Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See

Arctic Monkey's lead guitarist Alex Turner uses this beautiful Gibson J-45 Standard Acoustic-Electric Guitar in his live acoustic for Spin Magazine.

In this video, Alex is using the 1968 Fender Villager. The band is playing a new version of their Suck it and See album track, The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala (2011). It's the first time I've seen him use it, but I've heard this version of the song many times, so I guess it's the instrument he's been using all the way.

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 uses the Fulltone Mini DejaVibe Stereo Chorus Pedal that has been seen on his pedalboard since the Suck It and See tour/recording sessions, used also during the recording/tour of the “AM” era also. An example of how Turner uses this pedal is for songs such as “Knee Socks.”

Pictured is Alex Turner during a live show during Arctic Monkeys “Suck It and See” tour in 2011. The Fulltone can be seen under the Boss DM-1 Delay Machine on his board.

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 Selmer Zodiac Twin 30 combo amp as his primary amplifier for almost all of Arctic Monkeys records and live performances. During the bands early shows and first tour, Alex used primarily an Orange Combo amp or a Vox AC30, even earlier The amp can first be seen during the recording of the bands second album, “Favourite Worst Nightmare,” as it was seen being used in the “Teddy Picker” music video. Looking though pictures of all the bands recording sessions the amp can be seen, usually in combination with a smaller amp for a more dirty, vibrato tone.

In an interview with long time producer James Ford, from Sound on Sound, Ford goes into detail on how him and the band went about using their gear in this 2011 interview. Ford states, “They took all their own guitar amps and stuff that we've used quite a lot before, a great old Selmer and Magnatone amps. We knew what we were doing, really. I've been in quite a few sessions where it's pretty up in the air and there's just too many things to think about, so it's harder to concentrate on the actual sonics and the performance. This time it was much easier in that respect.” James continues, “Alex Turner's rig typically featured him playing his faithful Fender Bronco or occasionally a Gibson Les Paul through his crocodile‑skin Selmer Zodiac and '60s Magnatone amps. "Al does more rhythmy stuff, and for that it was just pretty straight, quite bright and punchy into the Selmer. We sometimes ran that and his old Magnatone at the same time. It has a really nice vibrato on it and reverb. So sometimes we'd mix those two signals together, but just onto the one track.”

The band also has an identical version of this amp, which can be seen amplifying various keyboards and synthesizer throughout their live shows.

An example of how Turner likes to keep the setting on this amp would be the song “Fluorescent Adolescent“ off the bands second record. The amp has a distinct British tone, clean with a bit of chime and breakup.

Pictured is Alex’s Selmer Zodiac Twin 30 during the recording of “Suck It And See” at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles.

(Sound on Sound, James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys) http://www.soundonsound.com/people/james-ford-producing-arctic-monkeys%3famp

Alex Turner has used a Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp at various times throughout his career, including during the Arctic Monkeys' early tours and the Suck It and See tour. A user-uploaded photo on the Arctic Monkeys gear forum shows this amp in use.

Alex Turner plays a Magnatone Custom 410 starting during the “Suck It and See” recording sessions onwards. Turner uses the 410 in combination with his Selmer Zodiac Twin 30 for the tour of that album as well as the recording and tour of Arctic Monkeys 5th studio album, “AM.”

In an interview with James Ford with Sound on Sound, long time Arctic Monkeys producer and bandmate of Alex's in The Last Shaddow Puppets, Ford explains how Turner used his Magnatone in junction with his Selmer Zodiac Twin 30. The Magnatone was used for Alex to get more vibrato and reverb tones. He would also get reverb out of his Selmer amplifier, considering Turner doesn’t use a reverb pedal after the “Humbug” era. The Tremolo on this amp to get the famous tone of “Do I Wanna Know?” along with the reverb from his Selmer, delay from his Boss DM-1 Delay Machine and overdrive from his Coopersonic Valveslapper used with his Vox Starstream XII 12 String.

Ford states “Alex Turner's rig typically featured him playing his faithful Fender Bronco or occasionally a Gibson Les Paul through his crocodile‑skin Selmer Zodiac and '60s Magnatone amps. "Al does more rhythmy stuff, and for that it was just pretty straight, quite bright and punchy into the Selmer. We sometimes ran that and his old Magnatone at the same time. It has a really nice vibrato on it and reverb. So sometimes we'd mix those two signals together, but just onto the one track.” This explains how Alex got his tones for “Suck It and See” and “AM.”

