Andy Partridge

Andy for Guitar Player Magazine in 1999: "I toured with my '75 Ibanez Artist for years, and did so many sweaty gigs, the metal parts on it are totally corroded. It looks like they've been sandblasted. I had all the metal replaced, but the little piece that surrounds the pickup-selector toggle got overlooked. It looks like it's been at the bottom of the sea since Tudor times. But I resurrected the Ibanez, and now it's my main electric again".

Partidge can be seen playing an Eko Ranger 6 acoustic throughout the 'Towers Of London' video. Dave Gregory of XTC also states that 'Until the recording of the English Settlement album in 1981, XTC's acoustic guitar tracks had been done on a cheap Italian-made Eko Ranger'

Written for Fano Guitars. Performed by Andy Partridge. Produced and engineered by Andy Partridge. Released on the Fano Guitars website in MP3 format. Released on 7 July 2003 on Fuzzy Warbles Volume Four in the U.K.

Andy: “Über guitar maker of the Gods, Dennis Fano, offered to make me a guitar of my own design. The result of our star crossed marriage was nicknamed ‘Plankenstein’ and is a beautious beast. So, I wrote him a jingle for his web site. He's good. www.fanoguitars.com”

Minute 7:52

XTC - Rockpalast (February 10, 1982)

Andy is playing is 1976 Ibanez 2619 Artist (Anitque Violin finish)

Note: Ibanez 2619 was introduced in 1976. It has a unique singular phase switch, Mother of Pearl binding, Cursive Ibanez logo, Les Paul style bridge and tailpiece, and older Tulip style tuners.

Also seen here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/465278205236962949/

http://chalkhills.org/reelbyreal/a_CoatOfManyCupboards.html#prettyPhoto[group]/19/

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=91964

Andy's amp is a Session 70 (“the cheapest thing in the shop”), although in the studio he covets Dave's 40-watt 1963 Fender Super Reverb. “I'm pretty much compression crazy,” he admits, “putting the compression before the amp. You can crank it up and get a smoother shape. On this record, I recorded a lot of echoes as part of the rhythm. There's some E-bow on ‘The Ugly Underneath’ — that high, spooky, dissonant orchestral stuff. My acoustic is a Martin D-35. I don't really have a head for gear. I mean, I've written albums on 5-string guitars because I was too lazy to put another string on! Dave is the real equipment guy. You and him can talk dirty about guitars.”

Took a trip over to Swindon UK to give Andy Partridge from XTC a new custom 10" combo for recording. This is basically has the Small Block Series preamplifier and then the RFC output using a 6973 Pentode (Think Supro Thunderbolt meets Wavelength craziness). This little 5-8W amplifier has the full tone bank with dual level controls to go from clean to dirty in a few strokes. There is also a 1/2 power switch, speaker off switch and a transformer coupled DI output. It was great to meet Andy and Erica. I think Andy really liked the amplifier and Kelly and I hope it will lead to some new tunes.

He may (or may not) be the Mayor of Simpleton, but Andy Partridge knows one thing: The Roland PG-1000 programmer that goes with his D-50 confuses the hell out of him. "I'm not a very logical person," Partridge declares, and the PG-1000 "is aggressively logical and it rather upsets me." Until he figures it out, he's happier with a "tiny little Yamaha sampler" that he used for songwriting until recently. He seems to be having more fun with a new toy, a Alesis HR-16 drum machine. Partridge records home demos on a 1982-vintage Tascam Portastudio; for that purpose he keeps a "fizzy" Session MKII amp -- "not fantastic". He was impressed with a Fender Stage Lead he played through during the Oranges and Lemons rehearsals. Oops, guitars: Until '82 he played an Ibanez Artist exclusively, but that changed when he got a Fender Telecaster Squier -- "it has a nice clangorous tone" -- that's his current electric one-and-only. On the acoustic side, Partridge has played his Martin D-35 on all XTC albums dating from English Settlement. He also has a small Yamaha acoustic for "twanging" purposes, and a "Woolworth's" bass guitar (no name on the head) with a "very unusual tuba-like tone to it." Guitar strings are D'Addario or Ernie Ball Regular Slinky. Other gear: Korg DDD-1 drum machine, Yamaha D1500 digital delay, Alesis MIDIverb, Hitachi boom box. He has PG Tips teabags but prefers coffee.

My acoustic is a Martin D-35. I don't really have a head for gear. I mean, I've written albums on 5-string guitars because I was too lazy to put another string on! Dave is the real equipment guy. You and him can talk dirty about guitars.”

I've recently brought it back from the dead, and I played it mostly on Nonsuch — plus my usual Squier Telecaster, my main guitar since 1983.”

XTC - Senses Working Overtime (1982) (HQ) Playing an Ovation Folklore 1614-4

Andy's Tweet about his "trashcan Mac."

