Television – Television
The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 1992 album Television.
Music from Television
Artists on Television
Gear Used On Television
Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Television – Television (1992). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.
Richard Lloyd
Roles:
Amplifiers used by Richard Lloyd on Television
Avg price: $900.00
In this photo of Lloyd's rig from a solo tour you can't miss the Supro 1x15" combo amplifier next to one of his distinctively painted 62RI Stratocasters. Additionally, a Guitar Player Magazine interview in 1993 stated "Lloyd tends a stable of vintage Fender amps, including a '50 Deluxe, a '52 Pro, a '55 Tremolux, and a '56 Princeton. He also uses a '59 Ampeg Jet, a Vibraverb reissue, and a '65 Supro." That would be the 1x15" pictured here which, if it is genuinely a 65, can only be the notorious Thunderbolt Bass Amplifier. The amplifier is explicitly confirmed, however, by the following sources:
Guitar Player, December 2009, "'Scuse me while I hit this guy: Why Jimi Hendrix punched Television's Richard Lloyd – and why he didn’t mind" by Charles M. Young (published online on May 13, 2024)
The four of us—me, Richard, drummer Billy Ficca and bassist Keith Hartel—were riding in a Honda compact SUV. Even with the clubs furnishing the “backline” (bass amp and most of the drum kit), the car was dangerously overloaded, with two Stratocasters, two Precision basses, an ancient Supro Thunderbolt amplifier, Billy’s snare and cymbals and kick-drum pedal, all our bags, souvenirs that Richard bought in every truck stop, half-consumed bottles of prescription and nonprescription medicine that Richard bought in every drug store, half-consumed bottles of herbal elixirs that Richard bought in every New Age emporium, and a boggling array of books on occult weirdness, brain science and the sexual habits of tribal peoples around the world.
[...]
The Jamie Neverts Story is a great album. All the guitars were recorded through Richard’s Supro Thunderbolt, which is turned up to 10 for a taste of distortion, though most of the tones are pretty clean. You can hear the lyricism that sometimes gets buried in the guitar wash on Jimi’s own albums. There are minimal overdubs, just Jimi’s slashing style married with Richard’s slashing style.
Facebook, Supro, September 21, 2017
Richard Lloyd from legendary NYC band Television (band), with his trusty Supro Thunderbolt!
Premier Guitar, "Richard Lloyd: The Alchemist" by Tzvi Gluckin (December 25, 2018)
**Do you get your gain from letting the amp break up naturally?
Yeah. I mean, I am using some pedals live and I have been for a number of years. Lately, I’ve been using a Supro reissue. For a while I was using a Thunderbolt, and now I’m using a Black Magick. They break up pretty good, pretty early. You can pretty much get your tone out of the amp. I had about eight of them at one time. I sold a bunch off in the ’90s, but I kept my ’65 Thunderbolt. I’ve kept a number of others. They’re numbered; I don’t know the names of them. I am a big fan of Supro.
That’s what you’re using on those first two Television records?
On the third one [1992’s Television]. For instance, the solo on “Call Mr. Lee”—that’s through my Supro ’65 Thunderbolt, straight in, turned all the way up.
Avg price: $550.00
Known from the following sources:
Musician, December 1986, "Richard Lloyd" by Bill Flanagan, pg. 26
"I'm getting some little Ampeg amps, like the Jet. You don't need a pedal or anything for it—it's just a beautiful sound."
Guitar Player, January 1993, "Back on the Air: The Return of Television" by James Rotondi
Lloyd tends a stable of vintage Fender amps, including a '50 Deluxe, a '52 Pro, a '55 Tremolux, and a '56 Princeton. He also uses a '59 Ampeg Jet, a Vibraverb reissue, and a '65 Supro. Live, he relies on Vox AC30s: "You can change the current wherever you are without a transformer, so they're good the world over, and they have a nice high-end bite."
Premier Guitar, "Richard Lloyd: The Alchemist" by Tzvi Gluckin (December 25, 2018)
Do you get your gain from letting the amp break up naturally?
Yeah. I mean, I am using some pedals live and I have been for a number of years. Lately, I’ve been using a Supro reissue. For a while I was using a Thunderbolt, and now I’m using a Black Magick. They break up pretty good, pretty early. You can pretty much get your tone out of the amp. I had about eight of them at one time. I sold a bunch off in the ’90s, but I kept my ’65 Thunderbolt. I’ve kept a number of others. They’re numbered; I don’t know the names of them. I am a big fan of Supro.
That’s what you’re using on those first two Television records?
On the third one [1992’s Television]. For instance, the solo on “Call Mr. Lee”—that’s through my Supro ’65 Thunderbolt, straight in, turned all the way up.
What were you using earlier?
We started with Fender Supers and then we switched. In the studio, I was using Danelectro/Sears/Silvertone amps. We had a number of amps. One song had an Ampeg Jet. It’s a small amp, but you don’t need a large amp to sound big in the studio.