As the songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of hard-rocking indie pioneers Dinosaur Jr., and with two Fender signature electric guitars to his name, J Mascis is perhaps better known for wielding a heavily fuzz-laden Jazzmaster in front of a wall of Marshall amps cranked to ear-splitting volume than strumming a rare 1950s Gibson flat-top.
Yet despite J’s punk-rock roots, he has long been renowned for his dynamic live solo acoustic performances, as captured by his 1993 debut acoustic recording Live At CBGB’s (released in 2006) and 1996’s live solo album, Martin + Me.
Following the release of 2018's mesmerising acoustic LP Elastic Days, we caught up with J in the midst of a tour to find him playing an equally fascinating choice of guitars.
It’s unusual to see a Gibson CF-100E being gigged. How did you discover them?
“Gibson made them in the 50s. It’s the same neck as a Gold Top – that’s why I got into them. When Gibson did their [centennial] anniversary series, they had a different acoustic every month for a year and I got a [1994 Gibson 1950 CF-100E]. That was the first one I got. Now I have five altogether, with that newer one. Two are CF-100s and the others are CF-100Es. But one of the [CF-100Es] doesn’t have the pickup or knobs. It was trashed. The previous owner took the electrics out. He decided it sounded better without them in because it didn’t buzz as much. Most of the [Gibson CF-100E] guitars are in Japan and they’re expensive over there. [Tamio Okuda] plays one. He’s got a signature model with Gibson.”
How do these old 50s flat-tops manage to survive on tour?
“They’re a little fragile. I went to Australia from winter to summer and the neck went a bit weird on one of them. The frets were popping out. I had to get it set up again.”
It’s perhaps even rarer to see a CF-100E being used with effects pedals. What’s on your ’board?
“It first goes into a JangleBox compressor, which I use occasionally. Then it’s a [Z.Vex] Silicon Fuzz Factory 7. I think they only made six of those. I like them better than the germanium ones. I prefer the tone – it’s a little bit tougher sounding. That goes to the A/DA Flanger, then the [MXR] Carbon Copy delay, and then to the [Z.Vex] Lo-Fi Loop Junky. And I’ve got a [Boss Waza Craft TU-3W] tuner. You can tell the signal sounds a bit better going through it, and the lights are different colours. I’m singing through the [Boss DM-2W] Waza Craft Delay. I was using a Moog [Minifooger MF Delay], but it broke and I haven’t had a chance to get it fixed. I like the Boss pedal for singing because I don’t have to look at it as much. I just hit it now and again.”
What amps are you using on this tour?
“Just one Vox [AC30C2]. The AC30 Hand-Wired amps sound good, too. I like the master volume for the acoustic; I can just drive it a little more. I’ve got some old Vox amps. I have a ’59 AC15 I record a lot with.”
How do you find the hand-wired reissue amps compare to the originals?
“The Marshall [1959HW] hand-wired Plexis sound pretty good. But I notice that some of the Marshall Plexi copies sound really weird. I mean, maybe that’s how Marshalls sounded when they were new,but I don’t like it. Some of them are really oppressive sounding. They’re almost too loud or something – like too much low-mid and no pizzazz. I’m not used to Marshalls at 240 [volts] either. It’s a different sound.I really notice it. It’s a bit louder, there’s more low-end and it’s more powerful sounding. I’d rather just play them at 110 [volts] if I can because I’m used to that. If I want to bring my own amps on tour, once in a while I’ll ship one or two over and use a [mains step down transformer], but I don’t bring that much stuff over here. I use them more often in the States.”
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