XTC and Andy PARTRIDGE and Colin MOULDING, Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding performing live onstage

January 04, 1979

Andy playing a Les Paul Standard

Photo of XTC and Andy PARTRIDGE and Terry CHAMBERS, Andy Partridge and Terry Chambers performing live onstage

December 03, 1980

Andy playing Les Paul Custom

This article states that Andy used a Roland D-50 with PG-1000 programmer on the XTC album "Oranges and Lemons."

He may (or may not) be the Mayor of Simpleton, but Andy Partridge knows one thing: The Roland PG-1000 programmer that goes with his D-50 confuses the hell out of him. "I'm not a very logical person," Partridge declares, and the PG-1000 "is aggressively logical and it rather upsets me." Until he figures it out, he's happier with a "tiny little Yamaha sampler" that he used for songwriting until recently. He seems to be having more fun with a new toy, a Alesis HR-16 drum machine. Partridge records home demos on a 1982-vintage Tascam Portastudio; for that purpose he keeps a "fizzy" Session MKII amp -- "not fantastic". He was impressed with a Fender Stage Lead he played through during the Oranges and Lemons rehearsals. Oops, guitars: Until '82 he played an Ibanez Artist exclusively, but that changed when he got a Fender Telecaster Squier -- "it has a nice clangorous tone" -- that's his current electric one-and-only. On the acoustic side, Partridge has played his Martin D-35 on all XTC albums dating from English Settlement. He also has a small Yamaha acoustic for "twanging" purposes, and a "Woolworth's" bass guitar (no name on the head) with a "very unusual tuba-like tone to it." Guitar strings are D'Addario or Ernie Ball Regular Slinky. Other gear: Korg DDD-1 drum machine, Yamaha D1500 digital delay, Alesis MIDIverb, Hitachi boom box. He has PG Tips teabags but prefers coffee.

"Guitar strings are D'Addario or Ernie Ball Regular Slinky."

He may (or may not) be the Mayor of Simpleton, but Andy Partridge knows one thing: The Roland PG-1000 programmer that goes with his D-50 confuses the hell out of him. "I'm not a very logical person," Partridge declares, and the PG-1000 "is aggressively logical and it rather upsets me." Until he figures it out, he's happier with a "tiny little Yamaha sampler" that he used for songwriting until recently. He seems to be having more fun with a new toy, a Alesis HR-16 drum machine. Partridge records home demos on a 1982-vintage Tascam Portastudio; for that purpose he keeps a "fizzy" Session MKII amp -- "not fantastic". He was impressed with a Fender Stage Lead he played through during the Oranges and Lemons rehearsals. Oops, guitars: Until '82 he played an Ibanez Artist exclusively, but that changed when he got a Fender Telecaster Squier -- "it has a nice clangorous tone" -- that's his current electric one-and-only. On the acoustic side, Partridge has played his Martin D-35 on all XTC albums dating from English Settlement. He also has a small Yamaha acoustic for "twanging" purposes, and a "Woolworth's" bass guitar (no name on the head) with a "very unusual tuba-like tone to it." Guitar strings are D'Addario or Ernie Ball Regular Slinky. Other gear: Korg DDD-1 drum machine, Yamaha D1500 digital delay, Alesis MIDIverb, Hitachi boom box. He has PG Tips teabags but prefers coffee.

Andy: "We got our Mellotron for £250 a few years ago — they're very much in neglect. This one has, I expect, had its fair share of being bucked on stage by members of King Crimson during 25-minute versions of 'Devil's Triangle'. I put this song together all on the Mellotron, but I've had the tune knocking about for ages and would bash it out on piano whenever we were in the studio — it's vaguely reminiscent of 'Marjorine' by Joe Cocker, for some reason. So I built this thing up on the Mellotron, and it reminded me of the seaside, especially the seaside in winter when everything's shut up."

In a live performance video titled "XTC Berg en Bosch Apeldoorn 8-1980," Andy Partridge of XTC is seen using a Shure SM58 microphone.

He may (or may not) be the Mayor of Simpleton, but Andy Partridge knows one thing: The Roland PG-1000 programmer that goes with his D-50 confuses the hell out of him. "I'm not a very logical person," Partridge declares, and the PG-1000 "is aggressively logical and it rather upsets me." Until he figures it out, he's happier with a "tiny little Yamaha sampler" that he used for songwriting until recently. He seems to be having more fun with a new toy, a Alesis HR-16 drum machine. Partridge records home demos on a 1982-vintage Tascam Portastudio; for that purpose he keeps a "fizzy" Session MKII amp -- "not fantastic". He was impressed with a Fender Stage Lead he played through during the Oranges and Lemons rehearsals. Oops, guitars: Until '82 he played an Ibanez Artist exclusively, but that changed when he got a Fender Telecaster Squier -- "it has a nice clangorous tone" -- that's his current electric one-and-only. On the acoustic side, Partridge has played his Martin D-35 on all XTC albums dating from English Settlement. He also has a small Yamaha acoustic for "twanging" purposes, and a "Woolworth's" bass guitar (no name on the head) with a "very unusual tuba-like tone to it." Guitar strings are D'Addario or Ernie Ball Regular Slinky. Other gear: Korg DDD-1 drum machine, Yamaha D1500 digital delay, Alesis MIDIverb, Hitachi boom box. He has PG Tips teabags but prefers coffee.

