Ian McNabb

Ian McNabb playing a Telecaster during a live performance with Icicle Works

Ian McNabb, known for his work with Icicle Works, owned a Gretsch White Falcon Semi-Hollow Guitar, as detailed in a Worthpoint listing from 1980.

“Hi folks, I'm selling my 1983 360-12 Rickenbacker guitar, as used on Love Is A Wonderful Colour, Hollow Horse and God know how many other records I've made over the years."

Ian McNabb uses a ten year old Fender Telecaster live, as he swears by its unshakeable tuning.

IAN: "It's got a good clean sound, with a lot of bite to it, and it's got a lot of grit as well. I really am a Fender man these days, as I've got a Fender Strat as well. But on the LP nearly all the good guitar bits are done on my Gretsch Tenessean; I was using Broudie's which I think is a Chet Atkins – I wouldn't put the Gretsch in a live situation as they go out of tune so easily, and there's too many combinations of knobs and pickups. When you're singing, you just want a guitar that you can click on, and away you go."

Ian McNabb uses a ten year old Fender Telecaster live, as he swears by its unshakeable tuning.

IAN: "It's got a good clean sound, with a lot of bite to it, and it's got a lot of grit as well. I really am a Fender man these days, as I've got a Fender Strat as well. But on the LP nearly all the good guitar bits are done on my Gretsch Tenessean; I was using Broudie's which I think is a Chet Atkins – I wouldn't put the Gretsch in a live situation as they go out of tune so easily, and there's too many combinations of knobs and pickups. When you're singing, you just want a guitar that you can click on, and away you go."

Ian McNabb talks in this interview about using a Yamaha RX11.

IAN: "Rickenbacker twelve string through a Rockman in stereo, and a Gretsch through Broudie's Roland Chorus amp for a real dirty sound, harmonised a bit and compressed to bring it right up front. That heavy solo is a Gretsch Country Gentleman, through an Acoustic G260 (which is mine) – about 120w into a 12in speaker, it's just great for live and dead reliable — through an HH VS100, and through something else as well. It was great, 'cos normally when you're doing a guitar part you get a long lead and sit in the control room. With that, you go in the studio, and just put everything on full – I had to wear two pairs of headphones to keep out the noise. That kind of thing you have to do in one take, because you just can't control it."

IAN: "That was done with a Roland TR808 – that was meant to be our clever Marvin Gaye thing, with that rhythm... like 'Sexual Healing'. But there's not really enough sex in it."

Ian: "The keyboards have always been there, and we've still got the same set-up we always had — a Logan string machine, most primitive — "

Chris: " — steam-powered — "

Ian: " — and a Korg 770: we still use both live. On the new album we used DX7s, a Prophet, real piano..."

Chris: "We tried to keep it to the minimum. We used the DX7 mainly for the Hammond sound through a Leslie cabinet. They're mainly frills, though."

Ian: "The keyboards have always been there, and we've still got the same set-up we always had — a Logan string machine, most primitive — "

Chris: " — steam-powered — "

Ian: " — and a Korg 770: we still use both live. On the new album we used DX7s, a Prophet, real piano..."

Chris: "We tried to keep it to the minimum. We used the DX7 mainly for the Hammond sound through a Leslie cabinet. They're mainly frills, though."

Ian: "The keyboards have always been there, and we've still got the same set-up we always had — a Logan string machine, most primitive — "

Chris: " — steam-powered — "

Ian: " — and a Korg 770: we still use both live. On the new album we used DX7s, a Prophet, real piano..."

Chris: "We tried to keep it to the minimum. We used the DX7 mainly for the Hammond sound through a Leslie cabinet. They're mainly frills, though."

Ian: "I use the Ibanez live (Ian didn't know the serial number, but research has shown it to be a gaffa-clad Musician), but I've also got a Tele, a Strat, a Gibson 345, a Yamaha SG, and a Gretsch Tennessean. With all the different kinds of music we do live, I have to have a guitar that can do everything reasonably well, that why I use the Ibanez. It's too much hassle changing guitars, as you can lose momentum. And if I move away from the mike, Chris starts telling jokes."

Ian: "I use the Ibanez live (Ian didn't know the serial number, but research has shown it to be a gaffa-clad Musician), but I've also got a Tele, a Strat, a Gibson 345, a Yamaha SG, and a Gretsch Tennessean. With all the different kinds of music we do live, I have to have a guitar that can do everything reasonably well, that why I use the Ibanez. It's too much hassle changing guitars, as you can lose momentum. And if I move away from the mike, Chris starts telling jokes."

"The amp I use is a Peavy TKO 80, which is absolute junk. I can't stand amplifiers with too many controls. I like to just be able to plug in, turn it on full, turn the treble up, turn the middle down, put a lot of bass on... I don't want to bother around. All you want is a good twang. Electric guitars need to be raw, not beautiful. You can work on a bass or a keyboard sound, but just shove a mike in front of a guitar amp, and that's it. They're raw by nature."