Some might say Robin Finck is one of rock music’s rarest and most enigmatic chameleons. Whether it’s his work in Nine Inch Nails – standing as founder Trent Reznor’s longest-serving live member – or Guns N’ Roses, Danny Elfman, Gary Numan, composing for video games, soundtracks and beyond, he’s the kind of guitarist who can effortlessly fit into just about any kind of musical scenario.
This stretches far beyond the notes he’s playing and into the tones he’s dialing in, from the classic overdrive crunch associated with one of the biggest rock and roll bands of all-time, to the highly effected surrealist dreamscapes required when Nine Inch Nails are at their most unfathomably atmospheric. It’s hard to think of an environment he can’t dress himself into.
Last week, he announced the Official Robin Finck Reverb Shop, which will include over 200 items used during key moments of his career, including stage-played gear that has made history in the world’s biggest arenas and stadiums beside him.
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The list includes the Les Paul Goldtop used on every Nine Inch Nails tour until 2014, having been first debuted 30 years prior in the band’s March Of The Pigs video. Then there’s the 2000 Gibson R8 played extensively during his tenure in Guns N’ Roses, which he describes as the “S on my chest” during a “strange and unsteady time.”
But if you’re expecting just a bunch of beaten-up Les Pauls, think again.
There’s the Fender Custom Shop Nocaster that was played from Nine Inch Nails’ 2013 Tension tour to 2018’s Cold And Black And Infinite run, a Gibson ES-335 used in both arena-conquering bands, a one-off Manson Custom that Finck boldly claims could be the best guitar of the lot, the Martin Classic Backpacker used on live renditions of Nine Inch Nails tracks like La Mer and Disappointed, plus a Schecter signature model as well as various pedals and a Marshall JCM2000 TSL head.
“I’m letting go of just less than half of what’s around me,” he explains, speaking exclusively to GW from his home in Los Angeles. “I can only play one at a time anyway. I like the idea of someone else creating with these guitars. Considering what stays and goes was a bit like having my life flash before my eyes. I’d open these cases and relive the cold midday arenas or festivals in the sun or full moon.
“I would remember what songs they’d be paired with and how they sounded at rehearsals, or what my techs would say. I either associate them with a past experience or they’ve been replaced by something new.
“I’m 1,000 percent sentimental, which is the perfect cocktail for me to end up three decades later with so much gear.”
These might not be the oldest instruments in the world, but they certainly carry their fair share of stories, as well as a few cuts and bruises picked up along the way.
These guitars had a long run but they’ve always bounced back. They’ve been my bed partners for a long time. It’s a privilege to steward them forward to someone new. I’m certainly nostalgic about it and have had my long goodbye. It’s time to move on. But don’t get me wrong – I’m not without a Les Paul or Telecaster.
Your Old Gold Les Paul is quite special, given its history with Nine Inch Nails, and the same goes for the 1990 Custom in white. What are the differences between the two?
Old Gold is a Les Paul Classic with a thinner neck. It’s gold everywhere on the back of the neck and body. The Translucent White Custom was actually the first Les Paul I ever bought. Not too many years after that, I ended up with Old Gold, which can be seen in the March of the Pigs video. That might have even been the first day I played it. Through the years, I’ve paired them with particular songs and they’ve stayed that way to anchor the sound.
It’s interesting you say the Manson custom is quite possibly the best guitar of the bunch. High praise indeed.
Yeah! To play it is to know that. The neck – to be honest, the whole guitar – is a well cared-for experience in its creation. That’s very obvious when it’s in my hands. I can tell it was built by people who were excited about what they were doing.
You’re also selling the Martin Backpacker used on tracks like La Mer, where you would play a piano part on acoustic.
Through the years we’ve experimented with wedging different bits of foam and rubber or mismatching string gauges to make sure it’s perfectly out of tune in the right way. That’s always been an experimental piece in the collection.
Your approach as a whole is experimental. So who are the guitar players that influenced you most over the years?
During my seminal years, it was the metal players like Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. I was interested in the fretboard gymnastics because the players sounded exciting. I remember trying to play along to the cassettes.
I moved through that into bands like The Cure, Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I think that’s where my interest in other sounds and effects originated from. But it really started when I started working with Trent.
You learned on the job?
Yeah, because I didn’t own much gear before that. I hadn’t had much hands-on time with effects. I would have to pick it up quickly for the next rehearsal. That’s when it was ‘go time’ for me. I’ve been walking with the soundscape approach all these years with Nine Inch Nails. That was clearly the gig from the beginning. I’ve been lucky to play my part in that.
