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Guitarist
Interview
with Davy Curci June 2012 Bands: The Real Deal, The Acoustic Outlaws, Gaining Merit (work in progress) Websites: www.therealdealhatesyou.com, www.facebook.com/therealdeal QRD – What was your first guitar & what happened to it? Davy – A Slammer V guitar with a silver burst paint. Still have it in my basement. QRD – What’s your typical set-up from guitar to effects to amplifier? Davy – Gibson Es-137 Classic, Dimebag Wah pedal, Turbo Distortion Boss pedal, Boss EQ pedal, Visual Sound Chorus/Delay pedal, Boss Super Shifter pedal, Boss phaser pedal, Xotic pre amp pedal, Boss Noise Suppressor pedal, BME contour rack EQ, MX200 rack reverb/compressor, Korg DTR-2000, Technical Pro DB meter, Furman Power Factory Pro, all going to a Crate BV-100 (usually use a Blackheart BH-100 head but it’s out of commission). QRD – What’s the most important part of your rig - guitar, amplifier, or effects? Davy – Guitar definitely. I adjust the neck myself & the pickups cause I know what I want & get it. QRD – What’s your main amplifier & why? Davy – The Blackheart Hothead 100 watt amp. I like it cause its beefy & clear sounding. The class A option (50 watts) is the best sounding amp I played through that wasn’t boutique. QRD – What’s your main guitar & what are the features that make it such? Davy – Gibson ES-137 Classic. I love it because it’s a hollow body & makes it so much easier to play live. The clean sound I can get out of it is great also. The balance of the guitar is really good also. The only problem with it is it’s a pain in the ass to repair the pickup selector. QRD – If you had a signature guitar, what would it look like & what would some of its features be? Davy – Probably close to a Gibson LP Custom, with a blue burst like paint job & gold hardware (that doesn’t fade). QRD – If you had a signature pedal, what would it be & what would some of its features be? Davy – It would be a pre-amp pedal, with a compressor, a reverb, & a noise reduction all in one. These are all essentials for a good guitar tone in my opinion. There would be individual switches for each effect & the lighting scheme would be from green to blue, also it would be made out of heavy duty metal. No shit plastic. QRD – How many guitars do you own? Davy – 5 guitars. QRD – How & where do you store your guitars? Davy – In their cases & in my basement. QRD – What do you wish guitar cases had that they usually don’t? Davy – Built in guitar stands & to be more durable. QRD – What features do you look for when buying a guitar? Davy – Easy playability. QRD – How much do you think a good guitar should cost? Davy – Usually around 1K. QRD – Do you upgrade & customize your guitars or just stick with what you get? Davy – Planning on upgrading the nut & bridge when I get enough cash. QRD – How thoroughly do you research or test a piece of equipment before buying it? Davy – I usually just buy it & if I don’t like it I don’t use it anymore. QRD – Do you change your rig around often? Davy – Every year I would change it a minimum of 3 times. Usually for the better, more effects or better quality effects to replace the older ones. QRD – Are you after one particular guitar tone & locking into it, or do you like to change your tone around a lot? Davy – I have recently found the one I’m looking for after passing my Lexicon unit through the effect loop of my amp. QRD – What are some guitars, amps, & pedals you particularly lust after? Davy – Gibson LP Custom Alpine White, the new blue Gibson LP studio, the Dean Dimebag Cowboys from Hell guitar. For amps I would have to say the Bogner Uberschall & there is a boutique amp that I can’t remember the name of, so oh well. For pedals I would have to say EHX Talking Machine, EHX Wiggler, EHX Freeze pedal, an Ibanez Tubescreamer, BOSS loop station, & the Damage Control Liquid Blues pedal. QRD – What do you think are some important features to be on a person’s first guitar that aren’t always there? Davy – Good tuning keys. QRD – What have been the best & worst guitar related purchases you’ve made? Davy – Best is the Xotic pre-amp pedal. Worst is my wireless system (cannot disclose the name of the company). QRD – What are some effect, amp, & guitar brands you particularly like or dis-like & why? Davy – Boss, Crate, Furman, Gibson, & Korg are all dependable brands that I never had a problem with. QRD – What’s the first thing you play when you pick up a guitar? Davy – Probably an E major chord & then whatever I feel like. QRD – How old were you when you started playing guitar? Davy – 12 years old. QRD – At what age do you think you leveled up to your best guitar playing? Davy – Probably 17, then I found the awesomeness of drinking beer & stopped practicing scales & what not. QRD – Why do you think a guitar fits you more so than other instruments? Davy – It just seems right when I pick one up. QRD – Do you think guitar should be people’s first instrument as often as it is? Davy – I think piano should be everyone’s first instrument. Sadly it wasn’t for me. QRD – Do you see your guitar as your ally or adversary in making music? Davy – Most of the time an ally. Sometimes it will get in the way of working with vocal melodies, which then comes