THE OXEN

JOHN VINEYARD / THE OXEN

 

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The Oxen: Facebook / Instagram / Soundcloud

1. Take me through your rig: You’ve got some really cool stuff – how’d you end up using what you do?

I’ve accumulated a lot of equipment, and a lot of junk, over the past 25 years! Some of my pedals were recommended by the other guitar player in my old band (El Gato) from Denton/Dallas, TX. We started in the mid-‘90s, so there were no internet reviews or YouTube demos. His guitar always sounded better than mine, so I just took his word for it on a lot of stuff. These days, I do some research online and peek at other people’s gear if I think their guitar sounds good.

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2. How did you end up with that Jaguar? What model is that? And give me the backstory on the Texas sticker…

I got that Jaguar new at a guitar show in Dallas back in the mid-’90s. It was made in 1994-95 in Japan. I recently put some Curtis Novak pickups in it, which I like way better than the stock pickups. I also got a modified Mustang bridge which has solved the problem of strings jumping into the wrong groove on the saddles when I play hard.

Aside from being from Texas, the flag sticker idea was inspired by (or stolen from!) one of my favorite guitar players, Chris “Frenchie” Smith, of the Austin band Sixteen Deluxe. He plays at high volume with a reckless enthusiasm that I love. He has an American flag sticker in that spot on his Jazzmaster, so I guess I put that Texas flag sticker on my guitar as a constant reminder that it is more important to play fearlessly and expressively than to be timid and technically “perfect.”

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3. I used to have Musicman head that I loved, so I’m way into that combo you have. What drew you to the Sixty-Five?

I really love my Musicman 210 Sixty-Five. I played a Vox AC30 for a long time, and I do still have it. My Vox is from 1985, and it has a darker sound than a lot of the more desirable AC30s. Recently, I started wanting an amp that would give me more of a twang sound, and I was researching Fender Twins. A lot of people were recommending vintage Musicman amps as a less expensive alternative. I found this one on craigslist for $400, and jumped on it. I’m super happy with it, and I’ve pretty much been using the Musicman live, but I use both amps for recording.

4. Love your pedalboard: What’s the one effect you use the most?

The effect I use the most is probably my Death By Audio Fuzz War. It’s my favorite distortion pedal that I have ever owned.

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5. I’ve heard mixed reviews on those Dunlop Tremelo pedals. Give me your quick review of it. Also, that big-box Memory Man looks like a slightly older one — late-‘80s/early-‘90s before the reissues? Totally drool-worthy. What do you like most about it?

The Dunlop Tremolo works fine for me, and I’ve had it for about 20 years. There was a time when I couldn’t get it to go as fast as it originally did, but some friendly elves must have come and secretly fixed it one night because it started working again. I think there are less expensive alternatives that work just as well or better, but that’s what I got. It takes up a lot of room – like the Memory Man – which is also about 20 years old. I can do some fun stuff with the chorus effect on the Memory Man when recording, but live, I pretty much use it as a straight delay.

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6. If you could get one piece of gear for one of your bandmates as a gift — what would you get, who would it be for, and why?

I think I would get Jozette a giant Orange Amps full stack that would tower over her. She loves those amps, and I think it would be fun to see such a tiny woman with such a giant rig. Of course, I would wind up loading and unloading it, so maybe I should rethink that…

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7. What’s your favorite Oxen song to play live and why?

Probably “Glass Pastures” just because it’s weird and has a lot of fun little parts.

See The Oxen at The Merrow on Saturday, Feb. 17, with Nowhereland and Sweet Myths. They’re also up for Best Rock Band at the 2018 San Diego Music Awards (vote for them here)

JOZETTE VINEYARD / THE OXEN

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The Oxen: Facebook / Instagram / Soundcloud

1. Take me through your rig: That Danelectro is so rad — is that new or old? Does it go out of tune a lot? I had one once and could never get the dang thing to stay in tune! How have you settled on the gear you’re currently using?

John [Vineyard, husband and bandmate in The Oxen] got me the Danelectro for Christmas. I have an Epiphone Les Paul, but I have back problems and it is so heavy. The G string on the Danelectro does go out of tune more than I would like, but I am going to have it looked at. I think a new nut might fix the issue.

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2. I dig the pedalboard: Take me to school on that Visual Sounds Jekyll and Hyde. I’ve never played one but you’re like the third musician I’ve seen recently that is playing one. What do you like about it?

I like that I can get 3 different overdrive/distortion sounds out of the Jekyll and Hyde depending on whether you have one or both switches pressed, and it’s really solid. John used that pedal and the Big Muff for years, but he gave them to me so he would have an excuse to buy new pedals for himself.

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3. I know absolutely nothing about that Ampeg amp! What is it? Where’d you get it? How old is it? What does it sound like?

I didn’t really know much about it either when I got it at Mark’s Guitar Exchange in Point Loma about 12 years ago. It’s a 1968 Ampeg Gemini II. It was $500, which was as much as I could afford, and it turned out to be a great deal. It’s loud and has a great built-in reverb and tremolo.

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4. Talk to me about that microphone! What on God’s green earth is that? Do you use it in the studio or live, or what?

That is a Placid Audio Copperphone. When John lived in Dallas, his friend Mark Pirro (bass player for Tripping Daisy and The Polyphonic Spree) was starting the company and sleeping on John’s couch while looking for a new place to live. He gave John that microphone as a “thank you” for his hospitality, and it’s one of the first Copperphones ever made. Mark has gone on to grow his company and has created a whole line of unique, hand-built microphones that have been used by everybody from Snoop Dogg to Rush. The Copperphone sounds like a telephone (or some say an AM radio), and we have used it live some. We use it all the time when recording – especially on vocals and guitars.

5. If money was no object — what’s the one piece of equipment you’d get next and why?

If money AND space were no object, I would love to have a grand piano. We live in a small apartment, so maybe I would just get an Orange amp instead.

6. What’s next for The Oxen?

We are doing a lot of DIY recording in our rehearsal space right now, and it’s turning out pretty good. We would love to finish up a full-length and release it early next year, but in the meantime, we are working on a split 7” with our friends, The Gift Machine. We are sending it out to get mastered and pressed in the next week, so hopefully it will be available in a few months. We took a break from shows because we had to find a new bass player, but we found a great one named Kevin Shumway! We just booked a couple of shows: Aug. 5 at The Stag and Lion in Carlsbad, Aug. 16 at the Belly Up with Creature Canyon, and at Soda Bar on Aug. 20 opening for Warbly Jets and the Schizophonics.