In this edition of Bought & Sold, we welcome Billy Morrison, guitarist for both the Cult and Billy Idol, in for a chat about all things guitar.
This is a life-in-gear conversation: first guitars, dream electric guitars, and what sort of advice Morrison would give any player when buying an instrument. And, of course, no conversation like this would be complete without an answer to one of life’s age-old quandaries: single-coils or humbuckers? Some struggle with that. Not Morrison.
What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money?
“With my own money? I think it was a Gibson LS-6, which, by the way, you can’t find these days. But it had a head shaped like a Les Paul; it was a single-cut and made out of one piece of cheap wood. And it had a rotary six-position knob that looked like it came off a Vox AC30. That was my first Gibson, which was all I cared about.”
What was the last guitar you bought and why?
“I haven’t bought a guitar in decades, really! Well, not really. I have a signature Les Paul and there are perks that come with that. But I do use Gretsch guitars a lot and they’ve been very kind to me, too. I’ve gotten a few Falcons and a Country Gentleman, and I did buy a ’72 Les Paul Deluxe with mini-humbuckers that’s absolutely original. It’s Wine Red and absolutely beautiful.”
What’s the most incredible find or bargain you’ve ever had when buying guitars?
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“You know what? I have a 1980-something black Les Paul Standard, and I bought that from a pawn shop for something like 600 bucks. It’s one of those Les Pauls that… you know how, from guitar to guitar, you can have them play differently? Well, I just picked this thing up from off the wall and it plays the same today as it did when I first got it back in that shop in London.”
What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve ever had after buying gear?
“Pretty much everything in my recording studio (laughs). When you buy it, as soon as you have it, it’s out of date and the new model is out. But I bought a couple of heads – and I’m not going to name what they are – that haven’t even made it out of rehearsal. They’ve been sitting in my storage locker since the same day I bought them because I just went back to my Friedman heads.”
Have you ever sold a guitar that you now regret letting go?
“Oh, 100 per cent. I had the most gorgeous Alpine White Les Paul Custom and it was used in a very high-profile Super Bowl commercial by a friend. I think it was for Samsung TVs.
“After the commercial was filmed, Samsung contacted me and wanted to buy the guitar for a museum or something. I didn’t want to sell it, so I threw out a stupid price and they said yes. I sold it to them and I wish I hadn’t, though it was a lot of money for that particular guitar. But I regret it; I wish I still had that guitar.”
What’s your best buying tip for anyone looking for their ultimate guitar?
“Don’t listen to anyone else. When you go out to buy your ultimate guitar, don’t be swayed by what anyone else plays or likes. You will know your ultimate guitar when you put your hands on it and you play it. Go by how it sounds and feels; you will know.
“Don’t let your friend who is standing next to you put their hands on it and play it or tell you, ‘Nah, man, you should try and buy this one.’ No, you get the one that feels right in your hands.”
When was the last time you stopped and looked in a guitar shop window or browsed online, and what were you looking at?
“I’ve always gone into guitar shops, but if I’m on tour and walk past one, I’m just looking at what they’ve got. I can tell you that these days, going into a guitar store has become rarer for me because most of us shop online. But recently I was on Reverb looking at a Paul Stanley Ibanez Iceman.
“Paul is a friend of mine, and I don’t own one. Of course, I don’t want to ask Paul, but I would love a Cracked Mirror (PS1-CM) one; that’s a pretty cool one. Those guitars have such a beautiful shape, they’re unlike anything else. But I only want the most expensive version – obviously because I’m an idiot – so I need the custom-built one (laughs). Paul Stanley, if you’re reading this, you know where I live and who you can contact!”
Between humbuckers and single coils, there’s no choice for me – it’s always humbuckers
If forced to make a choice, would you rather buy a really good guitar and a cheap amp, or a cheap electric guitar and a top-notch amp?
“I think I would go with the expensive guitar and the cheap amp. I say that mainly because I believe that quality in is quality out. So you start where your hands and your instrument are.”
If you could only use humbuckers or single coils for the rest of your career, which would it be and why?
“I don’t really like single coils and I don’t really use them, though if it were P-90s it would be a different question! Because now they have the noiseless P-90s and I like those, so I would struggle with that choice. But between humbuckers and single coils, there’s no choice for me – it’s always humbuckers.”
Billy’s go-to rig
“I use either my Knaggs Signature Keya-J, with Fralin noiseless P-90s, or my Gibson Les Paul Signature with Seymour Duncan JB and ’59 pickups. I have two Friedman BE-100 Deluxe heads and they run through a Shure wireless (system) into a Radial four-way selector.
“Then into the rack switching system is an RJM switcher, controlled by a Rocktron floor controller, a Line 6 rackmount modulation, a delay, filter units, a pedal tray with various overdrives, and an octave.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly what’s in that drawer as I never open it! (Laughs) But I do know that there are things by MXR, Suhr and Boss in there… And everything goes into a Two Notes speaker cab emulator.”
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