I’m the sole guitarist for this production of Grease, so my part has changed slightly from the production I did earlier in the year. I exclusively used my USA Strat with a Seymour Duncan Little ’59 mini humbucker in the bridge position.
This is a great guitar. In fact all strats offer the options I’ve enjoyed on this show. The switching combination is sonically diverse and has offered real flexibility, sensitivity and power, whenever I’ve needed it.
I’ve made a great deal of use of the middle pickup; a key position which I feel is generally undervalued and under-used. It cuts beautifully but isn’t too bright, and is weighty enough to be used for choppy rhythm.
The out-of-phase positions offer some real delicacy in moments where I’m playing ballads, country-esque pieces, in the sensitive moments in tunes, or if I simply want an option to the neck pickup, which I’ve used in turn for a warmer alternative to the middle pickup.
Since this is a 50’s show, I’ve employed my Line6 Echo Park unit set to the Slap Back setting, along with another Line6 pedal – the Tap Tremolo – for a light tremolo in a couple of ‘dreamy’ and sustained parts of songs like ‘Beauty School Drop Out’.
The material is interesting to play too. Lots of high ‘chips’ with little chord voicings of triads and 7th chords, with one staccato strum per bar. Coupled with lots of arpeggio based parts there’s a lot of tight plectrum control and confident timing required.
We’ve used the broadway arrangement of Greased Lightning which is more interesting and challenging than the original version. I get to use the bridge humbucker here in conjunction with a Zvex Distortron distortion pedal. This is a great sound (although it is a liberty taken) and I get the chance to bust out a few chops in a solo here, too.
All of this goes through the Blues Junior, so I have a compact and versatile sound. I hope I get to do it again soon!
