Matt Sweeney

Used for the solo on "Noses In Roses, Forever", as specified in this October 18, 2019 Twitter post.

The Peavey Decade amplifier I played this solo through goes for about $30.00 on the internet.

https://twitter.com/qotsa/status/1185281120209788928

In this photo, we can see Sweeney playing a black Gibson ES-335.

In this video, at 1:12, Sweeney is seen playing Gibson Les Paul Tribute.

In this photo, one can see Sweeney playing a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.

In this performance, Sweeney can be seen playing a Gibson SG Special Bass.

At around 0:48 in this video, one can see Sweeney playing a Fender Telecaster.

Throughout this video we can see Matt with a white Strat.

At 1:44 in this video, one can see Sweeney playing a Gibson Hummingbird.

Listed among Sweeney's gear in this April 1, 2021 Premier Guitar interview.

Guitars

• 1969 Martin D-18 (a gift from Neil Diamond)
• 1976 Gibson ES-335TD
• James Carbonetti Savagist Bo Diddley-style guitar

Amps

• Austen Hooks converted Bell & Howell projector amplifier
• Will Oldham's Music Man HD-130

Effects

• Nuñez Amplification Dual Range Boost
• Echopark F-1 Germanium Fuzz

Strings

• La Bella Jazz Flats (.012–.052)
• D'Addario flatwounds (.012–.052)

Listed among Sweeney's gear in this April 1, 2021 Premier Guitar interview.

Guitars

• 1969 Martin D-18 (a gift from Neil Diamond)
• 1976 Gibson ES-335TD
• James Carbonetti Savagist Bo Diddley-style guitar

Amps

• Austen Hooks converted Bell & Howell projector amplifier
• Will Oldham's Music Man HD-130

Effects

• Nuñez Amplification Dual Range Boost
• Echopark F-1 Germanium Fuzz

Strings

• La Bella Jazz Flats (.012–.052)
• D'Addario flatwounds (.012–.052)

In this video you can see Matt Sweeney using Gibson 70’s EB-3 Bass during the Iggy Pop Post-pop tour

Listed among Sweeney's gear in this April 1, 2021 Premier Guitar interview.

Guitars

• 1969 Martin D-18 (a gift from Neil Diamond)
• 1976 Gibson ES-335TD
• James Carbonetti Savagist Bo Diddley-style guitar

Amps

• Austen Hooks converted Bell & Howell projector amplifier
• Will Oldham's Music Man HD-130

Effects

• Nuñez Amplification Dual Range Boost
• Echopark F-1 Germanium Fuzz

Strings

• La Bella Jazz Flats (.012–.052)
• D'Addario flatwounds (.012–.052)

Listed among Sweeney's gear in this April 1, 2021 Premier Guitar interview. It can be seen in this February 17, 2021 Facebook post by Carbonetti Guitars.

Guitars

• 1969 Martin D-18 (a gift from Neil Diamond)
• 1976 Gibson ES-335TD
• James Carbonetti Savagist Bo Diddley-style guitar

Amps

• Austen Hooks converted Bell & Howell projector amplifier
• Will Oldham's Music Man HD-130

Effects

• Nuñez Amplification Dual Range Boost
• Echopark F-1 Germanium Fuzz

Strings

• La Bella Jazz Flats (.012–.052)
• D'Addario flatwounds (.012–.052)

Listed among Sweeney's gear in this April 1, 2021 Premier Guitar interview.

Guitars

• 1969 Martin D-18 (a gift from Neil Diamond)
• 1976 Gibson ES-335TD
• James Carbonetti Savagist Bo Diddley-style guitar

Amps

• Austen Hooks converted Bell & Howell projector amplifier
• Will Oldham's Music Man HD-130

Effects

• Nuñez Amplification Dual Range Boost
• Echopark F-1 Germanium Fuzz

Strings

• La Bella Jazz Flats (.012–.052)
• D'Addario flatwounds (.012–.052)

Gifted to Sweeney by Neil Diamond. It is featured in this January 9, 2018 MONO Blog interview, mentioned in this January 22, 2018 Acoustic Guitar interview and listed among Sweeney's gear in this April 1, 2021 Premier Guitar interview.

