 M&SR: Are there any particular ones you’ve been fond of over the years?
Black: For years, I always went into a little music store called McKenzie River Music in Eugene, Ore. I always liked the acoustic guitars they had in stock. I ended up moving to Eugene and I still go there. When I lived in L.A., I used to go to Norm’s Rare Guitars a lot. There are just so many stores; I can’t say I go to certain ones all the time. I tend to just hear about [stores] from other people and I go there and I buy something; check it out. The next time I end up at a music store, it’s at a different one usually.
M&SR: Do you shop online too, maybe for a specific vintage model?
Black: I tend to be an impulsive buyer. I tend to just walk in and say, “Wow, look at that. OK, I want to buy it.” I don’t tend to play it for too long when I buy a guitar. I just sort of pick it up and hold it, see how it feels and how it resonates. I tend to buy it very quickly and I’m usually a pretty good judge of what I like. I rarely return things or trade them back in. Sometimes I’ll buy other instruments too. I like tenor ukuleles a lot and I like to buy instruments I don’t know how to play necessarily, sometimes for fun.
M&SR: Have you ended up proficient in any of them?
Black: No, although the ukulele has become kind of a thing for me. I’m not a good ukulele player but I’ve learned that I like to write songs on them. I like writing with four strings. I find it very liberating to move to a four-string instrument instead of six strings. With the four strings, especially having a tiny little fretboard and everything, I can stumble onto more sophisticated chords. [A six-string guitar] tends to direct a simple guitar player like myself into more simple territory. I’ve got to use more fingers and more technique to get a sophisticated chord out of a guitar. Whereas a ukulele, I can just slap my index finger across it and maybe add a pinky in an odd spot. I’ll be like ooh, what’s that chord? One of my musical friends will say, “Oh, that’s Asus9 diminished” or whatever.
M&SR: What instruments do you want to try next?
Black: I did this record recently as a three piece, and I did a lot of the guitar playing myself. So I’m touring like that right now and I’m really happy with my Telecaster sound, but I’m thinking if I continue to tour like this I’m going to want to step out a little bit and try to develop into someone who can at least do some noisy guitar solo. So I want to have a guitar that has more sustain. I’m considering buying an SG. I don’t know why; I think I played one before and I liked it.
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