John Squire is back where he belongs; his new album with Liam Gallagher is a glorious showcase of his playing as he confidently strides on the line between songsmith and guitar hero. He's Guitarist magazine's cover star this month, where they visit him at home with his key guitars for unrivalled access. While they're there, Squire fields a number of guitar questions with his special blend of enigmatic honesty – including why there's never been a John Squire signature guitar.
“No-one’s asked me," is the Stone Roses guitarist's somewhat surprising reaction. Jimmy Page once said to me, ‘Have Gibson not been onto you?’ And I said, ‘No, maybe I play too many Strats.’ Jimmy said, ‘Yeah, probably.’ I think it’s more likely to be that they don’t know who I am.”
Your move, Fender?
While we find the latter hard to believe, he may be bang to rights on the former as far as his latest project is concerned. It's unapologetically brimming with both his inventive and influence-nodding guitar work, with the Beatles getting their most explicit reference in the Daytripping riff of I'm So Bored. This is Squire's Strat album – with a 2012 Custom Shop model as his go-to in the sessions and proving a compelling advertisement for Fender's 70-year-old workhorse design. Though it seems that this particular model was initially somewhat of a surprise candidate.
When I tried that Strat it just all fell into place
"It’s a Todd Krause Custom Shop and the inscription is from Fools Gold [it reads 'These boots were made for walking / Marquis de Sade don't need no boots like these']. I bought it during the Roses reunion and it was a hotel guitar because it always sounded a bit puny," admits Squire. "But it was just in this room when I started writing the album. I knew I was going on holiday during the writing period, so I thought, ‘Why don’t I get a mobile system together?’ To keep it simple, I didn’t use any [effects] boxes. I did it all with AmpliTube. And when I tried that Strat it just all fell into place.
"I had a ’57 Tobacco Burst Strat, too – and it was dogshit compared with that new one," he adds. "It’s mainly the tone. On the rhythm pickup, it sounded mega. I always used to prefer darker woods, but it’s got a flame maple neck. That guitar is on every track. There’s a little bit in the [Just Another] Rainbow solo where I doubled that with a Firebird, just like a one-bar phrase that stands out.”
There will be real cabs on stage, though, because Liam likes to hear the guitar
Squire embracing amp modelling in a mobile recording rig for the album's demos may seem at odds with some fans' frozen-in-amber vision of his Roses glory days, and the long studio sessions that would typify the creation of the band's Second Coming album. But the guitarist is cautiously warming to the digital world, to the extent that he's been convinced to use it as the centre of his live rig with Liam for their March UK tour, and even profiled producer and bassist Greg Kurstin's AC30 and modified Marshall JMP 50-watt Master Volume from the LA studio where the main album sessions were tracked.
"I get stuff working and then five years later, everything is obsolete and it’s a major crisis," Squire says of whether he follows the latest guitar technology closely. "I will be using the Kemper Profiler with in-ears live. I was talked into that by my tech because of the advantage it gives the sound guy, getting a clean sound, because there’s no bleed. There will be real cabs on stage, though, because Liam likes to hear the guitar.”
It's a pretty far cry from the tales of Squire's ear-bleeding onstage volumes of old. There's even an acoustic guitar on every track of the new album, and a salute to Gibson – a 1970 Hummingbird.
Usually, when I play acoustic, because I’ve not got particularly strong hands, I struggle to sustain a note because you have to put so much pressure on
"I read on a Gibson forum about The Stones loving Hummingbirds – and I love the sound of Stones acoustics," the guitarist explained. "I was intrigued by the name and they look cool. I did a bit of research, saw one online that looked to be in good shape and just tried it on spec, without physically playing it. I loved it immediately.
"Usually, when I play acoustic, because I’ve not got particularly strong hands, I struggle to sustain a note because you have to put so much pressure on," adds Squire. "This one, I don’t know how they’ve done it, but it’s got a really slender neck, low action, really projects its sound. I don’t know if they’re all like that or I just got lucky.”
The new issue of Guitarist magazine is on sale now at magazinesdirect.com.
The self-titled Liam Gallager John Squire album is released on 1 March, 2024 and the duo will tour the UK with a band in March before Europe and US dates in April. Preorder the album here.
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