MONO Blog, January 9, 2018, "What’s In The Bag: Matt Sweeney"

These days, Sweeney carries a Martin D-28 [sic] acoustic in his Vertigo Acoustic Guitar case, a gift from the friendship with Neil Diamond. We couldn’t quite believe it ourselves talking to Matt Sweeney, so best if you heard it from the man himself!

[https://blog.monocreators.com/uploads/2018/01/IMG_0376-2.jpg]

Why did Neil give you the guitar?

Because Neil Diamond is the coolest.

But the back story is thanks to Rick Rubin I’d played guitar on Neil’s Home Before Dark album, along with the true guitar gods Smokey Hormel and Mike Campbell. It was a great experience – the album was all acoustic and all live takes.

A couple years after that, Smokey and I both happened to be hanging out in LA near Neil’s studio one afternoon, and dropped by to say hi to his studio manager Sam. Neil hears we’re in town and asks us to come back later that night to do a demo of a new song with him. We were beyond stoked. It ended up being a super fun unplanned late night hang/recording session. I think the song was called “Alone At The Ball”- it was a cool loner-style number.

At some point Neil said, “Hey you gotta check out this guitar, it’s in that case.” I opened the case and there’s this incredible looking Martin, all smoked-out and badass with the pickguard missing. It was like a dream. I played it a little and he said, “Yeah man, I had a feeling you’d sound good on it- take it back to New York, it’s yours.”

I laughed and blurted out “No f-ing way!”

He goes “Matt – it’s gonna get sold if you don’t take it, so get it outta here!”

I really couldn’t say no. Neil is a gem, straight up.

What do you know about the history of the guitar before Neil Diamond gave it to you?

I never asked cuz it’s my lucky object. I was told it’s from 1969 or by a guitar dealer who looked at the serial number.

What feelings do you have about the guitar, and what sets it apart from other acoustic guitars you’ve played?

Well, cuz of how I got it, that Martin makes me feel lucky and loved. It’s also insanely easy to play and has this particular dark and mellow sound – one of those rare “damn, this thing feels and sounds perfect” guitars. It’s also really fun to play single note stuff on for some reason. I always feel kinda relaxed and confident when I play it. The strings have been changed like twice in all the time I’ve had it.

What recordings have you used this guitar on, and what is your favourite recording moment with the acoustic?

Pretty sure I used it on Adele’s version of The Cure’s Love Song – that was a live first or second take deal. I think I was like “it’d be cool to bust a guitar solo on this beat up acoustic” and it worked.

What happened to the pickguard on the guitar?

I would love to know, and I’m also glad I don’t know.

What is your favourite song you’ve written on this guitar, and what is it about?

Maybe a song no one has heard yet called Good To My Girls – I wrote the chords and melody in Malibu lurking on a park bench with the Martin and watching Hedi Slimane do a photoshoot. Much later these NSFW words that my friend Bonnie Prince Billy sent me ended up matching the melody perfectly and the song was finally finished. It’s about a guy justifying his actions.

We haven’t recorded it yet, but I love playing it.

My Martin recently gave me another song I wrote with Bonnie Prince Billy for Songhoy Blues, an incredible band from Mali. It’s called Time To Go Home. It has a guitar part with chords and melody played simultaneously – the Martin makes it easy to do. That song will be coming out on an EP on Fat Possum records this winter I think.

(...) Have you got more rad stories about the guitar?

Brought it over to Cowboy Jack Clement’s home studio and John Prine was there and we ended up demoing a version of Love Minus Zero No Limit just for fun. That was rad.

Acoustic Guitar, January 22, 2018, "Through his web series ‘Guitar Moves,’ Matt Sweeney talks with some of the biggest names in guitar"

In an episode of Guitar Moves with singer-songwriter Cass McCombs, Sweeney exchanges some fingerpicking tips and plays them on his only acoustic guitar, an instrument of special provenance. Sweeney played as a sideman on Neil Diamond’s 2008 album Home Before Dark, and after the record was released made an impromptu visit to the singer-songwriter’s Los Angeles studio. “There were a ton of guitars lying around, as Neil was thinning his collection. He just handed me a really nice late-’60s Martin [D-18] and said, ‘I think you might like this. You know what, you should have it.’ It was great, because I had predicted the only way I’d ever get a Martin was through somebody’s extreme kindness.”

