Mentioned here: Fender Deluxe Amplifier, Acoustic 150 Amplifier, Roland Cube 30, Fender Stratocaster Guitar, Penco Guitar, Roland GR09, Tech 21 Sansamp GT2, Dimarzio 2.1 & 2.2 Guitar Pickups. Ampeg GT10
TG It has certainly been awhile since we've heard from you. Have you been that busy?
Lionel: No, I have been dealing with some music and issues unrelated to music.
TG I notice that your set up is much different from the last time we spoke.
Lionel Yes. I had to move somethings around, still quite not satisfied but it is always a work in progress.
TG Lets talk about equipment. I am use to seeing you use your Fender Deluxe guitar amp on most of you gigs now. You use to drag out your Acoustic 150, don't see that anymore.
LC When I am feeling nostalgic or at outdoor venues when I want that vintage throw back feel, I use my Acoustic amp.
TG So why not use it more often seeing that today's sound is returning to vintage sounds?
Lionel Honestly? I got tired of dragging the equipment around. My muscles were actually hurting. It's not like back in the days with Pressure Point, where the road crew dragged the heavy stuff around. Most of the time now, it is me versus the equipment and I hate to tell you this but the equiptment was winning, so I stopped by Daddy's Junky Music and was complaining to my friend Orett. I was telling him that I wouldn't mind having something smaller to do the small venues, which I was playing, but I realize that the small amps don't have the crunch like the heavier tube amps do.Orett showed me the Cube 30, and said I should take it and listen to it. He was so sure I would like it.
TG well it is still in your rig setup, so does that mean you like it?
Lionel I love it. It's good for practice and it's good for small venues and that is how I use it. There were a few gigs that I did where I didn't have my Fender Deluxe because I was told I would be playing on a small stage in a small room, but the Cube handled the job. On one of the jobs at the Sheraton ballroom in Springfield, MA keyboardist Artie McClendon complained that he needed to hear more guitar, because he was on the other side of the stage, and the instruments weren't fed to the floor monitors. That was the only complaint, but you have to understand, I rocked Foxwoods Cinadrome using my Fender Deluxe, which is an all tube amp, when I was playing with Tony Harrington and Touch, so that is still my primary amp.
TG I remember those gigs and you always seemed to get some interesting sounds from your instrument. From the Fender Strat sound on the Reggae songs to wicked lead sounds, on your solos.
Lionel The Fender sound was easy. I just would pick up my Fender Stratocaster, single coil pickups, and handled the Reggae material. I also had my Humbuger pickups on my Penco guitar modified by luthier Ron Buldoc, to give me a somewhat close to a Fender Strat sound, without the noise, in a pull switch position. This would come in handy sometimes when Tony Harrington would have a song on his song list but change his mind and call another song on stage. The information would not get to me in time and this would cause problems. I could never get him to understand that, so I had to be prepared to get any sound or tone from either guitar.
TG So you can get great solo tones from both guitars?
Lionel Yes. The way my rig is set up I can, even though the Squier does not have access to Midi.
TG You played a solo, on one of your sets at Foxwoods, utilizing a wicked midi patch on the tune "This Is How We Do It." The reason I knew it was a patch you were using was because your frequencies were lower than the normal "E" string on guitar, or at least sounded so.
Lionel Yes, that was the Penco guitar running through the Roland GR09 using a modified patch in conjunction with a Tech 21 Sansamp GT2. There were other stomp boxes, including the amp that contributed to making that sound, but the two that I mentioned were the most instrumental in shaping that sound. I remember that night also, because everything seemed to work right.
TG The Squier is a relatively inexpensive guitar, but you still got great tone from it. Were there any modifications made to yours?
Lionel (laughs) There were times that guitar hummed louder than a church choir, but that was due to the single coil pickups. First I thought I had a grounding problem so I had Frock and Ron Bolduc look at it for me, but both said the same thing, single coil pickups, so as soon as I get a chance, Tony Lee is going to put Dimarzio 2.1 and 2.2 Vintage pickups on it for me. I remember one night when the soundman came to me and said, "man where is that hum coming from?" So I said, jokingly, it sure ain't from there humbugers and pointed to the single coil pickups on the Squier and smiled. He was also a guitar player so he got it. What made it worse was the lights in the facility and my many peddles, but I refused to give up that Fender sound especially when I was plucking out a nice funk riff. The ultimate for me with that Strat, was using it coming through the
Overdrive channel on the Fender Deluxe, man that thing would sing.
TG: When you play live, is a mic used on your amp or is your signal sent by directbox to the house sound system?
Lionel It really depends on the amps that I am using and the sound company. A mic was always used on the Ampeg GT10 because it has no line out for a directbox. The Acoustic 150, Fender Deluxe and Cube 30, however, are sent to the house system by either a mic or directbox. That is usually left up to the soundman.
