In this interview from the September 1987 issue of Guitar World, Gary Moore opens up about about his gear, the late Phil Lynott and his latest album, Wild Frontier.

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“The voice-ability is enormous, and I prefer the Floyd Rose System in every case to the Kahler system, because the sustain on the Kahler system is definitely worse. You just have to play the guitars dry to hear the difference. The Floyd Rose sound is much more natural. It's my opinion that the sound of a Chrome-plated Floyd Rose Svstem is far and away better than, for example, a black system. The sound is fuller, with more sustain. An obvious difference."

Gary mainly uses two Charvels, equipped with EMG Humbuckers and Floyd Rose tremolos. Nonetheless, they are not officially his main guitars, for the guitarist also discovered a love for Hamer instruments.

"I use the Hamer guitars to the same extent, simply because I find them really good. A few years after I discovered the Charvels, it was a great experience getting acquainted with Hamer guitars. I wrote the album Run For Cover with these guitars, for example. They're based on the same principle as the old Les Paul Junior.

"I don't have any advertising deal with Hamer. At the time I visited the factory in Chicago. So I said to Paul Hamer, 'The best I can do is just play your guitar.' I didn't want any money for it, because when I like a guitar, I just like it."

The diverse instruments that Gary has collected over the years include a 12-stringed acoustic Takamine, of which only two exist (The second is owned by Greg Lake), and above all some Paul Reed Smith guitars. Of these noble items he calls three his own. On the occasion of "Barbican Weekend" in London he closes with a blue and a red one. And listen to "The Loner.”

Gary's earlier equipment always depended on where he was playing and consisted of different Marshalls from 50 to 300 watts, with a 4 x 12 box plus chorus, echo and distortion, but thanks to Keith Page a permanent set-up was built.

The central piece is Gary's older 100-watt Marshall top from 1971, which certainly hasn't been modified, but nonetheless through countless additions and repairs over time has acquired its own special sound. Behind that come two other 100-watt tops, one of which, like the older top, is connected to a 4 x 12 box. The third top controls two of these loudspeaker boxes, to provide the requisite fullness for a live sound. Before the guitar signal reaches the amps, it runs through an Ibanez Tube Screamer, a Roland Space Echo connected to a volume pedal, then into a Roland SDE 3000 Digital Delay, and from there into a Roland Dimension D, where the signal is split into the two stereo channels.

The completed set-up is once again securely packed away for the tour. In the studio, however, Gary Moore installs a completely different arrangement, with Dean Markley amps, Gallien-Krueger and other brands.

"On the stage I prefer the Marshalls, simply because the places we play are very big and only the Marshalls pack the power that I must have. This power is very important for me on live gigs, so that everything goes off all right."

See for yourself when he hits the States.

The Interview: Irish Reflections

The black roll-neck sweater and leather jacket emphasize his pale complexion. A few days of hard promoting have mercilessly left their traces in Gary Moore's eyes. And while the dark-haired Irishman discusses his latest work in the lobby of one of Munich's luxury hotels, in a pleasant voice which sounds much milder than on his records, his tomato soup is getting cold.

Your new album, Wild Frontier, doesn't sound as harsh as your earlier music.

You're right. At some point the label "hard-rocker" began to get on my nerves, and I decided to break those chains. My music definitely doesn't sound like AC/DC or the Scorpions -- nothing against either of these bands, they're okay. But I was fed up with that image. I wanted to get away from the so-called American sound.

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