I used a brown Deluxe for something, but generally what was happening was that, because the big room in RCA is so big, the low-power amps were sounding too compressed in the track.
They were smaller in ’55, so it’s the same power as a normal Champ and it has this very condensed and punchy sound. The main sound is basically the Firebird and the Twins and the Bassmans, but I also used a ’55 Champ, and the weird thing about a ’55 Champ versus a ’56 or ’57? It’s smaller. “There’s one exception this time: a fuzzy bit on a song called Mountain Climbing. To me, VIIs are not worth the extra money at all” The magic of the Firebird III and V is the middle position. With the single-pickup Firebird, you always have to be on the tone control ’cause the lead pickups on these are so bright. “I don’t do that ’cause it changes the scale and I don’t like the tension. “Some people just totally disregard the tailpiece and wrap over the top,” says Joe. This 1964 Gibson Firebird III has a prominent role on Mountain Climbing and the album’s title track. Recorded with two drummers at Grand Victor Sound (the former RCA Studio A) in Nashville – a decision designed by producer and long-time collaborator Kevin Shirley to “put the cat amongst the pigeons” and push Joe out of his comfort zone – the album also represents another first for the star: there are no Marshalls on it. Of course, this isn’t just a social visit, and the business at hand is to discuss and photograph the instruments that Bonamassa used on his latest studio long-player, Blues Of Desperation. Today, it’s a 1959 DeArmond R5T amplifier. As we lose ourselves in a view that stretches all the way to Downtown Los Angeles and the ocean beyond, our host is on the telephone closing yet another deal for a rare vintage piece. Described by Bonamassa as “more of a house now than it ever was,” the property was formerly owned by both songwriter/producer Oliver Leiber and Buckcherry’s Keith Nelson and was the scene of Rod Stewart album sessions during Leiber’s tenure. These days, it’s home to one of the finest guitar collections on the face of the earth.