Alice In Chains’ William DuVall Shares Amp Fascination + Go-To Guitar

Alice In Chains co-vocalist and guitarist William DuVall spoke with Music Radar about the new album, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here,’ and during the chat he took some time to address how the band gets some of their great guitar sounds and how that played into the creation of their latest record.

The Alice In Chains singer-guitarist said that the band developed a process for creating their sound on his first album with the group, ‘Black Gives Way to Blue,’ and that process proved perfect for their new record. In the studio, they had a wide array of amps set up that were all being recorded at once. After they recorded guitars, the band could then mix and match amps to get the right tone for each song. The wall of amps included an old Laney, a Vox AC30, a Bogner Uberschall, an Orange, and Jerry Cantrell’s David Friedman Marsha. DuVall used Cantrell’s Marsha to record the solo for one of the album's standouts, ‘Phantom Limb.’

DuVall noted, however, that the potential for bad exists alongside the benefits when there’s so much to choose from. "I think it is a luxury. I think you can achieve a great deal of layering and stuff without having a ton of amps. You don't need to have those, but it is good to have it if you know how to use it,” said DuVall. "But, of course, in the wrong hands that stuff can be a disaster too. So, we're lucky in that we all have ears and we all have our opinions.”

The Alice In Chains singer/guitarist relied heavily on what he calls his "number one Les Paul." He talked more about his go-to guitar in a recent interview with Guitar Player Magazine. DuVall said in that interview, “It’s an ’08 1960 Standard VOS Sunburst. Ever since Gibson started doing the Historic Series, reproducing the vintage models, I think for the most part they’ve done a fantastic job. I happened to get a really, really good-sounding one, and it has proven itself time and time again. The binding is coming off and it’s got all these wear spots because I’ve played it so much. It’s a really well seasoned guitar now.”

Alice In Chains is currently on tour to promote their new album, ‘God Put Dinosaurs Here.’ To see tour dates and band news, check their website.