What guitars/gear did Nick McCabe use on Urban Hymns?

zepp76

As title, I'm trying to find out what guitars/gear he used on Urban Hymns? I've done a google search but aren't coming up with anything, as usual I'm probably using the internets wrongly   

If anyone could shed some light on this or know of a rig run down site it'd be much appreciated, thank you.

jellybelly

I used to look through the little booklet that came with the cd for clues when I was a 14 or 15 year old - love the tones on that album!!

i know he uses Mesa amps now, pretty sure t was Fender then though. A black Les Paul, cry baby, probably some sort of rack delay. I reckon I hear a phase 90 too but tough to tell!

badlydrawnbanjo

Bit of a rig run down here. http://www.nickmccabe-kim-2freespirits.co.uk/setup&stuff.page5.htm

Nick’s a really nice fella, happy to talk gear all day if you can get in touch with him on Facebook or Twitter. 

jellybelly

Edit to my above post - some info here!

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.guitarplayer.com/.amp/miscellaneous/the-verveand39s-nick-mccabe

zepp76

badlydrawnbanjo said:

Bit of a rig run down here. http://www.nickmccabe-kim-2freespirits.co.uk/setup&stuff.page5.htm

Nick’s a really nice fella, happy to talk gear all day if you can get in touch with him on Facebook or Twitter. 

Brilliant link thank you.

jellybelly said:

Edit to my above post - some info here!

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.guitarplayer.com/.amp/miscellaneous/the-verveand39s-nick-mccabe

Spot on, thank you.

thegummy

I've always been quite geeky about hearing a very nice sound on an album then trying to research the gear used.

Can be tricky for records; even if a player was famous for playing a specific guitar or amp at that time, it's so often the case that in the studio they might have used one of the engineer's guitars on one song, for example, or an amp that happened to be in that studio rather than the one they usually use themselves.

There's also the case that it might have been double tracked and different guitars used for each layer.

Then there's the processing that goes on during the mix so frequencies are cut/boosted, compression is applied etc.

A lot of the time, of course, you are able to find out the exact gear used but just sharing what I've found in general in case the answers you find don't seem to match up to the sound you heard.

zepp76

thegummy said:

I've always been quite geeky about hearing a very nice sound on an album then trying to research the gear used.

Can be tricky for records; even if a player was famous for playing a specific guitar or amp at that time, it's so often the case that in the studio they might have used one of the engineer's guitars on one song, for example, or an amp that happened to be in that studio rather than the one they usually use themselves.

There's also the case that it might have been double tracked and different guitars used for each layer.

Then there's the processing that goes on during the mix so frequencies are cut/boosted, compression is applied etc.

A lot of the time, of course, you are able to find out the exact gear used but just sharing what I've found in general in case the answers you find don't seem to match up to the sound you heard.

Thank you for your reply, I had a feeling it would be an eclectic mix of guitars, amps and pedals and looking at the very useful link that @badlydrawnbanjo supplied I wasn't wrong! Im going to go down the YouTube rabbit hole and see what live stuff is on there as that will hopefully give a clearer picture of how he produced his sound without all the overlays and studio whatnots.

jimmyd

Fascinating links. I saw them on their reunion tour in Nottingham and they had a great live sound. Nick was playing what looked like red strat but must have been the blade texas.... 

theimageofall

Reading this thread prompted me to listen to A Storm in Heaven again. I forgot how much I liked that album.

Calum13

http://www.nickmccabe-kim-2freespirits.co.uk/setup&stuff.page5.htm


Just realised that’s his gear from A Storm In Heaven. I like that album better anyway.    The only thing that really changed I think was that he started using Les Pauls.

Lodious

There was a cool video of him doing an instore in Dawsons a couple of years back, I think it was shared on the forum. 

Such a great musician. 

badlydrawnbanjo

Lodious said:

There was a cool video of him doing an instore in Dawsons a couple of years back, I think it was shared on the forum. 

Such a great musician. 

