Pens, sticks, car antennas: Thurston Moore turns guitars into noise machines | My Guitars & Me S2E4

[@ICantStopMakingNoise]

It's kind off wild to me, how easy it is to become acquainted with an artist's technique, while being completely in the dark about their actual relationship with the instrument. And that's often extremely personal. I love getting the chance to see Thurston play outside the context of a song, being real and human, inhabiting what these guitars mean to him. Others certainly can play "better", but this is how he plays. I celebrate that, and also the others.

[@___l___]

WHOA!!!!!

[@SHIFTYCHEF]

Very well put. I fully agree.

[@billyrocca9029]

A humble craftsman. Guitars are his tools and he uses them the way he intends to only to reach a point that has nothing to do with what we usually consider good guitar playing. That's a form of genius.

[@trailingupwards]

Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine are why I love jazzmasters.

[@5150show]

Me too , and Dinosaur Jr

[@MrPioneerlight2011]

swervedriver...

[@RRReyes999]

I love all the individuals of SY but I love them more when they are together. The first time I saw them in 92 was a true spiritual revelation. I just could not understand the beautiful sounds that were coming at me. It just seemed other worldly. Thurston is my guitar hero.

[@bloxsy_]

The two latest albums are really good. Interesting how he seems to be sticking to the same tuning and guitar now.

[@joesmith9216]

man, he went SPINAL TAP at the end there!

[@buzzawuzza3743]

His thoughts on guitars and guitar playing are always interesting. Keep up the good work!

[@demonicsweaters]

Him, Lee and Kim were all truly innovators of the instruments they played.

[@ratsontherails]

@@demonicsweaters that's a stretch..they took what Branca was doing and made it more pop.

[@demonicsweaters]

@@ratsontherails nope

[@ratsontherails]

@@demonicsweaters strong argument there

[@waskerbasket9601]

Steve, as well.

[@lockyp204]

@@demonicsweaters I think they brought some techniques more to the mainstream in conventional song structures. But they weren’t the first to do what they did

[@Tandle779]

Basically every question I would bother him with. Being an offset nerd and a fan of SY and every band they directly influenced. Great video!

[@MarkB.Guitar]

It's cool to see that Thurston has moved from a TOM bridge to a Mastery these days. Also exciting to hear Fender are working on another Electric XII! 👀

[@ioncewasmikey]

I wonder if J Mascis tipped him off to Mastery.

[@Brujodeldesierto12]

Thurston Moore es un guitarrista Alucinante !!!! Ejecuta ruidos demenciales , puede pasar de hacer un arpegio dulce , brillante... A la distorsión más violenta y perturbadora, entre ruidos oscuros y bellos que a mí me vuelan la cabeza !!! Thurston es lo más !!! Y cuando pisa los pedales, con sus dos pies , a la vez... Es el acróbata más talentoso , pisando los pedales de manera súper frenética !!!! En fin... Thurston Moore es un guitarrista saltando a el vacío, todo el tiempo... Sus perfomances en vivo , son increíbles !!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@ethanbegleyhughes7237]

What tuning is the XII in?!

[@5150show]

Incredible

[@We_all_die]

I’ve seen a lot of these kind of chats where guys play. I’ve never seen anyone use their thumb so much #morethumbthanhendrix

[@theWARMJET]

He just plays on is one way, and thats fab.

[@mahirhaque]

Would be interesting to see a collab between Thurstoon Moore and Trent Reznor

[@guitarthings8453]

Metal Muff, I have a question about the metal muff. I completely wasn't expecting it to be in your pedal chain, but it's so great that it is. I also have one, I rarely use it as I rarely play metal. But it's a great pedal. The distortion knob is broken off, what is your usual setting for that, I noticed the other settings are pretty aggressive. Thanks

[@TimJames-mj2hg]

Day dream nation still the greatest album

[@JamesB_188]

How to do these heavy sounds at min. 6:00

[@greenbean9600]

Volume swell while using feedback

[@JamesB_188]

@ thank you!

[@pepppery]

I ran across his signature JM at a guitar center of all places a couple months ago. I loved the pickups and neck! I instantly bonded with it. Unfortunately I cannot afford 3 k for a guitar. Especially since gc gave the seller only gave them 1200 for it. I wish they would make them again, or at least use the same specs for a non artist model. Bummer. Death to collector scum. If Thurston were to read this I would trade you two cool guitars I have for your sig one. Thanks

[@GazerOfShoe]

A guitar at Guitar Center?? Who woulda thunk it?

