Arctic Monkeys – Humbug

Alex Turner uses an Ovation Viper Electric Guitar built by the Ovation Guitar Company when playing with both Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets, the Viper was seen being played during the “Humbug” tour and the Puppet’s “Everything You’ve Come To Expect” tour. When playing the Viper during the “Humbug” tour, Alex switched between this and one of his Jazzmasters, either his Fender or Custom Warmoth, replacing his Fender Bronco that he used during the bands second tour.

When Alex is playing the guitar with the Puppets, he has the guitar tuned so it's a whole step down in D Tuning, also called One Step Lower, Whole Step Down, Full Step or D Standard. Each string is lowered by a whole tone or two semitones, resulting in D-G-C-F-A-D. For "Aviation” and "Element of Surprise,” the guitar is used open so it’s in D. Turner uses a capo on the 2nd fret for when the band covers The Beatles "I Want You(She’s So Heavy)" so he can play the chords like the guitar is in standard tuning.

The Ovation Viper is an electric guitar made by Ovation Guitar Company from 1977 to the early 1980s. The Viper sports two single coil pickups, a single volume knob, a single tone knob and a three-way selector switch, very much like a Fender Telecaster. Ovation made their own pickups and they designed these to have a higher output than a regular single coil. They were also well-shielded and had very little hum when plugged in.

Pictured is Alex Turner during The Last Shadow Puppets show at T In The Park in 2016 seen playing his vintage Ovation Viper.

Alex Turner uses the Boss DM-1 Delay Machine in his pedalboard for live and recording sessions with Arctic Monkeys. The Pedal can first be seen around the recording and tour of the bands 3rd album, “Humbug,” after it was seen on both their 4th and 5th album tours but was dropped during the “Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino” in favor of an original Rolland Space Echo.

Pictured is Alex during a live show during the bands 5th tour in 2014. The Boss can be seen above his Fulltone Deja Vibe and next to his Coopersonic Valveslapper.

Alex Turner uses a MXR Micro Amp on his board as a boost to his clean signal or to boost the drive of his amp/overdrives for solos. Turner uses the pedal when playing in both Arctic Monkeys as it has been seen in every tour/ recording session since their second album and also during the second Last Shadow Puppets tour.

Adding a preset amount of gain with just a single control, the Micro Amp is a great way to boost the signal for lead work or adjust between two different guitars with unmatched output such as humbuckers to single-coils. It can also provide a permanent boost in a long effects chain where signal drop off is a problem.

Pictured is Turner’s pedal board early during the “Humbug” era in 2009. The Mirco Amp can be seen mid-board next to Alex’s Vintage TS808 Tube screamer.

Alex Turner uses a Coopersonic Valveslapper Duel Valve Distortion pedal on his board since Arctic Monkeys 3rd album recording and tour. This pedal is what Alex famously uses for the tone of “Do I Wanna Know” among other pedals, amps and his 12-String Guitar. Turner also has the original model of the Coopersonic, red in color, that he has switched to and from during his career.

Pictured is both Alex’s and Jamie Cook’s pedalboards backstage during the “Humbug” tour in 2009-2010. The Valveslapper can be seen in the middle of Turner’s board on the left next to his vintage TS808.

Alex Turner uses the Electro Harmonix XO Holy Grail Plus Variable Reverb Pedal on his pedalboard during the Arctic Monkey's 2009 - 2010 “Humbug” tour. The Pedal was first seen on his board at some point during the bands second tour as Alex added it to his board, then used it for the recording of their 3rd album. After this tour Turner removed the pedal from his board, the pedal is still seen sitting atop of his Magnatone 410 during the “Suck It and See” and “AM” tours, most likely always on.

The Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Teverb features spring, hall, and flerb reverbs. Also the pedal features a graceful room reverb and a multifunction control that lets you control decay, damping and modulation speed. Turner used reverb on most songs he records, as most artists do to creat ambiance and expand the sounds of his guitar tones.

Pictured, Alex Turner can be seen using the Holy Grail during a show during the “Humbug” tour. The pedal is seen above Alex’s Coopersonic Valveslapper distortion pedal and next to his Tubescreamer.

Alex Turner used the Cornell The First Fuzz pedal for the distinctive riffs and solos on the albums "Humbug," "Suck It and See," and "AM." This pedal was later replaced by the Wattson Super Fuzz for the "Everything You've Come to Expect" tour and was also seen on stage during the "Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino" tour, as evidenced by a user-uploaded photo on Pmtonline.

