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Article and photos: Guitarist Jamie Hince, one half of the Kills, details the gear he and foil Alison Mosshart are touring with for their upcoming album, Ash & Ice. Hince changed his rig a bit since the last album (more amps and Bigsbys on everything), both for practical reasons—a hand injury which affected his playing style—and also because he was going for a cleaner tone. Hince has a large collection of Hofner 176 and Galaxie guitars, but this sunburst 176 is his No. 1. He swapped out the stock pickups and put in three single-coil “sharkfin” or “blade” pickups from a similar Galaxie model. “They’re just the greatest pickups I’ve ever heard,” says Hince. “I like a really clear, clean sound that’s just loud—kind of distorting because it’s so loud.” Hince now puts Bigsbys on all of his guitars to help with hand dexterity after an accident impaired the middle finger of his fretting hand. Hince uses the bridge and neck pickups mostly, as well as the Treble-O-Bass, which is a tremolo bass knob for overall tone and adding low end. He keeps several Hofner 176 axes on hand in different tunings, including standard, drop D, and C#. Hince’s Gretsch Silver Duke is dated 1966, the only year of production for this model. About 100 of these guitars were made. It has TV Jones Duo-Tron pickups and Hince believes this model was heavily influenced by Grestch’s Corvette model released in 1961 out of Brooklyn. “I like my guitars beaten up like this,” he adds. To continue reading about the band's gear, visit:
