Premier Guitar | 8 years ago
Article and photos: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/24734-rig-rundown-god-is-an-astronaut
Premier Guitar’s Chris Kies visits Nashville’s Exit/In before God Is an Astronaut’s gig to hang with guitarists Torsten Kinsella and Jamie Dean and bassist Niels Kinsella to talk semi-hollowbodies, complex modeling rigs, and why felt picks rule.
The only guitar that Torsten Kinsella brought on the road to the U.S. is this 1968 Gibson ES-345 that he modded by putting in Curtis Novak humbuckers with a switch mounted under the pickguard so he can split the neck pickup for single-coil tones. In the past, Torsten has been associated with Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Strats, but feels his 345 gives him the aggression of a LP but still allows him to get sparkly clean sounds like a Strat. For strings, he goes with Ernie Ball Slinky Skinny Top Heavy Bottom .010-.052.
Like Torsten, guitarist/keyboardist Jamie Dean travels light when it comes to his road-dog 6-string, a 1985 Yamaha SA800 that he bought back in Dublin years ago. He had guitar tech Tony Thompson swap out the stock tuners and give the neck a refret, but other than that, it’s stock. And keeping in line with Torsten and his streamlined approach, Jamie gets all his amp and pedal needs from a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II XL.
To continue learning about the band's gear, visit: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/24734-rig-rundown-god-is-an-astronaut
