Paul Waaktaar-Savoy

Pal Waaktaar used strats the most often in the early days of A-ha. Here se can see him using one in concert from 1986 on the BBC. Probably one of the first publicized concerts where A-ha was actually playing live at their show (they did a round of pantomiming first as promo support prior).

I've seen Paul with 3 of these at least, a black one, a blue one, and a burst one.

Both Pal and Mags have been known to use Telecasters from time to time. Here is Paul (Pal) Waaktaaar playing a Tele in 1990.

It appears around 1993, their last album before their first split in 1993-1994 - which was also a very guitar heavy album for an A-ha record, that Paul got a taste for Gibsons here, as he's using an SG on the first song of the show "The Sun Always Shines on TV".

When A-ha came back around for the Analog album, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy started using a aged Olympic white vintage Fender Jazzmaster, such as in this live clip of the title track from that album.

Not much is known about this guitar beyond it's existance in the music video for "Take On Me". It's a standard issue Rickenbacker 345 (large body, 3 pickups, vibrato). For most of the Hunting High and Low tour Paul (Pal) was using Strats.

Top shelf, to the left, you see this one-knob orange pedal with a sun around the LED. That's the Analogman Juicer.

Paul began using this guitar in 2015 for a-ha's comeback Cast In Steel tour.

Used on the Hunting High And Low Live/Summer 2022 tours of a-ha.

The maker of the guitar posted this image stating that it is the Deja Vu.

It can clearly be seen in the rack in the photo. Confirmed picture of Paal's pedal rack.

Can clearly be seen in his pedal rack. The only red Witch pedal with that colour and knob configuration.

On the right side of the rack you see the MXR Carbon Copy in Paal Waaktaar-Savoy's pedal rack.

Lowest shelf, to the right. The knobs, color and words all line up to the Analog Man Sun Face on Paal Waaktaar-Savoy's pedal rack.

Easily spotted on the lowest shelf of Paal Waaktaar-Savoy's pedal rack, you see the Stereo Deluxe Memory Man from EHX.

This photo shows Paul playing the Ike Everly (number unknown, either #17 or #19 of 57) at a 2010 a-ha concert. Paul was gifted one of these guitars by Steinegger in 1987 as were the other members of a-ha.

Paul uses a Telecaster Thinline on this 1988 Top Of The Pops performance with a-ha, he is also seen using this guitar on some photos from the Cast In Steel tour.

Paul programmed a LinnDrum for most of a-ha's earliest demos and their debut album, Hunting High And Low.

"When they came to RG Jones, my equipment was already there,” adds Tarney. "This included a [Roland] Juno 60 that provided the song's main theme and which I still use, as well as a UMI computer system that a friend of mine put together, and which Vince Clark also used. That's what I used to drive the instruments, and there was a LinnDrum that Pål programmed. He was absolutely brilliant at doing that — I've never seen anyone as good as him at programming a Linn.”

This is somewhat ironic in light of Neill King's aforementioned statement that, since the Linn was already outdated, he and the band had opted to use the Synclavier.

"I was still using the Linn in conjunction with my UMI,” Tarney continues. "It worked for the boys and they loved that idea. It gave Pål the freedom to write these Linn Drum parts and he was brilliant at that. So, all of their musical ideas went through my equipment, and that meant I could then control the sounds that were being used and put them together exactly as I wanted them to be. There's a fine line between a demo and a record, but it's a crucial difference.

Paul began using a G-Sharp OF-1 in 2010, this photo shows him playing one at a 2010 a-ha concert in New York. He would also use this in studio and in the video for a-ha's 2010 single, Butterfly Butterfly.

Paul can be seen playing a Martin D-45 in this 2022 live video of a-ha.

During a concert in Mexico City in 2022, A-HA's guitar and principal songwriter can be seen using a Roland A-49 MIDI Keyboard Controller at the 4:05 Mark

In an interview with MusicRadar, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy of A-ha discusses using the Roland GR-300 Polyphonic Guitar Synthesizer during their early studio recordings.

In this picture Paul can be seen holding a Gibson ES-335

In the user-uploaded photo, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy is pictured holding a Yamaha SE700E electric guitar. While waiting for the Yamaha SE700E to be added to the database, it is currently listed as the SE612.

This pedal can be seen in one of Pauls instagram posts

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy uses the Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp, as seen in multiple live performances, including the a-ha concert from 2009 documented by Alexis Murzuphle on YouTube.

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy used the Danelectro DB604 Black Burst guitar during select performances of the Minor Earth Major Sky Tour (2000–2001) , as confirmed by Equipboard.

In this photo Paul can be seen playing this Ibanez Roadstar II RG525

This pedal can be seen in one of Pauls instagram posts of his setup

This pedal can be seen in one of Pauls instagram posts of his setup

This pedal can be seen in one of Pauls instagram posts of his setup