Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson isn’t a guitar hero, however his taking part in matches his compositions completely – as exemplified by his newest solo providing, The Concord Codex. Displaying as soon as once more that Wilson refuses to be confined to a single model, he displays components of prog, digital, people, and rock. We talked with him about how he approaches guitar and equipment.

How did you resolve on guitars for The Concord Codex?
Properly, on the half that makes use of guitar as a serious factor, the track that springs to thoughts is the most-traditional – “What Life Brings” – which may be very old-school, acoustic, and dream-like; it has a way of nostalgia. I labored very arduous on the acoustic tracks, so there are 5 – 6 channels of guitar – some performed on a Nashville-strung, some on common guitar, there’s picked guitar, there’s strummed guitar. It’s a Phil Spector-esque wall of acoustics on that monitor, which is the one monitor the place I play the guitar solo.

So, whereas we’ve received a bunch of guitar solos on the file, quite a bit had been performed by different folks together with Niko Tsonev and David Kollar.

I’ve a really rudimentary method to taking part in guitar. I’m nowhere close to as technically gifted as Niko or David or different gamers I’ve had in my band over time, however I do have a sound and a persona that I believe is immediately recognizable. I play only a few notes, however I play them as an extension of the primary vocal melody as a result of I’m the songwriter. That’s one thing folks overlook; if you’ve written a track and also you step as much as play the guitar solo, you’re rather more in contact with the melodic heart of the track than some famous person session participant who comes alongside to blow your thoughts with their solo. Typically, that’s what you need.

Years in the past, one of many only a few instances I received employed to be a session guitar participant was for Trevor Horn, the well-known producer. We received to the purpose the place I knew there was going to be a solo and I stated, “What sort of solo would you like?” And he stated, “Simply play the vocal melody.” I by no means forgot that, as a result of it’s hammering residence the hook of the vocal melody. So, though it’s not fairly that, in my thoughts it’s a pure extension of the vocal melody. I believe that’s a sensibility distinctive to the songwriter.

Kurt Cobain was the king of solos based mostly on the vocal melody.
Sure, that’s a great instance. And likewise the songwriter and singer – basic.

What’s amp rig?
I’m not a purist. I exploit all three approaches – I’m comfortable to plug a guitar immediately into the pc and check out messing about with plug-ins after which re-amp by an actual amp and mic the cab. And I’m additionally very comfortable to plug into an amp and simply mic it up, or I’m comfortable to make use of modeling. I used all of them on the file.

I do have a few amps within the studio – a Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister 5 that I get a number of tones out of. Sounds nice. And, I’ve received an previous Supro valve amp with a spring reverb which I exploit for some issues.

Plenty of the sounds on the album that folks may suppose are keyboards are literally guitars which have been closely processed and mutated by lengthy chains of plug-ins.

What about guitars?
Lately, I discover myself largely reaching for my ’63 Telecaster Customized, which I purchased about 5 years in the past from the Fender Showroom and fell in love with. Now, I’m not likely someone who’s a fetishist in the case of guitars. I’ve had a number of them over time and I’ve handled most of them like instruments for my songwriting and manufacturing. However that is the exception. I completely fell in love with this guitar, completely bonded with it. It seems to be nice, it sounds nice, it performs nice. I’d say 75 p.c of the guitar elements had been performed on it. But in addition, my previous Paul Reed Smith goldtop if I desire a barely hotter tone.

Acoustic-wise, I’ve received the Nashville-strung OvationI use quite a bit and has a fantastically crystalline sound. You possibly can hear that on “Economies of Scale” and “What Life Brings.” And there’s a bunch of different acoustics I’ve collected over time – Takamine, Paul Reed Smith. There’s a lot of acoustic on this file.

This text initially appeared in VG’s February 2024 problem. All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.