made pretty minimal use of
effects on the record—just a
Tube Screamer, a Boss DD- 3,
my signature Fuzz Face, and a
new signature wah-wah that was
custom-made by Jeorge Tripps
of Dunlop Manufacturing and
Way Huge Electronics. [Ed. note:
According to Tripps, the wah has a
copper top with a gloss-black bottom and features a Halo inductor
and full-size components mounted
on a through-hole board for sweet,
vintage tone.]
“ . . . in my late teens, I started getting excited
about sounds from black America—some
blues, but mostly Motown and Tamla soul
records . . . players like James Jamerson and
Carol Kaye.” —Glenn Hughes
Glenn, what are some of your
go-to basses?
Hughes: I have a number of
old Fenders, but lately I’ve been
playing a couple of P-bass-style
instruments—one in Dakota
Red and the other in Olympic
White—made by Bill Nash, the
great relic builder. His basses
not only look realistically old,
they sound remarkably like ’50s
models. I’m utterly blown away
by them—they work stagger-
ingly well for me. And, in case
you’re wondering, I don’t get
paid to play them.
What about effects and
amplification?
Hughes: I don’t use any effects
in Black Country Communion.
I’m pretty organic and don’t
really fly with processed stuff.
Instead, I plug straight into a
pair of 400-watt Laney Nexus-
Tube amps, which have an amaz-
ingly thick sound that reminds
me of the Hiwatts I used back in
my Deep Purple days.
Joe, on 2, you get a sound that
could be described as metal-like
in spots—like in the dropped-D
riffing in “The Outsider.” Have
you always been into that genre?
Bonamassa: Yes. It might
not always be obvious from
