Nuno Bettencourt says bands often sabotage guest guitarists at gigs on purpose with sub-par gear: “I’ve dubbed it the ‘punishment’ rig’”
While hazing rituals are often associated with college sports teams, its also a rite of passage to humiliate your musical peers every now and then. Sometimes, stepping out on stage as a guest guitarist can feel like playing a game of Russian Roulette – and, as Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt reveals, he bands have tried to sabotage him numerous times with a crappy rig.
Speaking to Guitar World in its new print issue, Bettencourt explains how many bands have a designated “second rig” to prank their guest performers. “It’s not the same rig as they’re playing through,” he says. “I’ve dubbed it the ‘punishment rig’.”
READ MORE: “Nobody wants to play those f**king Randy Rhoads solos!”: Nuno Bettencourt jokes that Wolfgang Van Halen was “smart” to drop out of Black Sabbath’s farewell concert
According to Bettencourt, the “punishment rig” often has very little “distortion or sustain”, and “the guitar has action three miles off the neck and there are no special pedals, no special sauce”. But, regardless of the tools you’ve been dealt, you just need to suck it up.
“You’re gonna have to get up there and battle it out with whatever it is,” he laughs. “You’re gonna have to show the fuck up, no excuses! That’s where you separate the men from the boys – on the punishment rig!”
Of course, strong guitarists wont be too tripped up by a “punishment rig”. In fact, Bettencourt is adamant that gear has minimal impact on how good a guitarist can sound. Downright sabotage can obviously have a negative impact, but he argues that the most important piece of gear you can always rely on is a good pair of hands.
“We know amps are important… But for anybody who’s chasing gear to make themselves sound better, that’s never going to happen,” he tells Guitar World.
“You need to find pieces of gear that allow your hand to allow you to express yourself the best way,” he adds. “It’s like finding a head that doesn’t tamper too much with what your hands are saying and doing and – tonally – finding pedals that don’t get in the way of that, like to where they process so much that it’s not you anymore.”
In his opinion, the key is finding what you find most comfortable to play with, and then the rest is up to you. “Find a string, a pedal, a pick, an amp and a speaker that best interprets you and doesn’t get in the way of the power, expression and voice that your hands have,” he explains. “Your hands are your secret weapon.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
