Fortus Speaks!

TRANSLATION:

---Firstly asked if cd is finished

Richard answers in affirmative adding that it's been ready for a while.

and he had good news on the previous day (the interview was done on the 29th march) regarding the management
at last the new management is decided on. things seem to be moving pretty good way.
till then they couldn't come to terms with the label so that they couldn't see the release in sight. Now with the management being set, the release in this year is finally likely.
he's so excited.

---asked what role each guitarist plays in the guitar triplet,

He says he and Robin make the bases of guitar parts and ron fills in on them. like the parts BH used to do.
He and Robin have played together for long pulling out each others quality splendidly he believes. the three of them have respective styles of playing they are good at and axl knows it well and gives them suggestions like 'you try your solo for this bit'
that way no ego clash is involved but the trio are unified in a fashion that brings out the best in each others.

---To the question "overall what kind of album would you say it is? and what period of gnr do you think this is close to?"

He replies that
It's totally different from any previous album of GNR or of other bands. Very heterogeneous one for sure. he honestly still can't hear it objectively enough to describe it properly but he thinks it's an album you either love or hate. hardly a 'so so' comment will come out in his opinion. It's that extreme or excessive album. he loves it and is proud of it.

---About the equipment he used for the album,

too many to name all. he mainly used vintage Marshall. besides that, being a huge fan of divided by 13 amplifiers he used it pretty heavily in the studio. Or old Gibson tweed amp and for solos, another old fender super champ. Hiwatt or vox…quite a lot were brought in.
The same is true with guitars. he tried all kinds of guitar. Not just les paul. telecaster, jazzmaster, silvertone and so forth.
and when it comes to pedals, they were just, beyond number.


---Asked about the accessories around the control of the les paul custom he took for the x japan shows.

His custom has to have an on/off switch on its tone knob. By pushing it he can play switching. there're also Master volume and master tone.

The one with him is a reissue of 68 model les paul custom. he digs it and has three of them. he thinks it shame that they don't make it anymore. he had the pickup changed for Tom Holmes. Tom Holmes pickups are excellent.
Most of his guitars have the pickups replaced with either tom Holmes or Jason rollers.

---To fans looking forward to seeing GNR in japan

He had great times last year and this time it's really beautiful particuraly in the cherry blossoms season. he can't wait for playing in japan again.

Source: MyGNR