The new album from Coheed And Cambria is the latest episode in their ambitious sci-fi rock opera The Amory Wars. But as band leader Claudio Sanchez reveals, this futuristic tale has been coloured by some oddball vintage gear.
With this album, titled The Father Of Make Believe, the Amory Wars story is now reaching its finale, having played out over nine previous records.
As Sanchez tells MusicRadar: “The character of Vaxis is questioning his reality. It resonated with the questions I’ve been asking myself, like what the end of the Amory Wars means for Coheed And Cambria.”
As for the gear he used in creating this album, Sanchez says:
“I usually use whatever is in arm's reach – a late ‘70s Fender Telecaster Deluxe, a Gibson SG Standard, and a ’59 reissue Les Paul VOS.
“For the solo on Someone Who Can, I pulled out this old Mexican Stratocaster I had as a teenager. It got retrofitted with David Gilmour EMGs, and it sounds awesome.
“I really wanted to make that guitar sing. I used a Peavey Decade combo, mic’ed it with a Heil PR and a Royer R-121, and tried to keep it clean, but with enough edge that allowed for sustain.
“That song reminds me of Dire Straits. That’s my era of guitar playing and when my imagination really blossomed.”
He continues: “I typically lean towards combo amps, like the Peavey Special 130, because I like the character of effects ahead of them. They have a girthier sound.
“If I'm going for big amplifiers, it's either my modified vintage Orange 50 watt tube head, or a Marshall Jubilee. And tons of pedals!
“As I've gotten older, I've found the octaver pedal more charming, so I used a Wampler Fuzztration a lot. It’s got an almost synthy quality. It thickens everything up but it can also be really smooth.
"And I love my ’78 Big Muff. That’s what we modelled my Wren And Cuff overdrive on. I'll use that for anything that's preamp-driven.
“There’s a Univox EchoChamber EC-80a tape delay on Tomorrow’s Lost - Van Halen used it on Eruption.
“There's a lot of messy artefacts on those tapes, so when you have these delays happening, whatever’s been recorded on the tape has a place in the spirit of the recording.”
Sanchez has also just launched a new gear firm, Evil Instruments, with the Jackhammer guitar, of which he says:
“It’s my tribute to the guitars that are part of my identity - my old SG and the E2 I’ve had forever.
“I started to design the shape on a flight, on a napkin.
“Chats with Gibson had kept leading to dead ends. I'm used to doing things on my own, so I thought, 'Why would this be different?'
“There’s a US Custom model with Bare Knuckle Nailbomb pickups, and a Korean import too.
“When I played it at NAMM, I wanted to take it home with me. It sounded so smooth!
“I want them to be available to everyone. That shit, I think, is important.”
