With the arrival of the long-awaited Spinal Tap reunion in the forthcoming Spinal Tap II: The End Continues comes some inevitable gear upgrades. After all, it’s been more than 40 years since Nigel Tufnel cranked his Marshall amp to 11. The band, somehow, had to find a way to better that.
But just how do you top an amp that goes to 11? Well, for the highly anticipated film, Tufnel (aka actor Christopher Guest) re-enlisted the help of Marshall, which ended up making him a new tube head that did just that.
As spotted in the first teaser trailer for Rob Reiner’s mockumentary, Tufnel has himself a new Marshall that, erm, goes to Infinity. It’s quite the gear innovation, and one that perhaps only the brain behind spoof rock band Spinal Tap could come up with.
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Speaking exclusively to Guitar World, a very-much-in-character Tufnel reveals his gear choices for Spinal Tap II, including that much-discussed Infinity amp head.
When asked whether there’s been any recent gear developments that have caught his eye, Tufnel says, “Yes. For instance, Marshall has made for me an amplifier, the head, and if you look at the dials, it now goes to Infinity. Just think about that for a moment. Think about infinity – oh, my God, that’s literally infinity.”
It’s certainly quite the prospect. An amp that has an intangible, undefinable maximum output? Our ears are hurting just thinking about it. No wonder it seemingly detonated upon Tufnel's first chord in the teaser trailer. Probably not one for the average bedroom guitarist. Definitely one for Tufnel, though, whose louder-than-loud approach to guitar is a pillar of Spinal Tap.
His Marshall Infinity head – which the British amp maker should definitely release, if only for a limited-edition run for Spinal Tap mega fans – wasn’t the only new piece of gear to tickle Tufnel’s fancy, though.
“There are lots of pedals that people have done in the last years that are quite extraordinary,” he continues. “Companies that make these pedals, which I use, and I do a little work on them. I take them apart, and I do a little fooling around with wires and stuff like that to get the sound I’d like.
“Lots of times I break them because I don’t really know how to do that work. I haven't been trained, but it’s interesting to open things up, see all the wires and move them about a bit.”
In related Spinal Tap news, director Rob Reiner recently revealed the real-life encounter with Paul McCartney that inspired a scene in the sequel.