Pictured is Turner’s Selmer Zodiac Twin 30 on the left and his Magnatone Custom 410 on the right. Here they are both are miked with Shure SM7s.

During the bands “Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino” tour, the Magnatone is used to amp the Synthesizer the band uses, located behind Jamie Cooks setup. While Alex doesn’t use this amp for guitar anymore, about midway though their 6th tour he switched his mentioned Selmer for another Magnatone, the 280.

(Sound on Sound, James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys) https://www.soundonsound.com/people/james-ford-producing-arctic-monkeys%3famp

Alex Turner plays a Vox AC15 during different shows and recording sessions, as seen here during a show during the Arctic Monkey’s “Suck It and See” tour paired with his Selmer Zodiac Twin 30. Previously, Alex played an AC30 during Arctic Monkeys first tour of their first album, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m not.”

This amp is likely the same one that Jamie Cook plays during their 6th tour of their album “Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino.” Cook can be seen playing the amplifier during all live performances during that tour.

The Vox AC15 boasts a Normal and Top Boost channel and is an all-tube, EL84 driven workhorse that delivers 15 watts of authentic British tone.

Alex Turner plays a Magnatone Custom 280 that replaced his long used Selmer Zodiac Twin 30 for live performances during Arctic Monkeys 6th tour of their “Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino” tour. Turner switched his amps on the bands UK tour of their 6th album in 2018 around the time of their Manchester and Sheffield shows. Alex uses this Magnatone for guitar, replacing his Selmer Zodiac that he has been using since the bands “Favourite Worst Nightmare” tour. Alex also uses a Dynacord Rex, this amp replaced his Fender Twin Reverb that he used to amplify his Wurlitzer 200.

Magnatone's top of the line amplifier of the late 1950's was the true stereo output amplifier called the 280. The 280 comes with two input channels each with "volume", "treble", and "bass" controls in a Baxandall tone stack arrangement. The inputs are mixed through the Stereo F.M.Vibrato. Turner’s tone during the “Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino” era is vastly different compared to previous years. Alex switched back to a single amplifier, formerly his Selmer and now this Magnatone. During the “AM” tour, alex used a Magnatone 480 with his Selmer for vibrato and reverb tones. This amp is the best of both worlds for what Alex seems to get out of his amps.

Pictured during the bands show in 2018 at Austin City Limits, the Magnatone 280 can be seen behind the keyboard next to Alex’s Gretsch Reverb Unit and Roland Space Echo.

In this article by Sound on Sound producer James Ford stated : ""Quite a lot of the tracks that we did were literally Alex playing guitar and singing and then me playing piano or Bill Ryder?Jones [ex?the Coral] playing guitar. But all around the one mic, a C12, straight into the Pultec and then straight onto the mono half?inch machine.." when recording the Arctic Monkey's 2011 album Suck It and See

In a Sound on Sound article titled "James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys," there is a photograph from the recording sessions of the Arctic Monkeys' album "Suck It and See," which shows Alex Turner's guitar amplifiers. Both amplifiers are mic'ed with two of the same ribbon microphones. Although the annotation mentions the microphones as SM7s, upon closer examination, it is evident that they are actually RCA BK-5B ribbon microphones.

In the acoustic session of "Suck It and See," Alex Turner is seen using a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone for his vocals. This performance was recorded live at the Edge's studio in Toronto on May 21, 2011, and is documented by Arctic Monkeys France on YouTube.

MKII Used In this article by Sound on Sound prodcer James Ford says he and the Arctic Monkeys used the Studer A800 MKII when recording their album Suck It And See

Jamie Cook plays a Gibson Les Paul during recording and live sessions when playing in Arctic Monkeys. Jamie seems to be a fan of Gibson guitars, playing a ES-335 in every tour and also a SG for AM. This Les Paul was first seen during the “Teddy Picker” music video. The music video features mainly footage of Arctic Monkeys recording the song in a live take. The guitar was seen played by Cook during the tour as well.

