Mark, we hear you are a Les Paul and Strat man, two guitars that have always been an important part of the Wishbone Ash sound. Can you elaborate?
I’ve always loved Les Pauls and have a couple of very nice ones. My favourite and most used is a Gibson Custom Shop ’57 Gold Top with RS / Lindy Fralin pickups. I also have a lovely old Les Paul Standard fitted with Kloppmann pickups. I have a few Fender Stratocasters; my main Strat is a Custom Shop ’62 reissue finished in sonic blue. This pairs up perfectly with the Gold Top as they both have nice big necks.
I also have several custom guitars built for me here in Yorkshire by Elvidge Custom Guitars and a cherry red Gibson ES335. I also have in my collection some beautiful, Japanese Tokai guitars.
All my guitars have either D’addario or Dunlop 11-50 gauge strings.
![Mark Abrahams Wishbone Ash Equipment](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6b40b2_df605c479cf34f969621dea113a0f0b6~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_755,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/6b40b2_df605c479cf34f969621dea113a0f0b6~mv2.jpg)
Let's talk about effects...
For effects I have a pedalboard (pictured) based around a Carl Martin Octaswitch switching system, which enables multiple pedal changes by pressing only one button. It’s a life saver, as I’m not a good tap dancer!
Pedals on my board are – Fulltone Octafuzz – CAE MXR Wah – Ernie Ball Volume – Nemphasis White Scream Overdrive – Ibanez Tubescreamer Mini – Friedman BE-OD Overdrive – Mooer Soul Shiver Rotary Pedal – Boss GE-7 Graphic and Boss DD-7 Tap Tempo Delay. There’s also a TC Electronic Delay mounted under the board which is only used with the volume pedal for swelling effects ... and of course, a tuner!
![Mark Abrahams Wishbone Ash Guitar Effects Pedals Pedalboard](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6b40b2_e20cf672d6944a46973901ecfcdfb88d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_551,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/6b40b2_e20cf672d6944a46973901ecfcdfb88d~mv2.jpg)
We mustn't forget amps...
I’ve used ENGL Amps for a long time and have also enjoyed using Soldano and older Marshall Amps previously.
We thank Mark for being such a great interview subject!
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