Cheap and cheerful

Rick Nielsen is never short of a guitar or two, when he feels like playing a riff. In fact, at one point, the Cheap Trick guitarist/songwriter/founder-member had a collection of over 2,000 guitars at his disposal, including many rare and vintage models. He has recently downsized however, as
he explains.

“I’m down to about 400 now,” he says, matter of factly, before going onstage in Biloxi, Missouri with the Chicago quartet who have been playing together since 1973. “I had too many and I’d never get to play them all anyway, so I sold some of them. The real rare ones went to good homes – I sold my left-handed 1960 Gibson Les Paul to a guy called Paul McCartney. I kept some of the valuable ones like the 1963 Guild Merle Travis model that they only made three of.”
Despite this mass culling of his guitar collection, Nielsen just can’t help himself when he performs live these days with Cheap Trick.
“I take about 25 out on the road with me, but we have two sets of equipment in different parts of the country, which means I have 50 in total for touring purposes... But it’s a necessity for me as I change guitar after every song, and I always have done. In fact, I haven’t tuned a guitar in over 30 years. The reason I started doing this is, back in the ‘60s I hated going to see bands that, when someone broke a string and they take forever to change it, or if they’re out of tune. My problem is, I’ve perfect pitch so my guitars have to be perfectly in tune.”
With their blend of heavy metal guitars and power-pop melodies, combined with a strong onstage theatricality, Cheap Trick enjoyed massive popularity and record sales from the late ‘70s into the early ‘80s. Their most famous number, a live version of the infectious, ‘I Want You To Want Me’ taken from their Live At Budokan album remains a radio staple while their earlier albums like Heaven Tonight and In Colour are classics of the period.
“I never thought about how long we’d last when we started out in 1973,” says Nielsen. “I’ve just always loved to play. The thing with Cheap Trick is we’ve never gotten any better over the years (laughs). We’ve remained the same, with the classic bass, drums guitars and lead vocals line-up. It always helps if you’ve got some material that doesn’t date. We’ve played together so long that we don’t do 80 takes to nail a song, and the soundchecks are always a breeze.”
Still touring all year round, they’ve enjoyed something of a revival in recent years. Their version of a Big Star tune – ‘In The Street’ – is the theme song for the hit television comedy That ‘70s Show, while some of their best known songs, including ‘Dream Police’ and ‘Surrender’ have been used in various versions of Guitar Hero. Meanwhile a Mexican Mariachi band mash-up of ‘Surrender’ is featured in a TV ad for Hornitos Tequila in the US.
“That turned out to be a lot of fun,” says Nielsen. “The only downside is that the new version has become so popular that we have to carry a Mariachi band with us on the road. No, that’s not true. I’m just kidding, but we did think about doing
it (laughs).”
Like most other musicians of his generation, he started out playing as a young teenager in the
early ‘60s.
“I learned to play guitar but I started off playing drums, working with guys in basement bands. I remember I had to keep getting off the drum stool to get the guitar player to play the right notes, and before I knew it I was playing guitar full-time. My favourite guitar player was Jeff Beck. I loved him in the Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Band. I liked The Beatles, but more the later stuff. And I liked The Small Faces too. I was never going to look like Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck so I always did my own thing when it came to playing.”
He says he started collecting guitars as soon as he could afford them. “Back then they weren’t called ‘vintage’ guitars, they were just called ‘used’ guitars and you could pick them up all over the place quite cheaply. Pretty soon the collection grew – you can see it in those old photos of Cheap Trick onstage with my guitars lined up behind me.”
He is perhaps best known for his unique five-neck guitars, custom made by Hamer with its checker-board finish.
“I still use them but they’re a bitch to play,” he laughs. “It’s a 12-string, 6-string, 6-string vibrato, another 6-string with Tele-sort of single pickups, and a 6-string fretless so they’re all completely different and they’re all tuned to E. I also play Les Pauls and a bunch of Gretches, Gibson Explorers as well as Hamers on the road.”
For amplification, Nielsen uses Fender Deluxes, Blues Devilles, Checkerboard Riveras and Sound City cabinets – “Some Premier Amps, some ‘60s Orange combos, a pile of ‘50s Fender Tweeds, a Nielsen Amp (found in Seattle) and a ‘60s Vox AC30.
“I’m not the best guitarist in the world, and I’m not the worst, but my guitar tech is a mental and a physical mess at this stage (laughs).”

Cheap Trick play Dublin’s Olympia on June 15.