Premier Guitar, April 1, 2021, "Matt Sweeney Loves 'Guitar Playing That You Don’t Understand'"

Guitars

• 1969 Martin D-18 (a gift from Neil Diamond)
• 1976 Gibson ES-335TD
• James Carbonetti Savagist Bo Diddley-style guitar

Amps

• Austen Hooks converted Bell & Howell projector amplifier
• Will Oldham's Music Man HD-130

Effects

• Nuñez Amplification Dual Range Boost
• Echopark F-1 Germanium Fuzz

Strings

• La Bella Jazz Flats (.012–.052)
• D'Addario flatwounds (.012–.052)

Custom made for Sweeney, as documented on Carbonetti Guitars' Facebook. It is listed among Sweeney's gear in this April 1, 2021 Premier Guitar interview.

Facebook, April 11, 2018

The Carbonetti “Savagist” Model serial number 28 built for the champ and one of my favorite people in the world Matt Sweeney... @theheavyjamz

Facebook, July 21, 2018

The Carbonetti «The Savagist» model serial number 28... One of my favorite things about cool guitars is the story they keep with them... One late night years ago hanging out with @theheavyjamz we were talking about guitars and Matt brought up the vibe of the rectangle (Bo Diddley) guitar and how awesome it is. So I ended up making him this one and about a month after it was finished I get a call from Gretsch telling me that I can’t make this model due to a copyright. So with that this guitar is a one of a kind and in the hands of the guitar champion Matt Sweeney. @ The Guitar Shop NYC

Facebook, August 25, 2019

The first moments of my 6 string hero @theheavyjamz meeting his new guitar “The Savagist” 📷 @earthquakerdev

Facebook, February 17, 2021

My dude @theheavyjamz ripping it up on his Carbonetti Savagist model and showing the folks how it’s done on the new @theesuperwolves jam “Hall Of Death” What a Vibe!

Premier Guitar, April 1, 2021, "Matt Sweeney Loves 'Guitar Playing That You Don’t Understand'"

Guitars

• 1969 Martin D-18 (a gift from Neil Diamond)
• 1976 Gibson ES-335TD
• James Carbonetti Savagist Bo Diddley-style guitar

Amps

• Austen Hooks converted Bell & Howell projector amplifier
• Will Oldham's Music Man HD-130

Effects

• Nuñez Amplification Dual Range Boost
• Echopark F-1 Germanium Fuzz

Strings

• La Bella Jazz Flats (.012–.052)
• D'Addario flatwounds (.012–.052)

Featured in this January 9, 2018 MONO Blog interview.

These days, Sweeney carries a Martin D-28 acoustic in his Vertigo Acoustic Guitar case, a gift from the friendship with Neil Diamond. We couldn’t quite believe it ourselves talking to Matt Sweeney, so best if you heard it from the man himself!

(...) What else do you keep in your MONO case?

I had to get a new case cuz the old one fell apart and Alex Olson told me about MONO bags. The original case contained tons of papers – years worth of set lists, cheat sheets, backstage passes and like 20 of those airline inspection sheets. I’m gonna keep the best of that stuff in my new MONO bag, like these lyric sheets to a few unreleased songs me and Billy Gibbons wrote.

Mentioned in this August 19, 2020 Guitar Disorder article.

The Echocaster ESQ is another one-pickup rocker that offers a few more custom options than the Echosquire, but at the same price for the base model. This model features a single vintage spec T style pickup, a script style E on the upper body, three color options, two pickguard options, and an option for an aged finish. Fans of the Raconteurs would’ve recognized this guitar on tour last year with Brendan Benson and more recently session ace, Matt Sweeney has added one to his arsenal as has the dynamic singer songwriter, Margo Price.