Alex Turner, the lead singer and lead guitarist of the band, played Jamie’s Guitar during the recording of the bands fourth album, “Suck It and See.” In an interview with producer of the mentioned album James Ford, he stated “Alex Turner's rig typically featured him playing his faithful Fender Bronco... or occasionally a Gibson Les Paul... through his crocodile‑skin Selmer Zodiac and '60s Magnatone amps. "’Al does more rhythmy stuff, and for that it was just pretty straight, quite bright and punchy into the Selmer. We sometimes ran that and his old Magnatone at the same time. It has a really nice vibrato on it and reverb. So sometimes we'd mix those two signals together, but just onto the one track.’”

Another section of the same interview with Ford, he mentions “A new sonic development for Arctic Monkeys on Suck It And See are the saturated Electro‑Harmonix Big Muff‑styled lead breaks that feature throughout — played mostly by Turner, but also by Jamie Cook. ‘It isn't a Big Muff actually,’ Ford points out. ‘But we were trying to get that Les Paul neck-pickup sound. They've got quite a few of those weird, boutiquey fuzz pedals that give you that warm, creamy fuzz, so we used that for the solos mainly. There was one called the Coopersonic Valve Slapper that we used quite a lot.’”

This interview mentions the use of Jamie’s Les Paul, as Turner was seen using the Gibson throughout that tour. Their next Album, AM, also features Alex playing this guitar. Seen throughout their live shows and pictures of the recording of the album.

The image shown shows Jamie playing the Les Paul during the Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino tour, as Alex stopped playing it in favor of sticking with his Fender Jazzmaster. Jamie started playing the Gibson again for only a handful of songs, sticking with his ES-335 as his primary guitar for a majority of the setlist.

Jamie Cook can be seen endorsing a flashy, Marshall-esque head and cabinet boasting the Simms-Watts logotype. However, the amp is, in fact, a replica of the original, built by Rosewell amps, who have a history with Arctic Monkeys. Cook is known to have played through other amps by the brand, such as the Bluesman 30 on the band's 2011 album, Suck It And See. On Rosewell's website, under the item listing for the "Custom 100W Head", the amp-makers explain: "Rosewell amps have worked extensivley with Arctic Monkeys guitarist Jamie Cook building an repairing many of their amplifiers. When Jamie Cook started having problems with his original 1970s Simms-Watt head, Rosewell Amplification helped him to find the solution. The original Simms Watt amplifier was built on a very thin chassis causing it to bend and break components when the band were moving the amplifier from gig to gig. Rosewell built a direct clone of the original Simms amplifier on a strengthened chassis and this now is Jamie's go-to amplifier should the original Simms have problems or the band have a punishing overseas shedule."

Jamie Cook played a Rosewell Bluesman 30 Amp during the recording of Arctic Monkeys fourth album, “Suck It and See,” as mentioned in an interview with Sound on Sound with producer James Ford.

“Cook's guitar setup revolves around a '60s Simms Watts rig and custom‑built Rosewell Bluesman, though for the Sound City sessions, he also borrowed engineer James Brown's Audio Kitchen Big Chopper amp. For more ambient sounds, he'd plug into various toys, including a WEM Copicat or Roland Space Echo, Electro‑Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb pedal and Fulltone Deja Vibe stereo phase/chorus.”

Ford goes on to mention more about Jamie’s set up with the Rosewell, as well as his other amplifiers, "Cookie does either the spacey, watery, roomy sounds,” says Ford, ‘which were vibrato and reverb and a bit of echo. Or he does the kind of heavy, single‑note type of stuff. We used the Audio Kitchen for his heavier stuff.. it had a Vox AC30 sort of vibe, but with a bit more presence and clarity. His live take would be close‑miked, and then we'd bring the amp into the room and maybe double it with a distant mic, Jimi Hendrix‑style, from the other side of the room.’”

Pictured is from the recording sessions of “Suck It and See” with pictures from the interview including Alex’s set up, Jamie’s, Matt’s and Nick’s. Left is the Rosewell Bluesman next to Brown’s Audio Kitchen Big Chopper Amplifier.

