A Lot of Gear for a “Minimal” Rig
Whether crafting eerie shimmers or slashing at minor chords with a reverb-drenched
overdrive, Broemel has a surprising amount
of gear for a man who says he likes to keep
his setup minimal. One of his favorite new
pieces is a German-made Duesenberg.
“Until this record, I used all Les Pauls, all
the time. I bought a couple of Duesenberg
guitars after the last record—my friend runs
a studio in Indiana and he had a couple,
including a 12-string that I used on a session there. So I bought the Double Cat
12-string, and then a guy from Duesenberg
brought me a Starplayer TV, which is kind
of their version of a Gibson ES-335 and has
the Bigsby on it—and I love Bigsbys. I’ve
always had Bigsbys on my favorite black
Les Paul Standard, my main guitar. I used
the Starplayer for the whole record, basically. The neck’s a little bit longer scale than
a Les Paul, and it’s the only hollowbody I
have. The older songs don’t feel right on the
Duesenberg, but the newer songs do, so it’s
cool that an instrument is dictating how I
“. . . it’s such a slippery
slope—you can go chasing
those zenith guitar sounds,
but what’s the point?”
—Carl Broemel
play and making me play a little bit differently. It’s like a hi-fi, fancy guitar—like a
BMW guitar. It’s too nice for me!” he laughs.
As for amps, Broemel says, “I’ve always
been partial to combos. I’ve always used
pedals for overdrive, so I just look at what’s
going to work live and be really flexible
and play all the songs on it. But it’s such a
slippery slope—you can go chasing those
zenith guitar sounds, but what’s the point?
Do you want to sound like Stevie Ray
Vaughan or just like Jimmy Page? Or Jimi
Hendrix? I don’t really care about that. If
it sounds like me—if that’s possible—then
great. I’ve been using a Carr Rambler live,
and I love that. I also have a couple of old
Fenders. I have a Vibrasonic, as well, which
I use for the pedal steel—it’s a silverface
with a 15" speaker.”
James stuck to his tried-and-true gui-
tars, including a 1999 Gibson Flying V
and a Breedlove Revival Custom acoustic.
Amps-wise, he waxes lyrical about a new
discovery: “I have finally found an amp I
love both on the road and in the studio—
the 3 Monkeys Orangutan. It is unreal how
