Musical influences and preferences
Chicago Blues, BB King, Freddy King, Muddy Waters, Rolling Stones, Hubert Sumlin, The Beatles, Billy Gibbons.
Personal preferences
Italian women, Italian food, Italian clothes, French wine, Guinness
Playing guitar, swimming, football all at once!! Watching Tottenham Hotspur, reading - mostly music, biographies.
Instruments: -
Gibson ES 335cr Burgundy 1976
Dennis's first real guitar bought for him by his father in 1977. It's actually a 1976 model with a coil tap and trapeze tail piece. Used on "Live At The Marquee", "Don't Point Your Finger At The Guitar Man" and "On The Road Again".
Gibson 335 Red 1968
Dennis bought this one from Phil Harris in 1984 - great guitar! Originally with a trapeze tailpiece but has been changed to a stop tailpiece. The bridge pick-up is a Seymour Duncan - we are talking about going back to the original Gibson pickup. It is the main live guitar. Used on all the Truth's albums, "Playground", "Weapons of Love", "Jump" - as well as "Off the Hook", "Ice Station Zebro" and "Refrigerator".
Fender Strat Blue 1963
This is a great guitar. It shows what is so good about a good Strat. Dennis bought it from Dougie Chandler of Chandler Guitars in 1980 for £500. Dennis also loves the colour - he has a picture of John Lennon with one the same colour. It has been used on "3rd Degree", "On The Road Again", and "Refrigerator".
Fender Strat Pink 1962
Just as the blue strat is a great strat, this is a dirty strat and it can really sing. Originally bought by Mich Lister (Truth!) from Dougie Chandler in 1982, Dennis bought it from him in 1990. Used on "On The Road Again", "Ice Station Zebro", "Off The Hook", and "Refrigerator".
Marshall JCM800 50w non master vol Head (2)
These two heads were bought from "Mr Brown" at the Marshall factory by Dennis in 1987. The main amp for live use up to fairly recently.
Marshall Small Box 50 1969
Brought along as a spare when one of Dennis's was being repaired. He just had to try it and has used it for the last year and a half! It is more responsive to different styles of playing than his own heads.
Marshall 4X12 Cabinets
We have two of these cabs - they sound great and look cool. Dennis bought them off Alvin Lee after we did a tour of America with him. These are the cabs we use at every gig.
Marshall Combo
Used on "live at the Marquee", "Don't Point Your Finger At The Guitar Man" and "Third Degree" as well as hundreds of gigs. It had to be sent back to Marshall to be rebuilt as it was "ill" but it never sounded the same again and it was sold a few years ago.
Marshall Bluesbreaker Combo
This is the 1997 anniversary Bluesbreaker made in white, used on the Bryan Adams tour when he had his whole Marshall backline in white. Dennis used this on his Jools Holland session a couple of years ago and does not take it on the road because he wants to keep it white.
Dennis now uses custom made Fuzz Face treble boost and gain effects pedals, made by Jesse Hoff. Jesse copies the original pedal circuitry and produces some of the finest pedals you can find today.
Sponsors- Marshall Amplification
Rotosound Strings