Pretty sure @Deijavoo was at that. 

Gerz6558

Nick is the reason I picked up a guitar, his sound is just amazing to me. To do something as mesmerising as gravity grave and a man called sun, but can also be versatile enough to put lead guitar down on something like sonnet in one take.

Too bad Ashcroft believed his own hype post UH, and pursued releasing scores of excruciating middle of the road ballads.

zepp76

Today I scored the rest of the Verve's albums off of eBay, I'm going to enjoy giving them a listen.

thegummy

I obviously loved the album at the time like everyone did but, although I was learning guitar at the time, I haven't listened to them at all since getting properly in to guitar (gear, tone etc.) so will definitely need to give this album a listen.

Sorry if this is straying too much from the topic but any other suggestions from the Brit Pop era for good albums that also have good guitar playing or tone?

Lodious

thegummy said:

I obviously loved the album at the time like everyone did but, although I was learning guitar at the time, I haven't listened to them at all since getting properly in to guitar (gear, tone etc.) so will definitely need to give this album a listen.

Sorry if this is straying too much from the topic but any other suggestions from the Brit Pop era for good albums that also have good guitar playing or tone?

Players I liked...
Graham Coxon from Blur 
Dominic Chad from Mansun
Bernard Butler from Suede
Gaz Coombes from Supergrass

Deijavoo

badlydrawnbanjo said:

Lodious said:

There was a cool video of him doing an instore in Dawsons a couple of years back, I think it was shared on the forum. 

Such a great musician. 

Pretty sure @Deijavoo was at that. 

I wasn't but I have been in his treasure trove lock up with all his gear in. All the gear I remember watching him play back in the 90s.  Bit of a fanboy and that was an incredible geek out for me. Absolutely love his playing.

In fact, I even did a post on here about it. 

5 years ago......

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/21065/cab-idol

shugz

Huge NM fan here too, funnily enough been listening to ASIH and ANS of late, to me they still sound fabulous and haven't dated like some works of that era. Didn't think he'd reply but shared a couple of emails with the man as well and he didn't have to do that either, top man.

I know where the famous Strat is hiding as well - just shows it doesn't always have to be '59 this, Brazilian rosewood that for era defining tone. 

Fag end of Britpop and largely ignored or ridiculed but for sheer guitar tone, the Seahorses - Do It Yourself has to be worth a listen. By no means perfect but a great guitar album, sounds magnificent as well probably due to a certain Mr Visconti on the controls too. Yeah, it's not 'the Roses" but worth a look if you can get by the dodgy lyrics and the lack of Ian Brown on it.

Cheers
Hugh

jacksparrow

There is a Roland space echo all over urban hymns.

Johnnyseven

thegummy said:

I obviously loved the album at the time like everyone did but, although I was learning guitar at the time, I haven't listened to them at all since getting properly in to guitar (gear, tone etc.) so will definitely need to give this album a listen.

Sorry if this is straying too much from the topic but any other suggestions from the Brit Pop era for good albums that also have good guitar playing or tone?

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
Suede - Suede/Dog Man Star

Gerz6558

Johnnyseven said:

thegummy said:

I obviously loved the album at the time like everyone did but, although I was learning guitar at the time, I haven't listened to them at all since getting properly in to guitar (gear, tone etc.) so will definitely need to give this album a listen.

Sorry if this is straying too much from the topic but any other suggestions from the Brit Pop era for good albums that also have good guitar playing or tone?

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
Suede - Suede/Dog Man Star

A link of sorts there. Bernard Butler was earmarked as the new guitarist of the Verve, when McCabe left before Urban Hymns. The story goes that it never happened due to Ashcroft not wanting a second strong songwriter in the band. Wonder what UH would have sounded like with Butler.

If anybody is curious what direction the Verve were heading in post UH had they stayed together, some demos were leaked a while ago. The band wanted them on the UH anniversary edition release but Ashcroft blocked them:   

Sweet and Sour is a great example of what McCabe can do to elevate a tune.