[@pepppery]

@@GazerOfShoe I really wanted it too😥😞. I'm sure whoever bought in The SF bay area has it tucked away in a closet serving its purpose.😒

[@GrimKardashian]

@@pepppery SF Guitar Center sucks. Also, yeah people play their $3k guitars. You have a bit of broke victim mentality.

[@fanatp0stpanka]

​@@return2sender791they're being realistic that's pretty much a dentist guitar

[@mikenoface]

The prototype he speaks of in this video was just a Warmoth body and neck with Lollar antiquity pickups. You could build your own for about $1k or less depending on what hardware you choose.

[@tayonnbrewer4071]

Anyone got the tuning he has the 12 sting in?

[@wyattkremer2834]

Yo I’d love to know that tuning as well, that first open chord sounded so lush

[@draculamountain]

I don't think I've ever seen Thurston palm mute before, damn.

[@beezersurf]

What year is that #1 Jazzmaster? I didn't hear him give that info.

[@daveronhertpark7134]

I've read it's a '64 at some point.

[@chriswhrtn]

@@daveronhertpark7134 i always assumed its was a parts guitar lmao

[@PantheonLincoln]

​@@daveronhertpark7134​ If it's the one I think it is, then that's about right. It was one of his regular guitars in Sonic Youth from about 2003 onwards. When SY ended, a black 1966(?) jazzmaster that he used a lot continued to be his main guitar until it got stolen while on tour with his post-SY group Chelsea Light Moving (only lasted an album before he just continued to make music as a solo artist), until it was stolen in 2012. The '64 sunburst then became his #1.

[@g.koch.]

​@@daveronhertpark7134I read it too but if, it's an early 64 one (or with an 63 neck) due to the clay dots on the neck. Fender basically had a bins of parts they where putting these together and often where still parts from previous years in it, that where unused or they needed first to use these up.

[@GuitarDotCom]

He's quite vague about its specific year, only that it's "pre-CBS" - you can read more about his guitars, including this one, in our interview we did a while back guitar.com/features/interviews/the-guitar-interview-thurston-moore-on-jazzmasters-sonic-youth-and-his-new-solo-lp/

[@sTeVe-vl3nh]

In my youth i tried to play like him. It's funny because he didn't care of his playing apparently😂 Now that makes sense in a sonic way

[@hirampriggott1689]

Thurston Moore and Tom Morello are two of my favorite unorthodox rock guitarists.

[@billydeewilliams9104]

Two communists. Nice choices. VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!!!

[@lockyp204]

@@billydeewilliams9104 How is Thurston a communist 🤣

[@PiotrSiedlecki-qv2cd]

A kind of symphonic wall of sound and color worthy of Hendrix

[@NoWayOut-]

Glenn Branca

[@Mr.Monster1313]

Legend !!!

[@uggles_mcfuggles]

I love how he’s still making noise in his bedroom. Just like me!

[@yoelcapoful]

Top 25 guitar player imo

[@Koettnylle]

That's a pretty cool shirt

[@jakewatson1757]

Davvey Williams

[@HardTimeBluesCafe]

I have some “extended guitar”music on my channel. Well, just the one piece.

[@guitarhackr]

The new record is awesome.

[@benjaminfowler4513]

Thurston has a nasty right hand technique as well as all his other tricks and talents. Thats the thing im most impressed by when i watch him

[@lockyp204]

@@benjaminfowler4513 yeah he always massively undersells himself. He wasn’t judged to be in the top 50 or 100 guitarists because he can’t play 🤣

[@chrisfu81123]

I kind of get it a little more after watching

[@chrisfu81123]

At the 12 string

[@BadLuckLuke]

He never gets old

[@user-th6rh8zp3t]

idk he looks kinda old

[@gloryxkid]

New fender XII confirmed?

[@snörre23]

Isn't there a squier already ?

[@AlexNiedt]

@@snörre23 The Squire Paranormal XII is pretty great

[@user-th6rh8zp3t]

i'll never forgive you for how you treated nardwuar

[@David.S.]

