The Smithereens' Guitars II: Pat’s Axes

Photo by Clarence Persails

(Reechie follows up with a second installment on the band's guitars. Style it Rock and Roll, part 2.)

Guitars...the Smithereens need them. After all, "Blood And Roses" would sound really goofy on accordions!

My earlier article on the Smithereens’ guitars covered most of the more obvious guitar choices that the Smithereens have made through the years, but it is far from definitive. Thanks to some input from Pat DiNizio, we can now fill in a few holes, at least as far as Pat’s aresnal of axes goes.

As noted in the earlier article, Pat DiNizio mostly used his reissued Fender Jazzmaster during the recording of ESPECIALLY FOR YOU. During those sessions, he purchased an Ibanez "Alan Holdsworth" model guitar, which he used for his half of the solo on "I Don’t Want To Lose You. (Pat plays the second, "distorted" half.)" Unfortunately, this guitar was later lost, left behind in a hotel closet during the Blow Up tour, never to be seen again. All of the electric 12 string parts on the album were recorded on a borrowed 12 string Rickenbacker. Soon after, Pat had the Rickenbacker factory in Santa Ana, California custom build him a 12 string 360 Vintage model guitar, styled after the famous George Harrison Rick, played in the film A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. According to Pat, at the time, this guitar was unique, as the first guitar of this type to be painted black (this model is usually painted in a red sunburst color.). For his acoustic, Pat played his cousin Louie Esoldo’s 1968 vintage Gibson sunburst J-45 (you’ll recall from the earlier article that Pat recieved his first Fender Jazzmaster from his cousin Louie).

For the GREEN THOUGHTS album, the band generally employed a guitar line-up of a Fender ‘57 reissue Stratocaster (Pat’s main guitar for these sessions), a Gretsch 6120 (seen on the back cover of BEAUTY AND SADNESS), the 6 and 12 String Rickenbackers, a Guild acoustic, and the occasional borrowed Fender Telecaster. Rickenbacker provided Pat with three black 350 model guitars, two of which he still owns (and in fact played during his 1997 solo shows), the third met its demise during an unfortunate onstage accident during the GREEN THOUGHTS tour. Additionally, Pat’s solo on "If the Sun Doesn't Shine" was done on a mint green Gretsch Anniversary Edition guitar.

The youngster with an ax to grind.

As the Smithereens’ sound got noticeably "heavier," on the 11 album, moving away from the jangly sound of the Rickenbackers, the band began to use Gibson "Les Paul" guitars more and more (for example, the rhythm guitar parts on "A Girl Like You."). Pat also used a "Les Paul" for his solos on "Blues Before And After," but he was never quite happy with them, calling them "uncomfortable to hold and uncomfortable to play." He only used them sporadically on the BLOW UP album, and completely dropped them by the time A DATE WITH THE SMITHEREENS was recorded.

Pat mostly went with his Fender Stratocasters for the recording of DATE, using his orange Gretsch Ranchers (familiar to anyone who’s seen the "Yesterday Girl" video, or any of Pat’s acoustic solo gigs from 1997), plugged into both a Vox AC-30 amplifier, and a Marshall combo amp, as well as played into a mic for a more natural sound, on several tracks. He also played a purple Musicman "Eddie Van Halen" model guitar for "Everything I Have Is Blue," and the solo on "Can’t Go Home Anymore." Pat calls the Van Halen model "a wonderful recording instrument."

Photo by Dave Persails The Jolly Ranchers.

During the Smithereens’ summer 1997 shows, Pat added yet another guitar to his onstage collection, a metallic silver finish Epiphone Casino reissue, similar to the guitar John Lennon played from around 1966, up through his early solo career. (You can see Lennon play this guitar in the LET IT BE film, or in almost any late period Beatles clip...it was one of his favorite guitars.) Pat also shed a bit of light on Mike Mesaro's bass choices, confirming his fondness for Fender Precision basses (He notes that the Fender Precision that Mike plays in the "Behind the Wall Of Sleep" video actually belongs to Pat), and Rickenbacker 4001's (played on "Alone At Midnight" and certain parts of "A Girl Like You").

Photo by Clarence Persails All shiny and new.