James Mercer

In a performance for 101.9 KINK.FM's Bing Lounge, James Mercer of The Shins is seen playing a Gibson J-45.

1. Tell us something about James Mercer that you've discovered since joining the band...

Recently I've learned that James has an equal fondness for both his Les Paul Junior (I believe that's what it is) and his Guild Starfire. Possibly troubling to him. He also has a peculiar particularity in song production that most often translates into an interesting, irresistible piece of music. James likes to work. He likes to create things, finish them and move on. He does not rest on his laurels. This is the main reason I enjoy working with him. If we're breathing, we should be making something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyNf_DNbRxY

heres him using it on letterman

In a feature from philly-archives, James Mercer is shown playing a T52 Telecaster while performing with Broken Bells.

2:20 on the video shows a decent angle. Many live performances on YouTube show him playing that same fender amp, and it looks like a Deluxe Reverb from most angles

In this video, you can see James Mercer's Gibson Custom 1960 Les Paul Special Double Cutaway. Mercer is known to play a worn yellow Gibson Les Paul Double Cutaway and he's been using this guitar since early's 2006's

What am I doing, it's just this mic, this SM 57 plugged into this thing," you know.

In an interview with Tape Op Magazine, James Mercer of The Shins mentions purchasing the UA 6176 and the HHB Radius 10, highlighting the significant impact these pieces of gear had on his recording process.

Also, I did use a Roland VS- 840, the very first Roland digital recorder. It was a 6-track. So I used that for the drums. Then I would transfer them onto my HP one track at a time — I had to manually sync them all up. I had to run it through the card that only had two inputs.

Mercer can be seen playing a Gibson Les Paul Junior Exclusive in this photo.

Halfway through I bought a 24-bit Digital Audio Labs soundcard, and I also bought this Rode NT-1 mic, which blew my mind.

Used for the recording of "Chutes Too Narrow".

A few of the songs were just done, recorded entirely in the basement, using the equipment I bought, which also included a Digi 001

Mentioned on the official product page.

Thanks to its straightforward controls and hallmark sound, the 6176 is the signal path of choice for engineering heavyweights like Vance Powell and Joe Chiccarelli, plus artists including Chris Martin of Coldplay, Norah Jones, Wyclef Jean, and James Mercer of The Shins.