Alex Turner uses a Morley Pro Series II Wah on his pedalboard during the Humbug era. Seen only during this era, Turner used this pedal for songs such as “Dance Little Liar.” The Morley Wah can be seen pictured next to Turners Boss DM-1 Delay machine on the left of his pedalboard.

This pedal combines silky smooth volume control, wailing WAH and classic distortion tones. “High Q” Wah tone really cuts through the mix and our “Clear-Tone” buffer circuit drives long cables and prevents signal loading.

Alex Turner uses a Wattson Super Fuzz FY-6 on his board during The Last Shadow Puppet’s second tour of their Everything You’ve Come To Expect album. Turner has also used this pedal during the recording of Arctic Monkey’s Humbug recording sessions at Rancho De La Luna. Pictured the Wattson Super Fuzz can be seen on Turners board next to his Boss Tuners.

Capturing the precise tone of the original classic fuzz pedals from shin-ei and univox, the Wattson Super Fuzz fy-6 is housed in a 16 gauge steel chassis. Turner used this pedal on songs such as “Aviation” to get a vintage sounding Fuzz tone.

During the Arctic Monkeys' "Humbug" era, Alex Turner incorporated the Boss DSD-3 Digital Sampler/Delay into his pedalboard, placed alongside his Wattson Super Fuzz FY-6. Although not essential for the tour, Turner was experimenting with various pedals during this period, notably with Josh Homme. The DSD-3 is essentially the same as the DSD-2, but it was released at a lower price due to a decrease in semiconductor costs, prompting Boss to market it as a new model. This setup is documented in a user-uploaded photo.

Alex Turner can be seen playing a Yamaha SA-70 bass in this photo.

This bass belongs to Josh Homme and was used during the recording sessions for Humbug.

Used in the Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone music video.

(Minute 1:45) Here Alex is using an Orange Crush 12 amp before a show in the Humbug era.

The Gretsch Spectra Sonic appears in the Red Right Hand performance from the Web Transmissions for Humbug.

In the picture above, Jamie Cook can be seen playing a Gibson ES-335 with Bigsby.

This is one of the most well-known guitars Jamie used as he's been using ES-335's since 2006. The version with Bigsby has been used since the Humbug era.

Jamie Cook's Fender Starcaster Semi-Hollowbody Electric Guitar is featured in the official video of Crying Lightning. A clear picture can be seen around the 0:45 mark in the video.

The Bigsby was added to his ES-335TD during the writing of their Humbug album. He has used that same guitar with the Bigsby B12 ever since, the photo just shows the Bigsby on that guitar in 2012.

Jamie Cook plays a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus at various points during recording and live sessions for Arctic Monkeys. The Roland can first be seen during the recording of their first album pictured here next to Matt when the band practiced at Yellow Arch Studios. The Rolland can also be seen at different live shows during the Humbug era.

First introduced way back in 1975, the JC-120 Jazz Chorus is one of the few guitar amps that can truly be called a legend. Roland’s long-standing flagship is universally recognized by pros as the benchmark in clean guitar sound, and its rich tone and famous built-in stereo chorus effect have been heard on countless popular songs over its long history. Now celebrating 40 years of continuous production and counting, the JC-120 remains the undisputed “king of clean,” and the enduring choice of serious guitarists everywhere.

Jamie typically uses Hiwatt amps, which are known for their clean tones, similar to this Rolland.

it's clearly seen at 12:05.

you know, I was saying "so... I rated that Hot Cat amp as completely incorrect, because I can see that his cable goes not to the edge of panel, but to the middle. I can't find any amps like that". I was searching for that amp for long... 15 minutes. really, I just opened AM forum and saw that Jamie used Wild Cat model. there's tons of content for Equipboard, like John Ashton (their touring keyboardist/guitarist during Humbug and early Suck It And See tours) equipment. heck, he doesn't even has his own page here.

anyway, it's Bad Cat Wild Cat amp. Jamie used it during FWN and early Humbug eras.

Jamie Cook has consistently used the Demeter FUZ-1 Fuzzulator Pedal since the "Humbug" and "Suck It and See" era, and it remains a staple on his pedalboard today, as evidenced by a user-uploaded photo.