Lukas Schwengeler is the no.1 session guitarist in Switzerland. We talked to\u00a0Lukas about his\u00a0guitars, amps and his taste in music.<\/p>\n
Hi Lukas thank you for taking your time to speak to us. Could you please tell us a bit about how you got into playing music in the first place? Do you remember any specific moment that sparked your interest in music?<\/strong> Could you explain to us why you initially got into the genre you\u2019 re currently playing? What musicians or bands inspired you in the beginning?<\/strong> Can you tell us about the gear your using, and why?<\/strong> Can you please tell us about your collaboration with Good Tone Pickups?<\/strong> What kind of Good Tone Pickups do you prefer in your guitars?<\/strong> Does the gear you play live differ from the gear you\u2019re using in the studio?<\/strong> Are there any special guitars, brand or a model, that fit your specific sound or genre better than others, and if so, why?<\/strong> How important do you find the gear to be, in relation to the sound you\u2019 re trying to produce?<\/strong>
\nSince I was the youngest of 6 kids and all of them played an instrument\u00a0I was elected to start up playing the violin with 6 years of age and enjoyed playing this instrument until\u00a0I was 12. During that time my hippy neighbor gave me her guitar because she moved abroad. I picked up that lovely instrument and\u00a0I was hooked. From that moment on\u00a0I started to play and play and play. I stumbled into some old blues tunes and worked my way up.<\/p>\n
\nBlues and old hippie stuff was the start up.\u00a0The first band\u00a0I started to admire was the Spencer Davis Group. My first guitar hero was definitely Eric Clapton. Later\u00a0I got into the tunes of Jimmy Hendrix, Duan Alman and Gary Moore. Today one of my favorites is Robben Ford.<\/p>\n
\nOne of my favorite guitars is a custom made from Claudio Pagelli. Next in line is my 62 Fender Stratocaster Relic from the custom shop.\u00a0I also have a Gibson Les Paul Slash Sig and\u00a0I also use a Gibson Les Paul R6 . And sure enough I also play the standard Fender Tele. Besides that,\u00a0I have a full set of acoustic guitars. The amp\u00a0I mostly use is Fender Deluxe Reverb and Bogner Extasy.<\/p>\n
\nClaudio Pagelli made my guitar and we started to discuss possible pickups. He told me about a small swiss manufacturer that handwired pickups. We decided to give it a try and\u00a0I got into contact with Ralf from Good Tone Pickups. He was open to all my suggestions and really created a pickup after my desires.<\/p>\n
\nI am using the customized pickup Ralf created for me. He made a Humbucker with low output in order to do coil tapping without significant loss of output . The result is amazing. This Good Tone Pickup is now selling it under the label Lukas Schwengeler Signature Pickup.<\/p>\n
\nThe guitars are pretty much the same. But the amps, stomp boxes and other stuff can vary. In the studio you can include some gimmicks in order to specialize the sound. On stage you need to stick to the stuff that definitely works.<\/p>\n
\nSure. If the music requires the sound\u00a0of\u00a0Strat\u00a0I use a Strat . If it requires Les Paul \u2026\u00a0I will use that guitar.\u00a0I do have no matrix to show.<\/p>\n
\nAbsolutely elementary.\u00a0I only use the best gear\u00a0I can find, because this is making the difference of the output.<\/p>\n