I have to admit I’m biased towards doing gear rundown features on bands that have space and texture in their mixes. From a “how did they get that tone?” perspective, it just leads to more interesting answers than the usual “we used a 5150” or “it’s an amp modeller lined in” that you get from bands that are all heavy, all the time.
Kamchatka instead have all the space, all the time. Their huge 70’s inspired prog-rock-meets-stoner sound jumped out at me at one, and the band’s new disc The Search Goes On is one of my favorite discs to be released yet this year. The band features guitarist Thomas Juneor Andersson, drummer Tobias Strandvik, and former Opeth keyboardist Per Wiberg on bass.
Since The Search Goes On not only has some of my favorite tunes of 2014, but also some of the best tone, I solicited Andersson’s gear blueprints for your reading enjoyment. So, enjoy.
My name is Thomas Juneor Andersson and I play the guitar and sing in the Swedish Rock trio Kamchatka. We are currently releasing our new album called “The Search Goes On.” It’s our fifth album and for those of you out there who might be interested in what equipment I work with in the studio and on stage here goes.
GUITARS : I started to play blues guitar at the age of seven and today I am 38, so over the years I have gone through lots and lots of different types of guitars. But since 2011 I have had the honor of making my own signature model for Ibanez (Sweden and Denmark market) which I call “BEARD BENDER”. Since I play heavy rock and progressive blues with Kamchatka and old school funk with King Hobo plus a lot of Swedish folk music on the side, I have for many years longed for a guitar that could work in all those different fields. After receiving a fine award for my work on the guitar from the royal music society in Sweden, plus Kamchatka’s success, Ibanez in Scandinavia asked me if I would be interested in making a guitar with them. I said yes and by the fall of 2011 it arrived, the “BEARD BENDER” a semi-hollowed body, neck piece running through, Humbucker (Ibanez Super 58) bridge position and a Ibanez type p90 Neck position. This guitar fits me perfect, it can sound like an old Gibson SG at the same time as a Fenders 70s Strat, so now I don’t have to switch guitars anymore :) (see pics)
AMPS : Same scenario here, many years of playing through Marshalls, Fenders, Laneys, FBT’s and more, but my biggest love has always been Fender Amps! I have had Twin, Super Reverb, Bassman, Deville, Hot Rod, Dual Showman Reverb but around 2012 I bought a FENDER SUPERSONIC TWIN combo plus an extra 2*12″ speaker cabinet and got blown away. When we recorded “The Search Goes On” I used that amp during the complete recording session.It really delivered ! In another room I had my Fender Deville 4*10″ Combo, recorded both at the same time and the sound was there, just the way I like it. I also like to hook up my old Fender Dual Showman Reverb to the 2’12 ” cabinet together with the Supersonic Twin, that’s 235W of pure love together man :) (see pics)
EFFECTS: Well I don’t use that many effects but I have one cool setup that I have used since the early 90s that I still use live and in the studio and that is my IBANEZ PUE5 TUBE multi analog pedal board + one extra delay + one wha wha. I love this old multi pedal and I set it as follows: Tube screamer ON, Chorus ON but nobs in zero position, Delay set for short slap back (see pics). Cool stuff right there and if that old pedal board malfunctions I do the same but with normal single effect pedals.
Hope you find this interesting and don’t forget to check out Kamchatka’s latest album “The Search Goes On”
Best regards Thomas Juneor Andersson of Kamchatka and King Hobo