to sacrificing vocal melody or guitar riffs. QRD – Who are the guitarists that most influenced your playing & sound? Davy – Dimebag Darrell, Aaron Barrett, Roger Manganelli. QRD – Do you think people anthropomorphizing their guitars is natural or silly (e.g. naming their guitar)? Davy – Don’t really have an opinion on that subject. People can do what they want. QRD – What’s the most physical damage you’ve done to a guitar & how did you do it? Davy – I was drunk at this small club in Winnipeg, Manitoba & was standing next to the road cases housing the power amps for the speakers. I did a guitar spin flipping it over my shoulder backwards & the top of the neck hit the case & it chipped a piece of the headstock. QRD – What do you do to practice other than simply playing? Davy – Play some random scales I can still remember & learning songs that I thought I wouldn’t be able to play. QRD – How many hours a week do you play guitar & how many hours would you like to? Davy – Probably around 5-7 hours when I don’t have a scheduled practice with my band. I should practice at least 2 hours a day though. QRD – What type of pick do you use & why? Davy – Dunlop Tortex .88 mm sharp picks. I love the sharp pick, it makes accuracy so much easier when playing single notes. I also use that gauge because it’s thick enough to be able to pick fast & not too soft to feel like nothing is in my hand. QRD – What gauge strings do you use & why? Davy – 10-52 Skinny top heavy bottom Ernie Ball. Coated strings. QRD – How often do you change strings? Davy – Once every couple of weeks if I’m playing often. QRD – How often do you break strings? Davy – Once in a couple of months. QRD – Which do you feel is more proficient, your strumming hand or fretting hand & how does that effect your style? Davy – My fretting hand, I didn’t spend enough time practicing my rhythm. Which in turn makes me able to play awkward rhythms since I’m not really stuck to one thing. QRD – Do you set-up your guitar yourself or send it to a guitar tech (or not set it up at all) & why? Davy – Set it up myself. I do it because it’s not hard & when you get the hang of it, it doesn’t take long. QRD – What tunings do you use & why? Davy – Standard tuning, just because I always used it. QRD – Do you prefer tablature, sheet music, or some other notation system for writing down your own ideas? Davy – I just record my ideas on my phone. QRD – How high do you hold your guitar when playing (strap length)? Davy – Hell if I know. QRD – What’s a bad habit in your playing you wish you could break? Davy – Beer. QRD – Playing what other instrument do you think can most help someone’s guitar playing? Davy – I would assume any other string instrument. Piano would be more for the technical aspects (reading & writing). QRD – What’s a type of guitar playing you wish you could do that you can’t? Davy – Sweep picking. I’m not patient enough to get it right. QRD – What’s a guitar goal you’ve never accomplished? Davy – Too many to list. QRD – What’s the last guitar trick you learned? Davy – Don’t remember it’s been too long. I’m trying to practice my finger picking though. QRD – What’s your favorite guitar gadget (ebow, capo, slide, string cutter, etc)? Davy – String cutter & string winder. QRD – What’s a guitar technique you’d like to master, but haven’t? Davy – Finger picking. Would help with my acoustic abilities. QRD – Did you ever take guitar lessons & if so, what did you learn from them? Davy – Yes I did. I learned a lot, about the techniques & what not. But there are some things you just can’t teach. QRD – What would you teach someone in a guitar lesson that you don’t think they would generally get from a guitar teacher? Davy – The different parts of the guitar, so they know the instrument they are playing. QRD – What’s something someone would have to do to emulate your style? Davy – I use a lot of flare when playing live, especially with my rhythm hand. QRD – What’s your take on tremolo systems? Davy – Annoying to fix, therefore I just put stoppers so it doesn’t move. QRD – How often do you adjust your tone knob? Davy – Rarely, I play with the volume switches & the pickup switches to generate different tones. QRD – What do you see as the difference between lead guitar & rhythm guitar players? Davy – Mostly the quality of playing, but stage presence has a lot to do with it too. QRD – If a band has good guitar work, can you ignore the rest of the band not being good? Davy – Hell no. That’s why it’s called a band; you gotta all be good at your craft or your just mediocre. QRD – What famous musician’s guitar would you like to own & why? Davy – Dimebag’s. He’s my biggest influence. QRD – Who do you think is currently the most innovative guitar player & why? Davy – Can’t say, I haven’t been listening to much music because I’m trying to make sure my composing isn’t inspired by anyone. QRD – Where can people hear your best guitar work? Davy – On The Real Deal’s album FUN. The secret song has the most technical playing that I’ve recorded. QRD – Anything else? Davy – Just hoping one day people will start respecting music again. A lot of people take it for granted & don’t realize how much goes into it. That is all.
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