Guitar.com Pawn Shop Prizes Interview
Guitar.com
Pawn Shop Prizes
By Rob O'Connor

The Dandy Warhols will never be confused with a techno group standing on the cutting edge of progress no matter how many Pro-Tools set ups they rig together. At heart, this is a band that likes to hunt through pawn shops in search of, if not the lost chord, an errant Electro-Harmonix effect pedal.

Guitar.com: Youre an SG man?

Holmstrom: Yeah. But in the studio I used a Gibson 335 on practically everything. I have a lot of different guitars. I used a Fender Bass VI and a [Gibson] Hummingbird, a Telecaster in there and a Les Paul. Courtney’s using a [Fender] Coronado as well as the Vox Ultra-Sonic that has all the toys built into it. It’s got distortion and tremolo and a palm wah, which is insane.

Guitar.com: Are you guys aficionados of vintage equipment?

Holmstrom: Nah, Sorta. [We like] old guitars and old analog keyboards and effect pedals, but when it comes to amps were pretty much into the new stuff at least on the road. In the studio we used a lot of those little one ten amps, little Tweed covered ones. Some Fenders and Harmonys, a zillion different ones.

Guitar.com: On the road is it 4x10s?

Holmstrom: No, I use two AC30s. Courtney’s got a new amp by the guys who make the Sansamp, the Tech 21. Big sound for a little amp. I barely have my amps turned up at all, 3 or 4.

Guitar.com: Do you use many effects?

Holmstrom: I’ve got tons. I have like 20 pedals on my boards. I’ve got a pair of Rats, a BigMuff, a Smallstone, a tremolo pan (Boss), a Boss Digital Delay the DD5 with a backwards patch that’s a lot of fun, a delay pedal that I mounted in a wah pedal so I can control the rate with my foot. I’ve also got a number of other delays and a reverb and a pitchshifter and a harmonizer and envelope filter and a (MXR) Phase 90 as well. Seems like the (Electro-Harmonix) Smallstone and the Phase 90 and the Mootron are all you need for every variety of phasing you could want. The Mootron is too big to take on stage. The tremolo pan is stereo so I put it up all the way and I’ve got stereo tremolo.

Guitar.com: Is that why you have two AC30s?

Holmstrom: Yeah.

Guitar.com: How do you space them apart?

Holmstrom: I keep ‘em together, so I’m the only one getting the stereo effect. Everyone in the audience gets it if it’s mixed well.

Guitar.com: What was your first guitar?

Holmstrom: It was a Toki green sunburst Flying V. I got it because the guy in the music store said I would be the only kid on my block with one.

Guitar.com: And were you?

Holmstrom: I was the only kid I ever met who had one. It was a pretty decent guitar. I took lessons when I was in the second grade and I learned a little even before that when my dad brought home a classical guitar and taught me a scale and a little classical piece. But I never really thought I could be in a band unless I was really good. I’m OK now. I can handle any screw-ups that come along.