A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel is selling off a swathe of pre-loved gear via Analogr, including the guitar that’s all over one of the band’s biggest albums.
The pick of the bunch is his semi-hollow Yamaha AES 1500, which was a key player in shaping A Perfect Circle’s distinct alt-rock sound on 2003 album, Thirteenth Step.
“I’m not happy about letting this one go,” he sighs. “Don’t sleep on the made in Japan stuff; it’s amazing and this is no exception.
“It’s got PAF-style pickups and it splits to single coil,” he adds. “This was my only single coil-option guitar,” and it can be heard on tracks like The Noose and Vanishing.
“Any things that had a pretty sparkle to them,” he adds, “would be this guitar. It was my forever guitar. Now it’s not.”
The other guitar of note is a one-of-one S-type gifted to the band by the CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida ahead of their show on October 30, 2018. APC frontman Maynard James Keenan famously dressed as Beetlejuice that night.
A Gibson Goldtone GA-15RV combo amp, said to be heard on around 40 percent of A Perfect Circles material, also features, with Howerdel believing it would be a pirate’s amp of choice. Swashbuckling.
See too a “punchy and clean” Fender Tone Master amp head and cab, which has been a valued studio workhorse over the years, a cluster of Ernie Ball volume pedals that got heavy use on the road, and Axe-Fx amp modelers.
Howerdel is also selling off several Voodoo Lab Ground Control switchers, flight cases, and APC backdrops from tours gone by.
The seven-day auction launches Sunday November 8, with the AES 1500 expected to be the top seller with an estimated price of $5,000 - $7,500. Sounds like a bargain.
See Analogr for more.
Howerdel, meanwhile, has told Guitar World he’s embracing Jack White’s “dangerous” guitar playing style as he works on A Perfect Circle’s next record. It’s set to be their first album since 2018’s Eat the Elephant.
