Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

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Pepe Silvia
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Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by Pepe Silvia » Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:46 pm

http://www.mybloodyvalentine.net/press/ ... apr93.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hilarious excerpts:

You said you had a "classic rock" background, J. Do you mean bands like Led Zep? Journey? Rush?

JM: No. Come on! I liked the Beach Boys in grammar school and then I got into Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Creedence...just different bands. Then I was exclusively into the Stones, probably for a year straight. That's where I get the most of my guitar thing: the Mick Taylor/Keith Richards era. I played drums at first. And I'd borrow other people's guitars. All I'd play were leads, I remember; I never played any chords, really, until Dinosaur.
KS: You played lead guitar before you played chords?
JM: Yeah. I played with this punk band, Deep Wound, and I just played the lead. Chords hurt my hands.
But you knew what chords were, right?

JM: Uh, yeah. I just hated barre chords--pressing my finger down. So I'd just play lead along with the records.

How did each of you discover Fender Jaguars and/or Jazzmasters?

KS: I've had a Japanese one since '82.
JM: Well, Slimy Bob ripped me off--Slimy Bob's Guitar Ripoff Shop. He was just this weird guy. He had a gun and mace in his store and he'd mace his employees for fun. Just start laughing. You could tell all his stuff was stolen. He'd have these ads that were all fake, like "Strat: $400." The bait and switch thing. So i painted this house and got about $500, and I went down there. I wanted to buy a Strat. I just wanted it to write songs on; I was still playing drums at the time. And of course Slimy Bob didn't have and kind of decent Strat for under $500. But he had a jaguar for $200 and a Jazzmaster for $300. The Jazzmaster has a beat-up neck, which I liked. It had no finish on it. And it had Grover tuning pegs, which I always admired from Peter Frampton and Humble Pie records. So I spent the extra hundred and bought the Jazzmaster. And it's the one I still play--my first guitar.
Is it still your main guitar?

JM: Live, yeah. And on record, I use it for about half the leads. Not much for rhythm. I usually use Gibsons for that. I've got a Les Paul, but the SG Junior is my favorite. Anything with P-90's. I don't have any humbuckers at all.
Are you into vintage stuff?

JM: Yeah, I refuse to buy anything past 1970. That really limits your choice of guitars; you waste more money.
KS: That's okay though--I spent about 350 quid [roughly $550] putting my Japanese Jazzmaster in half decent shape. So if you want a good guitar, it actually is worth your money to buy an older one.
JM: I like the necks on older guitars. They've been worn. Somebody's played it. It's like a baseball glove which somebody has broken in for you or something. And even though the old stuff is getting more expensive, it still can be cheaper than buying some hideous modern Nuno guitar. Modern guitars are just shit. I can't understand why anyone would want one. And I don't understand why having a guitar that is real easy to play is considered a good thing. I always thought it was bad--you start playing too fast.
You mean you don't like guitars with light string tension and low action?

JM: Yeah. I can't play leads on Gibsons for that reason; it sounds sort of boring. Well not really boring, but kind of Dicket Betts, you know? It's faster and smoother, but there's less style there.
KS: My first guitar was an SG, then I got a Les Paul copy. Then I went through a phase of 335 copies. Then I bought that Ibanez Jazzmaster I mentioned. It looked good--that's why I got it.
JM: I thought my Jazzmaster looked like shit. I was bummed. I liked the Jaguar, but I hated the Jazzmaster's pickups. I kept thinking of Elvis Costello. I said, "well, I'll never play it outside my house, so no one will ever know I have it." Jaguars look cool. But Jazzmasters--uggh, those pickups!
The switches on the Jags are nicer too--really Japanese looking.

KS: Yeah, but the Jaguar's got a short scale neck, like a Gibson. Only it's a bolt-on neck, unlike Gibsons[which have a glue- in neck]. So it's crappy--a short-scale neck but without the Gibson sustain: you get all the disadvantages. You can't get that nice open string sound on the Jaguar, because the short-scale neck doesn't sustain as well. It's more of a pokey guitar. But then the Jazzmaster can get really trebly.
JM: I always replace the bridges on Jazzmasters. 'Cause that first one I bought didn't have the original bridge, and then when I got another one I looked at the bridge and said, "What is this piece of shit?"

