Queens of the Stone Age's multi-instrumentalist Troy Van Leeuwen's penchant for Fenders is well-documented. His team-up with the company on the Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster is a testament to that, not to mention his offset-heavy rig. However, one guitar you won't see him in public with? A Strat.
“I'm a Tele, Jazzmaster guy when it comes to Fenders,” he tells Premier Guitar. “I have a Strat at home. It just never felt like it worked with the Queens. There's something about it – it's a little too ordinary.
“I guess the Tele is a little bit more funky to me," he explains. "And this is definitely like [a] wide range of tones. I just need more colors like that, that are a little bit more interesting than a Strat.”
Van Leeuwen goes on to say that he also had a Les Paul stint, however, much like the Strat, “They do a thing that really is that thing, and I can only use it for a couple songs.”
The alt-rock maverick had previously spoken about how he initially fell in love with Jazzmasters – a love affair that resulted from an unfortunate incident. Van Leeuwen had broken his collarbone on the left side in a motorcycle accident, just a few weeks before the band was due to play a festival.
“I didn’t want to cancel the tour, so I really had to scramble to find something that would work,” he said on the No Guitar Is Safe podcast.
“I figured I’d try some different things. I had a ’62 Jazzmaster, so I got a special strap for it – a saxophone strap, which I could put over my right shoulder – and that guitar, being a lot lighter than my Les Paul, got me through the tour unscathed.”
In other QOTSA news, the band recently become the first to play the Paris Catacombs for a new live film.
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