Pellie: “While I do have a solid state amp and a little modeler, they never see any action. I can get good cleans and massive overdrive from them, but I tend to live closer to the crunch and edge of breakup which is where I think valve amps simply perform best. Generally, my weapon of choice is a stock JCM800 with KT88’s and a 2×12. And while I can get good clean tones from my solid state gear, I always came back to the low input on the JCM or my Fender tweed, they just have a warmth even in the final mix and the context of a finished song.”.

Being the technical engineer of the band, he remains responsible for all maintenance and upkeep of the instruments and equipment. “I enjoy working on the gear as I do playing with it which comes in handy”, he explained, “I’ve been fairly lucky so far, but when you use kit for years on end things wear out and fail – it’s just the way things are. By doing the repairs myself, we can save time and money. It also allows us to tweak gear to our requirements.”

Apart from his JCM800, Pellie also uses a VOX AC15 extensively and recently acquired a JTM45 both of which he restored to full functionality. Less frequently, he also uses a Fender tweed and a Marshall DSL for more modern tones. “There’s no use of DI, amp or cab sims or anything similar. If you hear a poor sounding electric on a recording, it probably sounded a lot better in the room”, he smiled, “It’s all just cabs and mics”.