Here Today... Gone To Hell!

HP: Are you using the same equipment you used with GN'R?
Duff: I use a different bass, and I have this new Galien-Krueger 2000 Watt head. There are only two. Me and Flea got them. It blew out all my speakers. It's not so much to be loud, it's just got this growl.

HP: Are you still using a Fender bass?
Duff: No. I'm using a Music Man Stingray. I started using it onstage. I've always liked these basses. Actually, when we were trying to do the Guns album I broke this bass out, and it just sounded amazing. It's bigger and fatter sounding. I don't have to worry too much about dialing in my stuff. I'm going though some modulators, I use a wah-wah and a fuzz thing, it gives me a really growling sound. That's why I stuck with that bass. And since I recorded this record using that bass, I'm playing it live too.

HP: You used to tour with several basses.
Duff: With Guns on the big Illusions tour, I had a rak of basses because I didn't know if I was going to break one. Now I've got one and a back-up. I've still got my Fenders, I put the white one away. Fender are great recording basses too.

HP: What kind of equipment did you use to record at home?
Duff: I went through my 800 RB to record through two EB 400-watt 15-inch speakers. I have two tracks for my bass, one is miked into the 15-inch speaker, the other is miked straight into the board. I get a nice mixture of the two and I can put different levels on the pre-amp. I used a sub-harmonic gizmo on Song for Beverly. It rolled off the tone on the bass, so it's a really low sound. There's no crispness to it. I've always dont it that way, even when I was with Guns. So I have this signature way I play.

HP: Creating an album on your own is a change for you. Don't you usually like to play off the drums?
Duff: I like to play off a drummer. I watch them hit the snare because that's when I want to hit the bass.

HP: Whose equipment do you endorse?
Duff: I've never endorsed products because I don't want to play something for money. I don't want to compromise.

HP: You got former GN'R bandmates Slash and Izzy Stradlin to work on this record, did it take a big effort to get their contributions?
Duff: Not any effort. On the song Mezz, Slash called and said, "Can I come play on this man?" I said, "We've got a spot for a solo." As for Izzy, Todd Sullivan, my A&R guy on the record said, "We need one track -- a Lord of Your Thighs mid-tempo rocker." I'd just written 29 songs. I didn't want to force writing a song, so I decided to call Izzy. I said , "Dude, they said I need a mid-tempo rocker." He just chuckled. So he wrote Put You Back, and a b-side called Riding Home.