(Sound on Sound, James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.soundonsound.com/people/james-ford-producing-arctic-monkeys%3famp

Jamie Cook played an Audio Kitchen Big Chopper during the recording of Arctic Monkeys fourth album, “Suck It and See.” Jamie borrowed the amp from sound engineer James Brown, as mentioned in an interview with Sound on Sound with producer James Ford.

“Cook's guitar setup revolves around a '60s Simms Watts rig and custom‑built Rosewell Bluesman, though for the Sound City sessions, he also borrowed engineer James Brown's Audio Kitchen Big Chopper amp. For more ambient sounds, he'd plug into various toys, including a WEM Copicat or Roland Space Echo, Electro‑Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb pedal and Fulltone Deja Vibe stereo phase/chorus.”

Ford goes on to mention more about Jamie’s set up with the amp, as well as his normal amps "Cookie does either the spacey, watery, roomy sounds,” says Ford, ‘which were vibrato and reverb and a bit of echo. Or he does the kind of heavy, single‑note type of stuff. We used the Audio Kitchen for his heavier stuff.. it had a Vox AC30 sort of vibe, but with a bit more presence and clarity. His live take would be close‑miked, and then we'd bring the amp into the room and maybe double it with a distant mic, Jimi Hendrix‑style, from the other side of the room.’”

Pictured is from the recording sessions of “Suck It and See” with pictures from the interview including Alex’s set up, Jamie’s, Matt’s and Nick’s. Right is the Audio Kitchen Big Chopper Amplifier next to Jamie’s custom‑built Rosewell Bluesman.

(Sound on Sound, James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.soundonsound.com/people/james-ford-producing-arctic-monkeys%3famp

Jamie Cook played an Audio Kitchen 1x12 with a Big Chopper during the recording of Arctic Monkeys fourth album, “Suck It and See.” Jamie borrowed the amp and cabinet from sound engineer James Brown, as mentioned in an interview with Sound on Sound with producer James Ford.

“Cook's guitar setup revolves around a '60s Simms Watts rig and custom‑built Rosewell Bluesman, though for the Sound City sessions, he also borrowed engineer James Brown's Audio Kitchen Big Chopper amp. For more ambient sounds, he'd plug into various toys, including a WEM Copicat or Roland Space Echo, Electro‑Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb pedal and Fulltone Deja Vibe stereo phase/chorus.”

Ford goes on to mention more about Jamie’s set up with the amp and cab, as well as his other amps, "Cookie does either the spacey, watery, roomy sounds,” says Ford, ‘which were vibrato and reverb and a bit of echo. Or he does the kind of heavy, single‑note type of stuff. We used the Audio Kitchen for his heavier stuff.. it had a Vox AC30 sort of vibe, but with a bit more presence and clarity. His live take would be close‑miked, and then we'd bring the amp into the room and maybe double it with a distant mic, Jimi Hendrix‑style, from the other side of the room.’”

Pictured is from the recording sessions of “Suck It and See” with pictures from the interview including Alex’s set up, Jamie’s, Matt’s and Nick’s. Right is the Audio Kitchen Big Chopper Amplifier and 1x12 cabinet next to Jamie’s custom‑built Rosewell Bluesman.

(Sound on Sound, James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.soundonsound.com/people/james-ford-producing-arctic-monkeys%3famp

When recording their album Suck It and See Jamie Cook used this pedal as stated in this article : "A new sonic development for Arctic Monkeys on Suck It And See are the saturated Electro?Harmonix Big Muff?styled lead breaks that feature throughout — played mostly by Turner, but also by Jamie Cook. "It isn't a Big Muff actually,” Ford points out. "But we were trying to get that Les Paul neck-pickup sound. They've got quite a few of those weird, boutiquey fuzz pedals that give you that warm, creamy fuzz, so we used that for the solos mainly. There was one called the [Coopersonic] Valve Slapper that we used quite a lot.”

When recording the Arctic Monkeys 2011 album this article states : "Cook's guitar setup revolves around a '60s Simms Watts rig and custom?built Rosewell Bluesman, though for the Sound City sessions, he also borrowed engineer James Brown's Audio Kitchen Big Chopper amp. For more ambient sounds, he'd plug into various toys, including a WEM Copicat or Roland Space Echo, Electro?Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb pedal and Fulltone Deja Vibe stereo phase/chorus.

