Have you tried guitar synthesizers?
I've dabbled, and I've really not been inspired or impressed particularly. They make the guitar sound like synthesizers, which is totally ludicrous as far as I'm concerned. They have versatility in neither sound nor use. There are only certain playing techniques that are picked up well by the guitar synths. In the future, maybe. I'm interested in the new Roland with MIDI; I could get some good sounds that way. But to make a guitar sound like a synthetic trumpet or flute really doesn't interest me much. A police whistle, you know -- what's the point? Guitars sound perfectly fine as they are. The last thing I want to do is make them sound like cheap synthesizers.
How do you go about choosing guitars?
I've never really been into the jargon. As a band, we've never really been into gear or guitars and stuff. A lot of my guitars are off the shelf. They're not vintage or anything. That's something that may change -- maybe it's due to my inexperience -- but at the moment, I've never found any vintage guitars that I really felt were worth the money. So, I've been happy to stick with the production ones. Obviously, it's down to personal taste. My stuff is not worthless by any means, but certainly not irreplaceable. But there is one thing I'm thinking about doing. It isn't actually my idea, so I don't know if I should explain it fully. But it's a guitar that plays itself [laughs]. You just depress the string, pluck it once and get infinite sustain. I haven't actually perfected it or finalized the physics involved, but the principle should work. I can't wait to try that.
Who takes care of your guitars?
Steve Rainford, U2's technician, does the setting up himself. There's a great guy in Dublin whom I use if I want anything really crucial done. His name's Derek Nelson, and his company is called Danvel Music; he is the best guitar guy in Ireland that I know of. They call him the Guitar Doctor because he has this marvelous bedside manner with guitars [laughs]. He's so gentle and understanding. No matter how badly damaged your guitar is, whenever you bring it to him, you always get the feeling that it's going to be alright.
Could you describe your right-hand picking technique?
The only interesting thing about my picking technique is that I strike the string with the grip part of the plectrum rather than the pointed end. These are West German picks that have dimples to aid your grip, and I use the dimples to hit the strings. It gives a certain rasping top end that I've always liked. That's a really tough piece of plastic, and I use very tough strings as well: Superwound Selectras, gauged from .010 or .011 to .054. When I first started playing, I was lent this Les Paul copy that had the most awful flimsy sort of strings -- .007 to .032. It was like playing with rubber bands. You had to stand perfectly still, or else you'd go wildly out of tune. I found that the heavier strings give a much better sound.
Do you ever bend strings?
Since I use quite heavy strings, I don't bend as much as modern guitar players. In fact, I do it quite rarely. I do add a lot of vibrato with my finger, especially in any sort of lead section where I'm playing a high melody.
When you're just strumming for a percussive effect, do you ever catch your finger on the strings?
Yeah, I do that all the time, especially on the nail. The nail eventually goes flat and breaks, and I get a very sort blood blister. It's all that flailing wrist on things like "The Electric Co." During a tour, those nails get very thin.
What's your approach to playing harmonics?
I don't play them in any unusual way. For me, harmonics are approaching the most pure sound available to a guitarist. There's no frets involved, so the tone of the harmonic is...I mean, I love it. It's one of the nicest sounds you can take from a guitar. I've taken it a step further with various different tunings and treatments. There are some sounds from a guitar which don't work with echoes or reverb or chorus. Big, fat chords sound like a mess; they just don't work. There's something about the purity of the signal from a harmonic that becomes such a big sound when it's treated well -- very bell-like in many ways. They are very inspiring. I remember Steve Howe used to play harmonics when he was with Yes. I was very interested by that sound because it was very delicate. They seemed like natural components for the sound of the group when I was putting together lines for our songs.
What would you advise young players trying to break out of stock playing patterns?
One of the best ways of developing an individual style is to start writing songs. It was actually in the development of songwriting that my playing style came. I would credit the other members of the band as having quite an influence, because there was a lot of chemistry. Being with other musicians is a very healthy thing.
Do you do any playing outside of U2?
Occasionally. I did a project with [bassist] Jah Wobble called Snake Charmer, that was interesting. It also had some German musicians, ex-Can members Holger Czukay [on French horn, guitar, piano and Dictaphone] and [drummer] Jackie Leibezeit. I'm interested in meeting guys who come from different backgrounds. It's very stimulating. I'm not so interested n the conventional jamming of other people's material in clubs and the like. That seems to be a form of relaxation for a lot of guitar players.