My Reverend signature can do all things and it’s the most dynamic-sounding guitar. That’s why it comes with me
You’re also parting ways with the 2000 R8 used extensively during your time in Guns N’ Roses.
I was fortunate to have been able to use that for those iconic songs during those tours. I’d never had a guitar like that until then. It seemed like the right move to make… in a long list of wrong moves I was making at the time.
You’ve described those years as a turbulent period. It must have been very different to Nine Inch Nails.
Oh, in more ways than I could have been prepared for. It was an excellent time and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to step through all that. I was really tight with the band and crew. It was the best of times, but not without its turbulence.
It’s hard to summarize. It started, then it went on, then I left, then I was back. I continued to jump forward, then some different players were coming in and out of the group for tours. It was a wild time – but we had a blast.
You’ve had signature models through Schecter and Reverend. Interestingly, those guitars are quite different in terms of design and functionality.
I love that Schecter guitar. That’s what made me fall in love with a B5 Bigsby, and I have that on some of my Reverend guitars now. The pickup configuration was really cool, because you could split the coils using different switches. I like the two and four tuners on the headstock, which felt unique at the time, as did the shape.
Slash does his own thing with Better; but he can, because he’s the originator
Those guitars are bright and snappy. They were what I would play before I got into Telecasters. But my Reverend signature is my favorite because it can do all things and it’s the most dynamic-sounding guitar. I love the bass roll-off [control] and it’s so comfortable and reliable to play. That’s why it comes with me.
I would go as far as saying your solo in Better could very well be one of the finest leads in Guns N’ Roses history. How did you come up with it?
We played the song a lot, all together, really loud in the room. And that solo is something I played off the floor. I heard it back on the rehearsal DAT, then played something similar next time. By the time we were recording Chinese Democracy I had a good idea of what would be fun.
I’ve always liked singable melodies and phrases that take a breath in between the notes, like a horn player might. Some of my favorite solos are by Elliot Easton from The Cars or Neal Schon. Very singable and fun to air guitar to, and even more fun to play at loud volumes.
I’ve seen Slash play the Better solo. He doesn’t play it note-for-note but he does pay tribute to what you recorded in his own way. It must be crazy seeing that.
I’m making an effort not to send a wholly unique signal to front of house every eight bars
Oh yeah – that’s been really fun to hear. He does his own thing with it; but he can, because he’s the originator.
You’ve been Trent’s right-hand man on guitar for several decades. What have been your favorite tracks to play and tones to dial in?
Through the years, I’ve been trying to find some consistency between so many Axe-Fx presets and pedal pairings. I’m making an effort not to send a wholly unique signal to front of house every eight bars. It can be a challenge to approach all of the parts and represent them authentically in a live configuration.
I want my guitars to sound like the record. There’s the anthemic stuff and the buzzy power chord songs, but also the nuanced tracks like The Fragile. We haven’t played it much, maybe once or twice on the last run, but that’s always fun because it has a lot of layers. The Day The World Went Away is another.
Moving away from digital gear, what are the analog pedals you couldn’t live without?
I’m always stepping on my Voodoo Lab Proctavia – it’s a longstanding favorite of mine. I think it’s the gate that attracts me to it, because it works so well going into a driven tube amp. There’s the JHS Kilt, which is super-versatile pedal, going from drive to distortion to fuzz.
I’m really into the Death By Audio stuff; their Echo Dream 2 is maybe my favorite delay, and the Fuzz War is always on and off my board. Recently I did a short tour with Danny Elfman and built an all-Boss board, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. That went straight into two 100-Watt Orange Rockerverb heads.
When it comes to amps you aren’t necessarily team analog or digital. It’s more about what’s best to get the job done.
Some of the biggest challenges are the clean sounds or what happens during Hurt
That’s right. I love my Orange amps and using pedals – that’s what I did when I played with Chelsea Wolfe last week. With Nine Inch Nails I’m deep into Axe-Fx with a few drawers of supplemental pedals like a POG, a DD-8 for the reverse effect, a Catalinbread CSIDMAN and a Red Panda Particle. When I went to play on Danny Elfman’s record, I didn’t need the Axe-Fx; it was just amp and pedals.
You even did that for some Nine Inch Nails tours – quite brave given how many sounds are needed to get through the set.
That was a challenge! Even more than I anticipated. But once we had committed to it we had to see it through. Some of the biggest challenges are the clean sounds or what happens during Hurt, because I’m playing a Godin nylon-string through the Marshall. I needed a Boss Line Switcher to turn everything off at the end of the song, because there were too many pedals growling. It was my master kill!