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.

Jamie Cook uses a Watkins Electric Music Copicat Echo Unit during the recording of “Suck It and See” noted in an interview with James Ford.

In an interview with James Ford about the recording of “Suck It and See,” Ford gives insight on why and how Jamie’s set up incorporates the Copicat. “Cook's guitar setup revolves around a '60s Simms Watts rig and custom‑built Rosewell Bluesman, though for the Sound City sessions, he also borrowed engineer James Brown's Audio Kitchen Big Chopper amp. For more ambient sounds, he'd plug into various toys, including a WEM Copicat or Roland Space Echo, Electro‑Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb pedal and Fulltone Deja Vibe stereo phase/chorus.” These extras expanded Cook’s sound in such as giving his tone a more ambient sound which is different in ways that had not been seen on Arctic Monkey’s previous efforts.

Ford continues, "Cookie does either the spacey, watery, roomy sounds,” says Ford, "which were vibrato and reverb and a bit of echo. Or he does the kind of heavy, single‑note type of stuff. We used the Audio Kitchen for his heavier stuff — it had a Vox AC30 sort of vibe, but with a bit more presence and clarity. His live take would be close‑miked, and then we'd bring the amp into the room and maybe double it with a distant mic, Jimi Hendrix‑style, from the other side of the room.”

In the interview shows a picture of Jamie’s set up of the WEM Copicat along with a Rolland Space Echo. Jamie used these two plug ins into his various amps used during the recording of their album at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles.

(Sound on Sound, James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys) https://www.soundonsound.com/people/james-ford-producing-arctic-monkeys

Jamie Cook uses a Roland Space Echo RE-201 during the recording of “Suck It and See” onward for live shows and recording of albums other albums. The Space Echo can be seen in “Warp Speed Chic,” the recording of the bands 6th album, “Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino” and their 5th album, “AM.”

In an interview with James Ford about the recording of “Suck It and See,” Ford gives insight on why and how Jamie’s set up incorporates the Rolland. “Cook's guitar setup revolves around a '60s Simms Watts rig and custom‑built Rosewell Bluesman, though for the Sound City sessions, he also borrowed engineer James Brown's Audio Kitchen Big Chopper amp. For more ambient sounds, he'd plug into various toys, including a WEM Copicat or Roland Space Echo, Electro‑Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb pedal and Fulltone Deja Vibe stereo phase/chorus.” These extra “Toys” expanded Cook’s sound in various different ways not seen on Arctic Monkey’s previous albums.

Ford continues, "Cookie does either the spacey, watery, roomy sounds,” says Ford, "which were vibrato and reverb and a bit of echo. Or he does the kind of heavy, single‑note type of stuff. We used the Audio Kitchen for his heavier stuff — it had a Vox AC30 sort of vibe, but with a bit more presence and clarity. His live take would be close‑miked, and then we'd bring the amp into the room and maybe double it with a distant mic, Jimi Hendrix‑style, from the other side of the room.”

In the interview shows a picture of Jamie’s set up of the Space Echo along with a WEM Copicat. Pictured is Jamie’s set up during the “Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino” tour in 2018 & 2019. The Space Echo is seen behind Jamie, on top of his Hiwatt Stage/Studio 2x12 Combo amplifier.

(Sound on Sound, James Ford: Producing Arctic Monkeys) https://www.soundonsound.com/people/james-ford-producing-arctic-monkeys

At 7:47 of the Warp Speed Chic documentary, you can see Nick O'Malley playing what looks to be a Gibson J-45 Acoustic guitar in vintage sunburst. In all likelihood, given the band's frequent sharing of instruments, this is Alex Turner's guitar which he uses in this cover of the song, 'Suck it and see'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qx4tuQJ2aw

Though the J-45 is certainly a popular guitar for both studios and radio stations to carry on hand: both of the places where the guitars are played in the video examples, both guitars carry button tuners and the darker gibson logo. Such would suggest that the same guitar is in use.

Matt Helders can be seen using the AKG C414 as underhead mics for his cymbals on the bands tours for both "Suck It And See" and "AM" between the years 2011-2014.

The AKG C414 can be seen in this image attached taken from the Arctic Monkeys show at Firefly Music Festival in 2014.