smaller, but really nice 50s Fenders a Telecaster, the three Strats, a couple of nice Fender six-string basses. In the Refugee video, you play a red Tele with a humbucker? So our music is really based on that rhythm guitar, and everything else grows from there. Once I learned the chords, I graduated to melodies and lead guitar parts, and tried to pick up them off the records. In addition to playing on and co-producing Tom Petty and The Heatbreakers albums and cowriting some of their biggest - . Here are some highlights. It makes a beautiful sound. 1. What I remember most was that all of us fell out of the front-man thing, you know? And my first acoustic was also given to me it was a Gibson J-45 I got after a gig when some kid came up and said, I loved how you played. , A Guide to Essential Effects Plugins for Your Home Studio, ESP Announces LTD Kirk Hammett Signature Series KH-V, Epiphone Introduces the 1958 Korina Flying V and Explorer, Building a Pro-Level Home-Studio Mic Closet. It was a very collaborative we worked together, wrote together, thought things through, and we were even together when we werent playing. Hes been a co-producer on some of the most successful albums in rock history. Well, I get to do a solo record about every 12 years (laughs). So we pooled our money and drove to Tulsa on our way to L.A., where we met up with Denny and signed to Shelter. Fender Princeton Combo Amp (original issue Blackface & Silv Fender 1959 Telecaster B-Bender Electric Guitar, Rickenbacker 325 Electric Guitar - Capri Black, Rickenbacker 360/12 12-String Electric Guitar. How did that happen? Mike Campbell has a resume that speaks for itself.