Me and my guitar: And So I Watch You From Afar
The Northern Irish instrumentalists on their Shergolds
Rory Friers and Niall Kennedy of And So I Watch You From Afar explain why they’re both toting Shergold’s new Provocateur.
Shergold
Rory: “We knew the company and a few friends of ours who played them. We ran into them at a festival we were playing a couple of summers ago and they invited us to come try out some of their latest models. They told us there was a new line on the way and asked whether we’d be interested in getting a couple ahead of the launch to try out.”
Niall: “They’ve since become favourites for live and recording demos.”
Design
Rory: “Like the best designs it’s simple and classy looking. It feels super-balanced and the way the neck sits into the body it feels compact which I love. It’s well balanced and not too weighty so I can wear it all day and not feel my shoulder getting sore.”
Niall: “Well I’ve heard chefs say, ‘You eat with your eyes first,’ and it’s like that with guitars - you have to like the way they look first, then it’s about what they sound like after. I’m never going to play an amazing-sounding guitar that looks really dorky. The sweet spot is when it looks super-cool and sounds awesome too and luckily the Provocateur fits that bill.”
Neck
Niall: “The neck feels so nice, the perfect fit for my hand and I love the way the Seymour Duncans [’59 humbuckers with push/pull coil split] react with my Orange. Also, the locking machine heads are just a lovely touch that makes string changing so much less hassle... it’s the little things!”
Rory: “It sounds great, plenty of the top-end detail I need, but without losing its roundness. I can get a really bright loud clean tone and it’s not twangy or thin, and through my gain channel on my Orange Thunderverb it’s creamy and thick.”
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Unboxed
Niall: “The ones we play are the ones you will play if you buy one, straight out of the box awesome...”
Rory: “Only mine is already full of chips from playing it live... you’ll have to make your own chips!”
And So I Watch You From Afar play their debut album in full to celebrate its 10th anniversary at Camden Assembly on 21 October
Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.