Arctic Monkeys – The Car

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 can be seen with his Guyatone Crossover PS-104 Auto-Wah pedal during Arctic Monkeys live performance at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, New York City in October 2022. Pictured, you can see it sat on his pedalboard above his distortion pedal. This is the first time Turner has had a Wah style pedal on his board or being used in his music. This pedal can be heard both live and on studio recordings of songs off their 7th LP, The Car. Tracks such as “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I am” and “Jet Skis On The Moat” feature this pedal prominently and feature this new side of Arctic Monkeys guitar riffs.

The PS-104 was a pedal produced in the 1970’s by Guyatone and is considered to be quite rare. It is a Cross Over BOX Dynamic Envelope Filter style pedal with both Drive and Decay Controls with the latter controlling the periodic time of effect waves. The warm analog auto-wah effect has a distinct treble bite. The effect also varies with the performance dynamics such as a harder/stronger pluck at the strings on a guitar will give a stronger effect. The pedal can vary with how hot the guitar pickups are, also depending on if you have any other pedals before it in the effect chain.

Turner described the PS-104 and it’s sound in an interview when being asked about how he wrote and came up with the riff for “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I am.” Alex had this to say about the sound “I think really that probably was when finding again that effects pedal in the drawer somewhere and blowing the dust off and before you know it, you’ve got that lick.”

Alex Turner can be seen with his Mu-tron Micro V envelope filter/auto wah during Arctic Monkeys live performance at Studio Brussels in October 2022. Pictured, you can see the pedal on his pedalboard above his Coopersonic Valveslapper. This pedal can be heard live while Alex is playing tracks off the bands 7th LP, The Car, such as “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I am” and “Jet Skis On The Moat.” While not the original auto wah pedal Alex used during the tour/recording, which was the Guyatone PS-104 Crossbox, Turner switched to this pedal around the time of this live performance due to unknown reasons.

The Mu-Tron Micro V is a “advanced envelope-controlled filter device designed specifically for the musician who wants the touch-controlled wah effect” with a solid state circuit and filter range switch. The Micro V also contains a continuously-variable filter-range/sensitivity control. This pedal is more modern and offers more flexibility than the previous envelope filter pedal that Alex used, which may be why he switched, again, the reason is unknown. Though both pedals feature amazing tones and work perfectly with these new sounds Alex is using on tour/recording sessions.

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 used a vintage Jennings Electronic Industries J40 1968-1973 around the time of their second album for recording and touring. The amp can be seen in pictures of the tour and recording of Favourite Worst Nightmare, and had not been seen until Arctic Monkeys released the video "Warp Speed Chic,” which is a video about the recording of Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino. This could allow the assumption that this amp was also used on the recording of this album.

In common with the Jennings J100 (and the Vox solid state line), the J40 had a three position mid-range boost switch, position "0" being off, the other three (1-3) switching in an inductor and capacitor network to provide different resonances. Speakers are Celestion alnico's, T1096s, wired in parallel for a total impedance of 15ohms.

Alex Turner is seen playing his Epiphone Coronet pictured during this live performance on The Late Show. Turner debut this new guitar during recording and live performances for songs off of Arctic Monkeys 7th LP “The Car” and can be heard on songs such as Body Paint and Mr.Schwartz.

The Coronet features many attributes Turner seems geared toward in his guitars such as a lone bridge pickup, reminiscent of his old Fender Bronco and pickups similar to his often used Jazzmaster. The guitar was first seen being used by Turner during their live show in Brooklyn, New York City, at Kings Theatre.

The Epiphone Coronet was first introduced in 1958 and was one of their most popular and successful guitars during that era. That being said, it can be concluded that Alex’s model is a vintage model rather than a reissue, due to the headstocks being different than the modern version. Mostly all of Turners amplifiers are vintage and quite a few of his guitars and other gear are too.