Do you use a lot of pedals?

JM: No; just a Big Muff and a custom-made Roger Mayer wah. It's really hard for me to play with things like Boss pedals. Brutal.

What's your outlook on technique, J? Do you practice?

JM: [as if emerging from a deep sleep] Ahhhh, in what sense?
What do you do to keep your chops up?

JM: Chops? I don't have chops. Who do you think I am, Yngwie?
Come on, you can play some lead guitar.

JM: Mmmmwwwell, I've been screwed up all year from touring. I don't know--some kind of tendinitis or whatever.
Cramping?

JM: No, my hand is just kind of weak--but weak because it's too strong. The muscles are too big and the tissue around them squeezes them. So you feel weak, but your arm's actually too overdeveloped. It's weird.
Anything else you'd like to say to the young, guitar-playing kids out there?

JM: [after a profound silense] I just don't know if they'd listen to me.
Well assuming they would listen, what would you say?

JM: I have a lot of things to say. Never use humbuckers. And don't buy any Japanese pedals.

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by 4track » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:13 pm

Funny article, although the part that had me smiling the most was the bit about the follow up to 'Loveless' getting released 'a lot quicker'. Glad he stuck by that unrelenting work ethic!

I'm surprised Kevin comes off as being quite negative about the Jaguar's build. it seems like its often Bellinda that uses them but I can't imagine a person thats so obsessive about sound to put up with an instrument that has some less admirable sonic qualities, at least to them that is.

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by null.fuzz » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:24 pm

eurotrashed wrote:JM: I have a lot of things to say. Never use humbuckers.
I knew I liked him for a reason!

Is it just me, or do they both sound like they're just talking shit for the hell of it. Like a Dylan interview from the 60's.
So I pretend there aren't ten strings tied to all ten of my fingers.

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by Pepe Silvia » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:29 pm

Lets not make this into another 10943 page thread arguing if J really hates humbuckers. :D

I kind of agree with J. I have this Washburn with humbuckers and it does one or two sounds really well. Like distortion and power chords or shreddy solos. It does play really easy, but I do like my Jag better.

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by fuzzking » Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:36 am

oh, i remember the part about Slimy Bob's Guitar Ripoff Shop. :D

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by Pepe Silvia » Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:37 am

FUZZ_KING wrote:oh, i remember the part about Slimy Bob's Guitar Ripoff Shop. :D
hes talked about that in every interview almost. First time I heard of Slimy Bob macing his workers though

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by tvrf » Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:05 pm

Funny interview.

It always baffles me that J has this confidence issue. Yeah it's cool to be humble, but he really doesn't like himself too much does he?

I really like the fact that he hated his JM "well, I'll never play it outside my house, so no one will ever know I have it." haha ;D

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by Lobsterdeth » Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:14 pm

4track wrote:I'm surprised Kevin comes off as being quite negative about the Jaguar's build. it seems like its often Bellinda that uses them but I can't imagine a person thats so obsessive about sound to put up with an instrument that has some less admirable sonic qualities, at least to them that is.
As far as I am concerned, they change the necks on most (most) of their Jaguars (and Bilinda's red sparkly Mustang) to long-scale necks.

Also J uses a bunch of pedals now, yeah.
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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by dc » Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:31 am

ha, i remember this article from when it came out! a great read, and i think this is my favorite quotation of all time:

"If everything is possible, why do anything?"

:D
in the coldest night / huddled 'round the dying embers

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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by SadFuzz » Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:42 pm

^^^
SAME
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Re: Awesome old Mascis and Shields interview, offset talk

Post by Stephen_42 » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:22 pm

eurotrashed wrote:
Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:46 pm
I spent about 350 quid [roughly $550]
Well, that's just depressing. £350 is barely $450 these days.

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