James Honeyman-Scott

According to an interview by Jas Obrecht for Guitar Player magazine, conducted January 29, 1981, Honeyman-Scott used bandmate, Chrissie Hynde's white telecaster often:

"She's got two Telecasters - a little white one and a metallic green one. And the white one is just one of the most fantastic guitars ever made. I love using that. I use it as much in the studio as possible."

The full in-depth interview is quite fantastic and can be found here:

http://jasobrecht.com/james-honeyman-scott-the-pretenders-qa/

Honeyman-Scott can be seen playing a Zemaitis at the 0:39 second mark of this video of the Pretenders performing "Talk Of The Town" live in 1980. At the time of his interview with Jas Obrecht of Guitar Player magazine, conducted January 29, 1981, Honeyman-Scott owned three Zemaitis guitars and a fourth was "on the way." These guitars were custom builds by Tony Zemaitis. Honeymoon-Scott was quite excited about the guitars. Obrecht's interview is quite fantastic. Here is the link:

http://jasobrecht.com/james-honeyman-scott-the-pretenders-qa/

Honeyman-Scott can be seen playing his pink three-pickup Gibson Firebird at the 1:35 mark in this Top Of The Pops video for the Pretenders song, "Kid." In his 1981 Guitar Player magazine interview with Jas Obrecht, Honeyman-Scott stated that he also owned a '63 single-pickup Firebird.

I'm not sure if the year is correct, but the model appears to be. Honeyman-Scott can be seen playing his Gibson ES-335 at the 1:45 mark of this Pretenders live performance for "Brass In Pocket." In his 1981 Guitar Player magazine interview with Jas Obrecht, Honeyman-Scott stated he acquired a 335 when he was 16. According to statements in the interview, during recording sessions for The Pretenders' debut album, Honeyman-Scott multi-tracked the solo bridge on "Mystery Achievement" with his 335 and Chrissie Hynde also "borrowed" his 335 to track her guitar part for the song, "Kid".

Honeyman-Scott can be seen playing a Rickenbacker throughout this video for The Pretenders song, "Message Of Love." In his 1981 Guitar Player magazine interview with Jas Obrecht, Honeyman-Scott lists "a Rickenbacker 12-string" among his guitar collection.

JHS can be seen playing this guitar throughout this rare video. One of the only times he appeared to use it live.

The guitar can be seen from 0:34. Another model rarely seen in live performances.

The staccato sound heard at the end of the solo on the Pretenders’ “Tattooed Love Boys” is a direct descendent of Townshend’s trick, and it was performed with aplomb by the late James Honeyman-Scott on his Les Paul. Meanwhile, his Hamer Sunburst had the switch behind the bridge, but Honeyman-Scott carried on regardless. (This effect, accomplished by quickly moving the selector, requires that one pickup is turned off.)

He's been seen with so many different guitars, it hard to keep track.

His guitar signal runs to three Boss pedals - a chorus, an overdrive, and a compressor. From there it goes to one of three 100-watt Marshalls (the other two are spares): "I always play with the guitar flat out, and I set the level as it would be for a live rhythm sound. Then if it comes to showing off and doing a solo, I flip on the overdrive. I like a really loud rhythm sound."

According to the 1981 Jas Obrecht interview with James Honeyman-Scott, the Electro-Harmnoix Clone Theory pedal was a vital part of the guitar sound on The Pretenders debut album. See interview link for full, in-depth details.

"And I’m now using the old Boss pedals."

(Trace your signal from the guitar to the amp.)

It goes through three Boss pedals, the little ones that have got noiseless switches. They come in pretty colors. I’ve got a blue one, a green one... [laughs]. I’ve got a chorus, an overdrive, and a compressor. I don’t have a harmonizer, but I think I’ll get one.

"I'm using the old Boss pedals now."

(Trace your signal from the guitar to the amp.)

"It goes through three Boss pedals, the little ones that have got noiseless switches. They come in pretty colors. I’ve got a blue one, a green one [laughs]. I’ve got a chorus, an overdrive, and a compressor. I don’t have a harmonizer, but I think I’ll get one."

His guitar signal runs to three Boss pedals - a chorus, an overdrive, and a compressor. From there it goes to one of three 100-watt Marshalls (the other two are spares): "I always play with the guitar flat out, and I set the level as it would be for a live rhythm sound. Then if it comes to showing off and doing a solo, I flip on the overdrive. I like a really loud rhythm sound."

Trace your signal from the guitar to the amp.

It goes through three Boss pedals – the little ones that have got noiseless switches. They come in pretty colors. I’ve got a blue one, a green one [laughs]. I’ve got a chorus, an overdrive, and a compressor. I don’t have a harmonizer, but I think I’ll get one. I think I’ll try one onstage. Pete, the bass player, uses one. And then I go right to the amps. I’ve got three 100-watt Marshalls and three 4×12 cabs, but two of those are spare, I think. I just go through the one. They mike that, and what happens is, I always play with the guitar flat-out, and I set the level as it would be for a loud rhythm sound. And then if it comes to showing off and doing a solo, I just flip on an overdrive. That’s how I like to work it. I like a really loud rhythm sound.