Mick Ronson Tells All

MELODY MAKER
June 9, 1973

What equipment does Mick Ronson use with Spiders From Mars? Can he please give me some tips on lead guitar playing?
- Lee Bennett, Teddington

On stage I use two Gibson Les Paul Custom guitars, with another as spare, placed on a convenient stand. I use Rotosound strings and the gauges are: 00.09 (1st), 00.11 (2nd), 00.14 (3rd), 00.25 (4th), 00.35 (5th) and 00.44 (6th). My amplifier is a Marshall 200-watt with one 120-watt Marshall cabinet containing four 12 in. Celestion speakers.

I use a Cry Baby wah-wah pedal and an American Tonebender which used to belong to Pete Townsend. He sold it to someone else about seven years ago and I bought it for L5. It is the only one of its kind I have ever seen. Other guitars I possess are a Yamaha acoustic, a Brazilian Carlos Robelli acoustic, a Gibson black SG Special and a Fender Mustang. My advice on lead guitar playing is to suggest that you do what I did when I was starting. I listened carefully to my favorite guitarists on stage and records, notably Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richard and George Harrison, and watched exactly how they played, where they put their fingers, and how they got the sounds. I put two and two together, went home and practised until I could do it myself.

- MICK RONSON