Yup, that's the true test

[@Best..YT..Music..Playlists]

nobody cares about what you have to say.

[@ratsontherails]

Like you've never made mistakes.

[@captainpungent]

I don't think he would treat nard the same today if he were to do the interview again.

[@theunborn33]

We don't give a rat's ass about your opinion either, don't worry son .

[@atedherexha]

for anyone who wants to kniw the tuning for the fender 12 it's D# A# D F A# C - he mentioned it in a guitar world magazine interview in January 2021: “Months may have gone by, if not a year, before I returned to mixing those tracks and I just have no clue what I was doing there… even what guitar it was let alone the tuning! I do know I played a 12-string electric guitar on Venus and the tuning is D# A# D F A# C. That's the tuning I also used for Alice Moki Jayne on the Spirit Counsel record [2019].” Can you tell us a bit more about that electric 12-string? “Yeah, that's a Fender Electric XII from the late-‘60s. My girlfriend Eva bought it for me when I turned 60 two years ago although she actually gave it to me earlier in the year.

[@PaytonBellew]

3:10 Birdman Statue. #rocknrollweirdness

[@LewWelchThePoet]

🤘👍🏿

[@colujomes]

Imagine not knowing who Thurston Moore was and walking into a room one day to find a 66 year-old doing this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6XNoH53o9qVbtk

[@flowerdoodle2438]

He’s got sort of a Jeff Goldblum thing going on

[@uncooldispatch5438]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@DredgenX]

I wasnt subscribed to GUITAR?

[@GuitarDotCom]

You gotta do something about that.

[@orangerollsangelspit]

3:05 pookie

[@lucasoheyze4597]

I'm all in favour of his core philosophy, but it amazes me somebody can play guitar for decades and not actually get any better at playing.

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

There's a junky busker where I live. He plays all day most of the week, for the last decade. He's still crap.

[@tcw8287]

Maybe he doesn't want to after all he was in Sonic Youth

[@lucasoheyze4597]

@tcw8287 I know, I'm a big fan. It just makes me wonder, as a guitarist myself...it's hard to play for that long and not just naturally learn and improve.

[@surrealchemist]

He uses non-standard tunings and methods of playing the instrument. Doesn’t mean he hasn’t gotten better, just not in a traditional way. Lee I think plays in a more trained away.

[@lucasoheyze4597]

@return2sender791 Hey, I've been a Sonic Youth fan since John Peel broadcast their Brixton Academy gig back in 1992, don't mistake an observation for a criticism.

[@theWARMJET]

The anti guitar hero 🤘

[@zulfikarfilandra]

a legend is a legend

[@-roejogan-]

I'd love to see Thurston get together with Greg Ginn in a band with Hulk Hogan on bass and singing, and Meg White on the drums.

[@YoannyGalvezArias-wm1nq]

Sonic Man: Dave Mustaine

[@sosimple3585]

Thurston Moore knows the score.

[@SHIFTYCHEF]

@@sosimple3585 You're a poet, and I believe you know it. 🤟👽 🎸

[@James-wj8eq]

This is the man who would spark the flame for Jesus and Mary Chain, Thurston Moore and Kevin Shields kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXjNk62eq9Chb68si=sz4NfPQxIGi2R7aG

[@truth_you_dont_like]

Dave Mustaine brother

[@theunborn33]

Thurston Moore...still can't play for shit after 50 years. He perfected his own style though, in his defense. Gotta give him that ..

[@trailingupwards]

I'm actually amazed at how many of my favorite artists were not, or are not, very good guitarists. -Nirvana Kurt Cobain was a mediocre guitarist, but excellent melodist -Sonic Youth Not technically great guitarists, but very innovative, and amazing tones -My Bloody Valentine Kevin Shields has the best guitar tones of any guitarist ever, period, end of discussion. -Pavement Not great guitar work, but good tones, and unique songs. Not the greatest guitarists, but amazing in other ways.

[@thatssomething1]

Y' think he dyes his hair at age 66? 🤔

[@flowerdoodle2438]

That’s genetic. My dad’s in his 70s and has nary a gray (except in his sideburns)

[@thatssomething1]

@flowerdoodle2438 yeah we don't really know if tm dyes his hair or not..guess we can ask him 😆

[@pathare777]

look up derek bailey, sonny sharrock, pete cosey, masayuki takayanagi, fred frith, and eugene chadbourne to hear guitarists that did all this stuff way better way before this guy. and glenn branca and rhys chatham as far as contemporaries he “borrowed” from.