Used for the electric guitar on Superwolves, as stated by Daniel Schlett in this May 21, 2021 Mix article.

“The first day or two was just those guys capturing songs, some acoustic and mellow and some of them with Matt’s electric guitar,” Schlett recalls. He captured Oldham’s vocal with a vintage Neumann U47 into a Neve 1070 mic preamp. Sweeney’s guitar amp was miked up with a U67 into an ADL 670 or UREI Silver 1176 compressor/limiter.

“The ADL 670 would have been used on the vocal. Will’s vocal is the only thing I put through a Neve pre,” Schlett says. “Everything else went through the pre’s in our API Legacy console.

Used for the electric guitar on Superwolves, as stated by Daniel Schlett in this May 21, 2021 Mix article.

“The first day or two was just those guys capturing songs, some acoustic and mellow and some of them with Matt’s electric guitar,” Schlett recalls. He captured Oldham’s vocal with a vintage Neumann U47 into a Neve 1070 mic preamp. Sweeney’s guitar amp was miked up with a U67 into an ADL 670 or UREI Silver 1176 compressor/limiter.

“The ADL 670 would have been used on the vocal. Will’s vocal is the only thing I put through a Neve pre,” Schlett says. “Everything else went through the pre’s in our API Legacy console.

Used for the electric guitar on Superwolves, as stated by Daniel Schlett in this May 21, 2021 Mix article.

“The first day or two was just those guys capturing songs, some acoustic and mellow and some of them with Matt’s electric guitar,” Schlett recalls. He captured Oldham’s vocal with a vintage Neumann U47 into a Neve 1070 mic preamp. Sweeney’s guitar amp was miked up with a U67 into an ADL 670 or UREI Silver 1176 compressor/limiter.

“The ADL 670 would have been used on the vocal. Will’s vocal is the only thing I put through a Neve pre,” Schlett says. “Everything else went through the pre’s in our API Legacy console.

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, Matt shows his pedalboard for the Superwolves tour, consisting of an Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master, an Earthquaker Devices Grand Orbiter, a Crowther Hotcake and a Blackstrap Electrik Greenleaf Zonk Machine (more info on the fuzz here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcTFdUusTNn/?img_index=1)

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, Matt shows his pedalboard for the Superwolves tour, consisting of an Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master, an Earthquaker Devices Grand Orbiter, a Crowther Hotcake and a Blackstrap Electrik Greenleaf Zonk Machine (more info on the fuzz here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcTFdUusTNn/?img_index=1)

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, Matt shows his pedalboard for the Superwolves tour, consisting of an Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master, an Earthquaker Devices Grand Orbiter, a Crowther Hotcake and a Blackstrap Electrik Greenleaf Zonk Machine (more info on the fuzz here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcTFdUusTNn/?img_index=1)

According to an article by Luke Ottenhof in Premier Guitar titled "Meet the Hard Quartet, the New Malkmus-Led Supergroup," Matt Sweeney uses a Vintage Fender Esquire as part of his guitar setup for The Hard Quartet.

According to an article by Luke Ottenhof in Premier Guitar titled "Meet the Hard Quartet, the New Malkmus-Led Supergroup," Matt Sweeney uses a 1958 Martin 000-18 as part of his guitar setup for The Hard Quartet.

According to an article by Luke Ottenhof in Premier Guitar titled "Meet the Hard Quartet, the New Malkmus-Led Supergroup," Matt Sweeney uses a 1970 Martin Dreadnought as part of his guitar setup for The Hard Quartet.

In an article by Luke Ottenhof in Premier Guitar titled "Meet the Hard Quartet, the New Malkmus-Led Supergroup," it is noted that guitarist Matt Sweeney incorporates an Austen Hooks Bell and Howell Filmosound amp into his setup for The Hard Quartet.

In this GuitarGeek rig diagram, made by Adam Cooper, Matt's rig includes a heavily modified Gibson SG Standard from the 1960s.

In this GuitarGeek rig diagram, made by Adam Cooper, Matt's rig includes a MXR Distortion+.