The Current's Guitar Collection: Thomas Savage of Kins, Epiphone Sheraton
by Luke Taylor
March 12, 2014
Dream-pop four-piece Kins visited The Current's studio last week ahead of their show at the Turf Club in St. Paul. Kins were founded in Melbourne, Australia, but are now based in Brighton, England.
After playing an in-studio session and speaking with Mark Wheat, front man Thomas Savage took a few minutes to tell us about his guitar before going out to the gig. Here's what he had to say:
What kind of guitar is it?
It's an Epiphone Sheraton, and I think it was made about seven or eight years ago. I bought it about five or six years ago.
Do you remember where you got it?
I got it in Melbourne. I had an Epiphone Dot before that, and it got stolen after about three years — on my first trip to Sydney, it got stolen, which was quite sad!
So I went back to the shop. Naturally, three years had passed since I bought the Dot, and I wanted exactly the same one again, so they gave me it, and I tried to play it and it was totally different. Apparently, the models kind of change over time, and to track down that same old Dot that I had would have been extremely difficult.
Do you remember the name of the shop?
Ah, gosh — I can't remember the name! I tended to get lots of things at Billy Hyde in Blackburn [Australia], which is near where I grew up in the suburbs. It might have been there. Seven years is so long! I wonder if I've still got a receipt lying around to tell me where I got it!
But I just went round the shop, kind of playing all the Epiphones and eventually I found that the Sheraton was most similar to the old Dot that I had. So I guess it's kind of a sign as to how sentimental I am, because that's all I've played and all I've ever had for about 10 years — the Dot for three years and then I've had the Sheraton for about seven.
Not to diminish the sentiment, but obviously you're also drawn to the tone and the feel, correct?
Yeah, definitely. I don't feel like I could ever play anything that's not a hollow body. There's something warm about them.
I always play with the tone right down as well, and usually through a Vox amp with the tone kind of back. You know that sound that Fenders have when they're kind of piercing your ear? I kind of go for the other end — the kind of muffled, rounded, tucked-in kind of sound.
Do you write on this guitar?
Yeah. But that said, I write on everything — on keys, on pianos when I can, bass guitars. Programming drums is a good way to write as well. But yeah, just as much, I write on this guy.
Now perhaps this was just a function of being short on time, or maybe it's a deliberate style choice, but I noticed you haven't snipped the ends off your guitar strings. Is that on purpose?
No. After plane security went crazy, you can't take pliers on board anymore. Although I suppose I could check them if they're inside the case, couldn't I? But I just haven't bought pliers yet — I need to buy pliers! (laugh) Because after every song, you can hear the ends of the strings jangling around in the recordings!
So it came down to airport security?
Yes — I remember once my friend lost his pliers because we went through airport security and I was relying on his pair but the security people took them off him! And we didn't have time to go back — he'd already checked in his other stuff, so he couldn't go back around. He had to forfeit his pliers. So that was kind of stupid, but I don't know. It's not really an excuse, is it?
It's actually a very good excuse. But going back to the guitar, I noticed when you play, you use mostly open fingerings rather than barre shapes.
Yeah, I just feel it gives more — more sound, more fills — which kind of works for a live four-piece, which is pretty restricted already. You tend to get more out of the guitar by playing open shapes. I like when you get those high-up notes and you can get open strings happening as well, you get extended octave range and stuff. It floats my boat!
Resources
Kins - official site