[@FirstNameLastName-kt3zn]

No, I will not look up any of them 😊

[@keestoft250]

Music isn't a competition.

[@orangerollsangelspit]

@@pathare777 we already know them thanks 4 the lesson. And Thurston always paid homage to the musicians he took inspiration from.

[@tompoynton]

Sorry I’m too busy sniffing this rare cork that only comes from this one specific south-facing hill from the Alentejo region of the _República Portuguesa_

[@johnbrennan592]

Have a day off you mug

[@t8br00k36]

😂

[@nikaa4237]

Wow he's aged rapidly in the last few years. Didn't recognize him

[@xcx8646]

The hipster's wet dream: relic'd Jazzmasters and not actually being able to play all that well.

[@adamwright4135]

Let us know when your signature Fender model is out bro

[@barrycreed9886]

You've never heard Sonic Youth then

[@martindewhurst2485]

I wish I could as badly as him. Sarcasm aside, you don’t get to be as unique an exciting as them by learning to play the “correct” way

[@DredgenX]

@@adamwright4135 Thurston and Lee both had signature jazzmasters, the green one is his.

[@adamwright4135]

@@DredgenX yeah this is covered in the video. I’m not sure you get my comment!

[@hiroprotagonitis]

Oh this the dude who cheated on Kim Gordon

[@timyoung6535]

Yeah it's funny how people are still obsessed with 2 adults getting a divorce years ago but still love Fleetwood Mac for doing the same thing but far worse

[@hiroprotagonitis]

@@timyoung6535 Yeah, he's still the dude that cheated on Kim Gordon

[@cactaceous]

Oh you sound like a mangina beta bob.

[@jameshodson3450]

@@hiroprotagonitis big fucking deal. The only people who seem to get so riled about someone they don't know fucking someone else are the unfuckable who have to cling to their hideous mates for dear life

[@Taco_Raider]

He should learn to play someday

[@HerbieBancock]

He can also turn a teenage girl into grounds for divorce. Pretty amazing.

[@Koettnylle]

Yes, let's pretend your shit doesn't stink

[@mvsr990]

He did Kim dirty but the woman he had an affair with was in her late 20s or 30s - Moore's a jerk but not a perv.

[@fleadoggreen9062]

Oh I just seen an interview with her, she mentioned that breakup Still seemed affected by it , she held her shit but idk maybe still calls him a hole when she’s bu herself in the car ? Lol pretty girl and she seems cool She can do better 😊

[@ab8817]

if the roles were reversed you would be saying yass queen

[@orangerollsangelspit]

the teenage girl was like 33/34. You are a weirdo

[@coffinperson]

Thurston Moore lives in the UK with his new wife that he cheated on Kim Gordon with and broke up Sonic Youth over.

[@robert-wr6md]

I think the XII has the worst headstock design ever in the history of guitars. It looks like a....oh never mind.

[@thomaswilkinson4027]

I love it! I think it's all personal taste... I can't stand D'Angelico or PRS headstocks.

[@__aythami]

Cant stand him ever since he cheated on kim

[@gutbucket6184]

Honestly, yeah. I’m here to learn the techniques, not praise the guy.

[@__aythami]

@gutbucket6184 what technique did you learn?

[@cwalient]

Can’t stand such irrelevant comments

[@__aythami]

@@cwalient your opinion is as irrelevant as mine

[@cwalient]

@@__aythami that’s funny haha

[@DateTwoRelate]

Kim says "hey!"

[@morbidmanmusic]

really dude? wtf?

[@filipecoutinho5706]

Even tough he's a wife cheater he's still a genius

[@andymorphic67]

your ex is making brilliant music. you're not.

[@corybrown4468]

How rude. 😂

[@andymorphic67]

@@cwalient i like his music but i think the is a cheater with no integrity. hardly a genius...every idea he had came from branca.

[@andymorphic67]

@@cwalient if by the media you mean his wife's book, i guess i dont have a clue. please forward me a link to his genius solo work that is not derivative of branca...i am all ears.

[@jakewatson1757]

Davvey Williams

[@pathare777]

right on