Pete Doherty on gear...

Pete Doherty: back on form
Pete Doherty: back on form

Okay, so it's a cheap gag, but we couldn't resist. However, unlike most of the news stories you'll read about Babyshamble and former Libertine Pete Doherty, this time he's actually being asked about his music, and the instruments he uses to make it.

Guitarist magazine caught up with Doherty recently on the eve of the release of Grace/Wastelands, the debut, Stephen Street-produced solo album that's arguably his most accomplished work to date.

Asked about his favourite gear from a guitar and amplifier standpoint, Doherty recounts the following tale:

"My sound is just vintage Vox AC30s and Marshalls... Matchless amps are cool as well. I had a beautiful one, but an ex-girlfriend cut all the wires and burnt the front.

"In fact, I used to have a guitar graveyard where, after various domestic incidents, a guitar or amp would inevitably get put through a window. I had a little stash - literally a dozen or more beautiful old guitars, all broken and racked up like elephant bones in a graveyard."

To read the full interview in which Pete Doherty talks in detail about his guitar playing and discusses the forthcoming third Babyshambles album, check out Guitarist's May 2009 issue, available in stores now.

Chris Vinnicombe worked with us here on the MusicRadar team from the site's initial launch way back in 2007, and also contributed to Guitarist magazine as Features Editor until 2014, as well as Total Guitar magazine, amongst others. These days he can be found at Gibson Guitars, where he is editor-in-chief.