Andy: "We used Prophet for the bell sounds, Dave's new JX3P for some bell sounds too, and we used a Yamaha CP80 electric grand as well, DI'd and mixed through a Roland chorus amp. Colin wasn't too fussed about putting a bass on it, so it went on last, just a few crunchy notes here and there. But for most of the time the 'bass' is the Yamaha electric grand's bottom notes. There's also an Emulator cello near the end, very low down."

Andy: "The song was written because I was messing around with a Melos echo Dave lent me, a real Nuremburg rally of an echo, the sort of thing Hitler would have under his podium. I got this jittery rhythm from chopping chords into the echo rate, accidentally really."

Andy: "The demo I did on my Portastudio, I couldn't get a brass band into my bedroom, so I did it on kazoos. We couldn't get a brass band in time for the studio recording either, so we did it on Emulator with whatever discs we happened to have — not so much brass band as a mixture of various saxophones and classical horns. Dave really liked the demo's kazoos so we also put double-tracked kazoos on the brass parts."

Andy Partridge's approach to gear is as irreverent as his philosophy: “Most of my guitars have been phenomenally crap, like a Futurama guitar I had painted leopard skin. I had a Singapore guitar called a Sway Lee Goldentone — one of those really badly made guitars that as you go down the fretboard towards the nut end it gets wider! I had a homemade Flying V that was four times too thick. It was like a couple of railway slivers joined at the hip. I did White Music and Go 2 with a 1975 Ibanez Artist. I've recently brought it back from the dead, and I played it mostly on Nonsuch — plus my usual Squier Telecaster, my main guitar since 1983.”

Andy's amp is a Session 70 (“the cheapest thing in the shop”), although in the studio he covets Dave's 40-watt 1963 Fender Super Reverb. “I'm pretty much compression crazy,” he admits, “putting the compression before the amp. You can crank it up and get a smoother shape. On this record, I recorded a lot of echoes as part of the rhythm. There's some E-bow on ‘The Ugly Underneath’ — that high, spooky, dissonant orchestral stuff. My acoustic is a Martin D-35. I don't really have a head for gear. I mean, I've written albums on 5-string guitars because I was too lazy to put another string on! Dave is the real equipment guy. You and him can talk dirty about guitars.”

Andy Partridge's approach to gear is as irreverent as his philosophy: “Most of my guitars have been phenomenally crap, like a Futurama guitar I had painted leopard skin. I had a Singapore guitar called a Sway Lee Goldentone — one of those really badly made guitars that as you go down the fretboard towards the nut end it gets wider! I had a homemade Flying V that was four times too thick. It was like a couple of railway slivers joined at the hip. I did White Music and Go 2 with a 1975 Ibanez Artist. I've recently brought it back from the dead, and I played it mostly on Nonsuch — plus my usual Squier Telecaster, my main guitar since 1983.”

Andy's amp is a Session 70 (“the cheapest thing in the shop”), although in the studio he covets Dave's 40-watt 1963 Fender Super Reverb. “I'm pretty much compression crazy,” he admits, “putting the compression before the amp. You can crank it up and get a smoother shape. On this record, I recorded a lot of echoes as part of the rhythm. There's some E-bow on ‘The Ugly Underneath’ — that high, spooky, dissonant orchestral stuff. My acoustic is a Martin D-35. I don't really have a head for gear. I mean, I've written albums on 5-string guitars because I was too lazy to put another string on! Dave is the real equipment guy. You and him can talk dirty about guitars.”

In a 2024 interview from Guitar World, when asked what amps he used on Nonsuch:

"I can tell you exactly what I used: a solid-state amp. I used to use big Marshall amps, but I got rid of them because when XTC came off the road, we had shockingly large freight bills from dragging all this heavy shit back from the States.

All my stuff was locked up until I’d paid the bill, and we didn’t have the money, so I got rid of two Les Pauls and my Marshalls. Instead I treated myself to a solid-state amp, the same that Eric Clapton used, called a Sessionnette 75, made by Session."

The Sessionette amp was a 2x12 combo version, and can be seen on Gus Dudgeon's studio videos from the Nonsuch sessions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T11vkHm2f8), most clearly at 3:30 where the back of the amp with the large "Sessionette 75" lettering can be seen)