Chris Summerlin

Mentioned in this April 2013 interview from QRD #61.

Dislikes: aside from the obvious stuff like “tone-lawyer” relic guitars that cost thousands of dollars, I’ve never really got on with Gibson guitars. I had a nice one (an ES135) that I recorded with a lot, but I never really bonded with it or felt right with it. I have friends with Gibsons that I really like so maybe I just haven’t found the right one (at the right price).

Mentioned in this April 2013 interview from QRD #61.

QRD – What’s your main guitar & what are the features that make it such?

Chris – At the moment it’s a 70s Univox Hi Flier. I went to Texas in 2007 & stayed with a friend over there & he had one & I just loved it straight away. The necks are really slim, the whole guitar weighs nothing & feels perfect for me (& they look cool & they’re pretty cheap). I helped him out of a tricky situation a few years later & to say thanks he bought me one from Nashville Craigslist, which was amazing of him. Last year I got another one from Brooklyn when my girlfriend was on holiday there. I just saw it online back home in the UK & it was 2 blocks from where she was staying so I took it as an omen. It was a bit of a nail, but I got Xperience Guitars in Nottingham to totally rebuild it. They did an incredible job & that’s the one I use the most at the moment in Grey Hairs & just generally. For Kogumaza I use a 70s Japanese SG copy. I got it off Ebay in about 2001 from a guy in Birmingham for 110 quid. It had the unbranded John Birch pickup in it when I got it & it’s a bit of a mystery. I tried to find out where it came from & John Diggins (who worked with John Birch) said it was a special order for an artist (hence it’s unbranded). I’m hoping Tony Iommi or Dave Hill, but I’ll never know.

I play bass for my friend Dusty Bible too. At the moment I’m using his violin bass from the 70s. I have a 70s Epiphone but it’s being restored at the moment - another “£100 to buy / £200 to restore” classic money-pit purchase from me. Both are short scale as I have the tiny hands of a child.

QRD – If you had a signature guitar, what would it look like & what would some of its features be?

Chris – I’d be pretty happy with anything that had a bolt-on neck, was nice & resonant but not super heavy, thin & shallow neck profile, decent bridge & high output pickups like P90s. Just one volume & tone. I like the slightly reversed Mosrite shape as well, so I guess what I am saying is: a Univox Hi Flier with all the faults ironed out. A Mosrite, basically.

Mentioned in this April 2013 interview from QRD #61.

QRD – What have been the best & worst guitar related purchases you’ve made?

Chris – Best, financially, were buying Travis Bean guitars pre-Ebay. You could pick them up so cheaply & it was fun to hunt them down. I ended up selling mine for a big profit & it pretty much cleared the debts I had at the time. No regrets. I bought a 70s Telecaster Deluxe as well when they were still quite cheap & I still have that & it’s a beautiful thing.