Ritual (2000) | dir. Hideaki Anno

Thom and Jonny at Zeleste (19/11/1995)

Dewatermarked pictures from Drill EP recording session (February 1992)

radiohead

Colin Greenwood by Tom Sheehan

#finally in a better quality after years 

where did this come from?..

Morning Olympian. 3 April 1998. p. C5.

thom yorke of radiohead in leeds, 1/11/1995. - photos by kevin cummins for nme. scanned by qwerrie.

Thom’s New Gibson ES-330 in Detroit

On December 4 in Atlanta, The Smile performed the song Teleharmonic for the first time. The song was first used on the soundtrack to the sixth season of Peaky Blinders, under the title “Teleharmonic Phaser”. It was also listed as an alternative song on Thom’s setlist for his solo show at Zermatt Unplugged, using the title “Teleharmonic / Europa” (presumably he couldn’t decide which to use). However, Thom decided not to play the song in Zermatt. The name of the song was doubtless inspired by the Make Noise Teleharmonic eurorack module, since Thom has become a massive fan of Make Noise in recent years.

For the premier performance of Teleharmonic in Atlanta, Thom played a faded-looking Gibson ES-330 guitar. He used the same guitar for the most recent show in New Orleans too. We first saw the guitar in a photo titled “Detroit pt. 3 : Thom” from Tom Skinner’s Instagram account. The photo was posted on December 3, but The Smile played Detroit on November 28, and possibly spent a couple days there given Tom Skinner’s abundant photos. The ES-330 has a 3-tone sunburst finish, and the cracks in the finish suggest it’s a vintage instrument, probably from the 1960s. The guitar also appears to have bound f-holes, which indicate that it’s a new guitar for Thom. Bound f-holes are rare on an ES-330, so the original owner might have custom ordered this instrument from Gibson.

It’s notable that Thom played an ES-330 because he hasn’t been seen with one in almost a decade. He played a sunburst ES-330 heavily during the King of Limbs and Atoms for Peace eras (2009-2013). He’s even seen playing that guitar in a rare photo (taken at Drew Barrymore’s LA home) from the recording of The King of Limbs. However, during Radiohead’s 2012 tour, Thom borrowed Ed’s vintage Epiphone Casino for a few songs. It seems Thom liked the guitar, because he almost immediately after bought a pair of vintage Casinos for himself. After 2013, he stopped playing out with the ES-330.

Modern reissue versions of the Gibson ES-330 and Epiphone Casino can vary quite a bit. But in the 1960s, they were pretty similar, which is unsurprising since Gibson bought Epiphone in 1957. Both were true hollowbody guitars with Gibson P90 pickups. The main differences were the finish on guitar and the headstock. On Gibsons, the upper bout is painted solid, while on Epiphones the upper bout has the same burst as the rest of the guitar. The headstocks are also different shapes, and each has the name of the brand printed. Given the similarities, it’s unsurprising that Thom is a fan of both guitars.

There’s a couple key differences between the ES-330 and its more popular sibling, the ES-335. The semi-hollow ES-335 has humbuckers and a solid center block, which gives it a sound very similar to a Les Paul or SG (despite any marketing claims, the main difference in the plugged-in sound of the LP, SG, and 335 comes from tolerance variations in pickups and capacitors). In contrast, the ES-330 is a true hollowbody guitar, and it features P90 single coils. The very similar Epiphone Casino is also a true hollowbody with P90 single coils. That construction is the reason the ES-330 and Casino are prone to feedback at high gain. But they can also feel more resonant and “alive”, which is perhaps the reason Thom likes them. After all, he makes great use of that feedback during There There at live shows (playing a hollowbody Gibson ES-125T).

📷: Anthony Byrne (IG: @/antobyrne75)

3rd issue of a russian Radiohead zine is out. (A5, 64 pp, 572 copies). printed with blue inks on a fine conqueror paper; cover is a silkscreen print on a blue heavyweight paper. of course, its in russian (except the lyrics section). a labour of love and a nice fan item, thats for sure. on sale now. can be obtained directly from me (9$ or 500 rub).  

~ ~ ~

из типографии вышел N3 русского фэнзина Radiohead. внутри он больше, чем снаружи: 64 страницы под завязку забиты инфой про КидА/Амнесиак. новости, рассказы о песнях, интервью, ревью на книги, бутлеги, etc. издано тиражом 572 экз. цена 500р за чудесное путешествие на машине времени в 2000-й год. почитать подробности и сделать заказ.

More shots from the “Skrting on the Surface” set | © Steve Tanner [1, 2, 3]