What are you goals? Is there anything you hope to accomplish?
As a band, we have a kind of image of what the perfect album is. We're always striving towards that. Innovation and originality are important, but we're not interested in the idea of a cult music form for the chosen few. We're interested in music that has the power to touch everyone. We're always getting closer to it, but we probably will never attain that standard. In fact, it's not really important that we do. It's the trying that's important. It's almost an impossible standard to attain. It's like all your favorite groups rolled into one, with none of their faults. If we ever did make the album, we'd probably stop.
Have other artists achieved the perfect musical statements?
In moments, but those moments aren't really consistent. "Strawberry Fields Forever" [the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, Capitol, SMAL 2835] might be a peak, or [Bruce Springsteen's] Born to Run [Columbia, JC-33795]. There are other tracks which have great power to communicate and stimulate.
What would you list among the essential Edge tracks?
It's funny, Unforgettable Fire was an experiment in staying clear of the guitar for the most part. I did an awful lot more keyboards and general atmospheric work on the guitar rather than taking it to the forefront. The tracks that display my playing the best are "Pride" and "Wire." "Wire" is interesting because of the new techniques being used. The intro has quite an unusual guitar sound that a lot of people think is keyboard. It's actually guitar with damped strings, echo and bottleneck. That was a thrill for me because it was such a great sound. "Pride" was transformed when the guitar line came. Again, it's another use of echo from the digital delay, and it's very rhythmic. Those two are the strongest "Edge as Edge is" guitar playing. On the next album, I'll probably be doing something different. But The Unforgettable Fire was an important album; it opened up a lot for me to explore in the future. It's sold more than War so far, which is incredible, considering that it's quite a difficult album to come to terms with immediately. It does take a few listens to really get to know it.
Does it bother you to see advertisements for guitarists who play like the Edge?
No, not really. I think they've missed the point, actually. If there's anything that's good about my playing, it's because it's me, I'm different. If somebody is trying to sound like me, then they really haven't understood me very well. I'm more interested in what Joe Blokes down the road in this garage band is doing than, say what the new Jeff Beck album is like. Not that I don't respect Jeff Beck, who's an incredible musician. But I think we've seen what he can do, and there's a lot of guitar players out there that we haven't heard. A certain amount of that is because they are too busy trying to be Jeff Beck or whatever. If you do what a lot of players do -- pick up a guitar and start playing lead blitzes, copying Eddie Van Halen or whoever else -- you set off on a path which for me is a cul-de-sac. It's far more interesting to empty your head of anything anyone else has done and just start feeling sounds and making musical figures you can call your own. What I'm trying to say through my guitar is that everybody is different and can sound different. There's no reason on earth why guitar players should copy one another and end up sounding the same.
*************************************************
The Edge's Onstage Equipment
The Edge plugs his Washburn Festival amplified acoustic into a Vox AC-30 combo amp with no effects. His Gibson Explorer and Fenders -- a Stratrocaster and a Telecaster -- run into a Boss SCC-700 Effects Center. This is connected to the Vox AC-30 most of the time, although for certain songs such as "Homecoming" and "Unforgettable Fire," some of the effects go through a Mesa/Boogie MK-IIC amp. The Boogie is also sometimes employed for stereo effects in the PA. (A second Mesa/Boogie is for Bono's guitar.) For most numbers, Edge's guitar effects consist of a Korg SDD-3000 digital delay, an MXR Pitch Transposer and reverb.
At left is a Yamaha CP-70B electric piano with an Oberheim OB-8 keyboard synthesizer on top. The OB-8 is linked via MIDI to a Yamaha DX7 keyboard synthesizer. To the right of the DX7 is an Oberheim DSX sequencer and an Oberheim DX digital drum computer. Next to the DSX and DX is a Roland JC-120 amp (the piano is usually played through an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man echo, which is plugged into the JC-120). The DX is used for a click track for Larry Mullen Jr., and to sync the DSX (the sequencer used on "Unforgettable Fire" and "Bad") to the DX7.
Edge's effects rack contains the following: 2 Korg SDD-3000 digital delays 2 Electro-Harmonix Memory Man echo units 1 Yamaha R1000 Digital Reverb 1 Yamaha D1500 MIDI Digital Delay 1 MXR Pitch Transposer 1 Roland Boss SCC-700 effects center
A custom footswitch board is employed for selecting programs and bypassing the Korg digital delays.
© Guitar Player, 1985.
