All Steve’s touring guitars (solid bodies only) are Gibsons. While it’s a well-known fact that he has an endorsement with Gibson, could the real reason be that he is a Gibson freak?
Steve Clark's main guitar. Pick-ups are Gibson 1959 re-issue.
As we said in last months issue, his [Steve's] main guitar of late is a white Les Paul Custom (photo 6). This is mounted with three Gibson 1959 humbucking pick-ups with their covers removed. In addition to the familiar circuit where the pick up selector switches between front / centre + rear / rear positions, the volume pot for the centre + rear position uses a push pull type pot which acts as a coil tap switch to allow the centre and rear pickups to be simultaneously switched to single coil. The tremolo system is a Kahler #2200B.
The black Les Paul Custom (photo 7) is a new acquisition and differs slightly from his older one. The circuitry is the same as on the white one but the black one differs in that there is a Gibson “Dirty Fingers” mounted in the rear pick up position and for the tremolo he has chosen a Kahler #2200K. Also, the twelfth fret position marker is his name “Steve” and the pegs are different. The only point of difference with his black Les Paul Custom from before is the coil tap part, so for the most part they look the same.
A Gibson “Dirty Fingers” pick-up is mounted in the rear.
The Gibson Firebird in photo 8 is a limited production 1976 Firebird, which was made to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the U.S.A., is mounted with a Kahler #2200B tremolo. While it looks similar to a vintage Firebird III, there is no binding on the fingerboard and the quickest way to tell them apart is by the colouring of the Firebird mark on the pick guard.
The other Gibson Firebird with 3 pick-ups in photo 9 was custom made for Steve. It resembles a vintage Firebird VII but the position marks are trapezoids and the pegs are Grover Mini Rotomatics. Also, the centre / rear volume pot is a push-pull type coil tap switch for the centre and rear pick-ups.
The last guitar is a familiar Gibson EDS 1275 W-neck (photo 10). This model is a relatively newly built 6-string 12-string combination.
Article by Masaharu Kanda.
SOURCE: Young Guitar Magazine April 1988
(TRANSLATION: By Lingo24 Ltd.)
1976 Firebird. A limited production model made for the 200th anniversary of the founding of the U.S.A. in 1976.
A Firebird custom made for Steve by Gibson.
A W-neck Gibson EDS 1275 model. For some reason these have been fashionable recently.
Both Phil [Collen] and Steve use a sound system [for this tour] consisting of a Randall RG100 guitar pre-amp and T.C.1210 from TC Electronic (Expander + stereo chorus / flanger) and a T.C.2290 (digital delay).
Randall sound system rack.
Mr Clark during soundcheck.
Obviously these guitars on this page were the main guitars Steve used on the Hysteria World Tour from the start. However, we know that he ordered up more from Gibson as the tour progressed and was later seen with a White Firebird, another black Les Paul Custom with Gold hardware, a white W-neck fitted with the Kahler Tremolo system and he used a Fender Stratocaster on occasion. If and when I get more info on those guitars it will appear on this site!
