Chuck (Batshit Crazy – guitar)
SPB: What kind of guitar do you use, and how/why did you choose this one?
Chuck: For the Batshit Crazy record I totally stumbled into using this DEAN guitar. The background of the guitar is I used to own a Recording & Rehearsal studio and I had bought a cheap Dean guitar (not even sure of the model) for literally like $150 (with shipping) just to rent to bands who may need one last minute or as a fill in if someone broke a string and didn't want to take the time to change one. Well, as I began writing songs for this band, I had the Dean sitting in the corner and it was the only guitar of mine not in a case (never bothered to buy one for it because the case would be worth more than the guitar) so I grabbed it and used it to write and demo the songs. When it was time to record I tried going through all my other guitars, even borrowed a real nice Fender Strat from a buddy but something was amiss. The tone was so good on the Dean demos that I ended going back to it and using it on the whole album. The only thing I did was put on some new Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings (10's if I remember right) and muffled my Orange Rockerverb 50 amp into a little corner in my home studio. The only other thing I can come up with is, so many people have played on that guitar over the years that it had been tweaked so many times it literally was dialed in to perfection. Either that or the thing is possessed which worked out great for a horror punk record!
