sounds that even the best pedal
can’t make.
Did you use your 9- and
12-string First Act guitars on
other songs?
Hinds: They’re probably featured on nine of the 14 songs.
I love playing big, open chords
on them, and then also layering
jangly parts when picking the
strings really fast. The octave
strings create this ringing, atonal
chorus effect unmatched by any
chorus pedal. A 6-string and a
pedal sounds stale in comparison.
Kelliher: I didn’t really use those
at all on this album. They offered
those ringing dynamics and overtones we were looking for on Crack
the Skye, but that wasn’t something
I strived for on The Hunter.
would have to be the Electrical
Guitar Company acrylic V
that Kevin Burkett built me a
few years ago. I’ve always loved
Gibson Flying Vs, and my friends
King Buzzo [the Melvins] and
Laura Pleasants [Kylesa] had
theses killer aluminum-body-and-neck guitars from Electrical Guitar
Company. So I talked to Kevin
and had him make one of his V
models for me. It’s a little heavy
still—that’s something we’ll continue to work on—but it sounds
great and is unique, as far as looks
and tone—especially its sustain.
weird textures, majestic energy,
and spooky overtones that add
so much depth and soul to your
playing—it’s an organic interaction between you, the guitar, and
the amp. I live for those overdriven vibrations and emotions.
II Lead Series head, and an ’80s
JCM800—but the one I used the
most was a ’ 70 Fender silverface
Princeton Reverb. No matter what
guitar I used with that Princeton,
it sounded and performed the
best—especially for my single-note
runs and clean, textural parts. For
the heavier, chunky riffs and distorted solos, I used the big monster heads. I’m old-school like that.
What was your go-to guitar for
these sessions?
Hinds: My Mastodon guitar
Sustain is a big deal to you,
isn’t it?
Hinds: Sustain is one of the
most important things to me
when it comes to tone and my
setup. I like it so much, if I
had a kid, I’d name it Sustain
[laughs]. But honestly, I love
sustain because it’s ghostly. It has
Bill, other than that Yamaha
you mentioned, what guitars
did you use for The Hunter?
Kelliher: My main guitar is a ’ 74
Gibson Les Paul Custom 20th
Anniversary tobacco burst that I
recently had refretted and set up
with all new hardware and volume and tone pots by the Gibson
USA Custom Shop. They put in
their killer ’ 57 Classic humbuckers, too. I also got turned on to a
Fender Jim Root Telecaster that
Jim gave me. It has EMG 81 and
60 pickups, but it still has the
Telecaster twang to it—especially
when you play close to the bridge.
I was surprised. I used that on the
intro to “All the Heavy Lifting”—
where it has all those high
notes—and then again on “Black
Tongue,” where Brann’s double-bass part goes, I added some high
notes into the mix with it, too.
Tell us about the cool, slow
warble effect you get with your
wah on “Dry Bone Valley.”
Hinds: To be considered a bona
fide guitarist, you need to record
one wah song. I’m starting to get
pretty fond of it—I might start
wearing bell-bottoms [laughs].
That slow sweep combined with
some serious hammer-ons at the
beginning are my favorite—it’s
like a helicopter swooping down
to capture swimmers in Niagara
Falls. Jerry Cantrell got me one
of his signature Jim Dunlop
Crybaby wahs, and I figured
“Dry Bone Valley” has the perfect
swaggering, galloping vibe to the
chorus and verses that leads right
up to the wah solo perfectly.
Did either of you use any
other effects on the album?
Kelliher: Probably the only effect
I used was my original Ibanez
Tube King, for when I really want
to take it over the top and soar.
Hinds: I have an old Ibanez
TS9 Tube Screamer, a Visual
Sound Route 66 overdrive,
a Boss RE- 20 Space Echo, a
Boss DD- 6 Digital Delay, a
Custom Audio Electronics
Boost/Overdrive, a Morpheus
Drop Tune, and a personal
favorite is the Monster Effects
Mastortion, which my friend
John Spears built for me.
It’s basically a TS808 Tube
Screamer clone with more volume and low-end power.
Left to right: Hinds, Kelliher, and bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders onstage in
the Netherlands. Photo by Cindy Frey
What about amps?
Kelliher: I used my old, 2-chan-
nel Marshall JCM800s, because
I always find myself going back
to those amps for my tone. I
really like the punch they offer
and how I can cut through
and be heard between Brann’s
crazy drumming, Brent’s riffs,
and Troy’s bass lines. I used my
100-watt Marshall Kerry King
JCM800 for layering and a few
other parts, but the main parts
were recorded with the old
JCM800s. All my amps went
through this beat up Marshall
1960B 4x12 loaded with 20-watt
Celestions. I love trying new gear
all the time, but I always seem to
come back to the Marshalls.
Hinds: I used a lot of amps for
The Hunter—a Diezel VH4,
an Orange Rockerverb 50, a
Marshall 100-watt JMP Mark
Mastodon’s guitar sound has
evolved over the years from a
fast, sludgy barrage to a more