Alex uses the Korg synthesizer to play "I wanna be yours" on the 2023 tour. He also presumably used it for the recording of the car

In the music video for "There’d Better Be a Mirrorball" by Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner can be seen using a vintage Melodium RM6 ribbon microphone, as well as an Altec Lansing 650. Additionally, in an episode of the "Hanging Out With Audiophiles" podcast, Arctic Monkeys' producer James Ford states: "I always do like a center kinda crotch mic, sort of above the kick pedal pointed at the snare. And often you can get a great sort of one mic sound with that, or that and a kick drum sometimes. And at the minute I’ve got these. I always get worried about saying too much about these, because then the price will go up, but these Melodium mics are f-ing brilliant. These are old French ribbons modelled on a 44 or something like that, but it’s much smaller and more compact. And really, I’ve been using them a lot. We did all the lead vocals for the Arctic Monkeys through one of those. It was actually Al Turner, who came up to me with that mic, and then kinda bought a bunch of them, they’re awesome, they’re really cool.”

Jamie Cook can be seen playing a Gibson Firebird during the music video for Arctic Monkeys single “Body Paint” off of their 7th Studio LP The Car. This is the first time Jamie has been seen playing this guitar, though not used live for the song, it fits in well with the type of guitars he typically uses as he favors Gibsons the most.

It can’t be determined if this is a modern reissue of the Firebird or if it is a vintage model. Jamie uses more modern gear than Alex Turner and Nick O’Malley, leading it it being more likely a modern model of the Gibson. The Firebird features three Humbuckers leading to more tonality than other Gibsons, the guitar could have been used to record the track.

Cook can be seen using a Hohner Symphonic 30N Tube Organ at 1:00 of this live performance of "The Car."

Jamie Cook plays the Hohner Symphonic 30N organ during Arctic Monkeys' performance of "The Car" on BBC Music's "Later with Jools Holland."

Jamie Cook's guitar amps were each mic'ed with Audio-Technica AT4047/SV for The Car tour.

In this YouTube video showing Arctic Monkeys producing their song "Opening Night" at Abbey Road Studios, Tom Rowley (bottom right) is seen at 0:29 with the Electro-Harmonix EH-7700 Polychorus.

Tom Rowley has been seen using a Black Fender Mustang, specifically a Vintage 1964 Pre-CBS Offset model, during performances of songs from 'The Car.' This guitar features a distinct electronic system compared to the standard Fender Mustang. You can see him playing this guitar live at the 'Late Night Berlin Music Special' around the 9:23 mark.

Tom Rowley used the Gibson Les Paul Deluxe during performances of "Fireside" on the Arctic Monkeys' TBHC tour, as seen in Edvin Arleskär's YouTube video of their live show at Royal Arena, Copenhagen, on June 27, 2018. Later, Alex Turner utilized the same guitar during the Car era for studio recordings, the "Body Paint" music video, and performances of "I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am."

In this YouTube video showing Arctic Monkeys producing their song "Opening Night" at Abbey Road Studios, Tom Rowley (top right) is seen at 0:29 with the Sola Sound Tone Bender MKIII.

Matt Helders, the drummer for Arctic Monkeys, is confirmed to have utilized a Ludwig Classic Maple drum set in a Silver Sparkle finish during "The Car" tour in 2023. This is evidenced by a photograph capturing Helders performing with the said drum kit. Prior to this, in 2022, he was noted for playing a Gold Sparkle variant of the Ludwig Classic Maple kit, indicating his preference for Ludwig drums throughout the "The Car" tour. This transition underscores his evolving aesthetic and functional choices in musical gear over consecutive years.

In the music video for "There’d Better Be a Mirrorball" by Arctic Monkeys, Matt Helders can be seen using a vintage Melodium RM6 ribbon microphone (at 3:05). Additionally, in an episode of the "Hanging Out With Audiophiles" podcast, Arctic Monkeys' producer James Ford states: "I always do like a center kinda crotch mic, sort of above the kick pedal pointed at the snare. And often you can get a great sort of one mic sound with that, or that and a kick drum sometimes. And at the minute I’ve got these. I always get worried about saying too much about these, because then the price will go up, but these Melodium mics are f-ing brilliant. These are old French ribbons modeled on a 44 or something like that, but it’s much smaller and more compact. And really, I’ve been using them a lot. We did all the lead vocals for the Arctic Monkeys through one of those. It was actually Al Turner, who came up to me with that mic, and then kinda bought a bunch of them, they’re awesome, they’re really cool.”

In the music video for Arctic Monkey's There’d Better Be A Mirrorball, at approximately 1:16, Nick O'Malley can be seen playing a Höfner 500/1 Bass guitar.