Ricky Byrd spent over a decade playing alongside Joan Jett as a member of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, with his contribution to what many consider Jett's golden era earning him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Now, the guitarist, who has just released his fourth solo album, NYC Made, is looking back at that heady era – and reflecting on the electric guitar gear changes that he's since made.
“I was a Marshall guy back then with Joan,” Byrd tells Guitar World. “Now I literally cannot listen to Marshalls. I use a lot of small old Fender amps. That all came about after I went to see Jeff Beck play at the Iridium in New York, Les Paul’s old club.
“Jeff was using two small Fender Pro Junior amps – 15 watts, two knobs – Volume and Tone, and that’s it. So I went on eBay and found one. I just mic it up and it’s loud as shit. And I can carry it with two fingers.”
Beck wasn't the only guitar great who inspired Byrd's gear choices. In fact, his entire guitar-playing journey boils down to two guitarists – George Harrison and Keith Richards – and two historic performances that ushered in the British Invasion.
“I was around nine when I saw the Rolling Stones and the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show,” he recollects. “I was instantly attracted to George Harrison and Keith Richards’ guitar playing, so I asked my mom if I could get a guitar.
“She was working at a handbag company, and her boss gave her a gift – for me – on my birthday, a no-name acoustic. That little acoustic was how I first learned to play guitar.
“The second guitar I got, which was my first electric, didn’t even have a name, but it was from a store called Lafayette Electronics. It looked like a Gibson ES-335, but it was cheap and came with a little amp.”
In more recent Ricky Byrd news, the guitarist has recalled his worst onstage experience, which may or may not involve being wrongly accused of stealing gear.
