Mimi Fox

Well, my first good guitar was actually a steel-string acoustic – a Guild F30, which I still have, and it’s just a beautiful guitar. My parents got it for me at Manny’s Music in New York when I was 14, and I still use it on a lot of my recordings. It’s really roadworn and chewed up from being on the road so much when I was younger. I even had to have the back of the neck repaired because of some damage done back when I was younger and used to use a capo. It cracks me up now because I haven’t used a capo in 20 years! So I had to have it refilled and repainted on the back. So it’s been through a lot, but that was my first good guitar.

When I came to California and I started getting into jazz guitar, I got an ES-175, which was like a 1975 guitar that I bought in 1980. Then I eventually got into the Heritage guitars that I play today. So it was sort of a transition that started with the Guild.

I started playing Heritage around 1989/1990. Some of what attracted me to the company was my own political reasons of what was going on between Heritage and Gibson. Of course, the Heritage craftsmen did work at Gibson for many years and I felt like Gibson’s guitars were declining at that point in time. I was in a music store and I happened to play a Heritage. I got a Heritage 575, which I played for many years. The Heritage people approached me when they found out that I was already playing the guitar, and asked me if there was anything else that interested me. They wanted to have me as an endorser.

So then I got the Sweet 16 and a Golden Eagle, although the Sweet 16 is the one I use the most. I like it because it’s a little bit smaller-bodied, so if I have outdoor festivals where it’s more appropriate for me to stand, I’m not going to shred my shoulders. I played a Les Paul when I was younger, and I don’t have much of a left shoulder left anymore! I mean, they’re great guitars, but unless you’re Shaquille O’Neal and you weigh 300 pounds and are 7’5?, then it would be like you and I playing a ukulele.

So then I got the Sweet 16 and a Golden Eagle, although the Sweet 16 is the one I use the most. I like it because it’s a little bit smaller-bodied, so if I have outdoor festivals where it’s more appropriate for me to stand, I’m not going to shred my shoulders. I played a Les Paul when I was younger, and I don’t have much of a left shoulder left anymore! I mean, they’re great guitars, but unless you’re Shaquille O’Neal and you weigh 300 pounds and are 7’5?, then it would be like you and I playing a ukulele.

I do use amps for some live gigs, like for festivals, where the DI wouldn’t be appropriate. Then I’ll either use my Fender Deluxe Reverb which I got at the same time I got the ES-175, so it was probably from around 1975, or a Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120.

I do use amps for some live gigs, like for festivals, where the DI wouldn’t be appropriate. Then I’ll either use my Fender Deluxe Reverb which I got at the same time I got the ES-175, so it was probably from around 1975, or a Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120.

My strings are Thomastik Bebop sets, usually .012 or .013s, and I keep the action set pretty low, but not too low. I like to dig in sometimes and play with a pretty hard attack. So I’ve had to sort of balance it and I’ll adjust it slightly sometimes. But I’d say it’s pretty low action.