Top Of The World, Ma

He’s been rocking across Ireland and the world for over three decades now but Pat McManus shows little sign of slowing down. In fact, with acclaimed new album Walking Through Shadows released earlier this year, the former Mama’s Boy is busier than ever. He appears at the upcoming Music Show where he’ll conduct a much-anticipated masterclass. We caught up with him for some serious guitar talk before he and his band head out on a European tour.

Who were his guitar heroes
growing up?
“Funnily enough they’re all Irish,” he says. “Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore, Eric Bell of course. My big hero was actually Johnny Fean from Horslips. When we lived in the sticks up north back then, they were the only band that came around and gigged all the time. He was the first guy I saw playing live that really impressed me a lot. Horslips were the band that inspired us to form Mama’s Boys.”
From a musical family, McManus started out playing traditional music on the violin, along with his brothers John and Tommy. When the rock bug bit, he switched over to guitar.
“I’m completely self-taught,” he reveals. “I learned through listening. I didn’t find it difficult to pick up melodies and I never looked at a chord book as I found them too distracting. And I went to gigs all the time, show bands, rock bands, whoever. I’d go home and try and remember what I saw. Also I’d play the records over and over again. I’m left-handed so that made it a bit harder. I also applied everything I learned on the violin to the guitar.”
Mama’s Boys formed in 1979 and were an immediate hit. They went on to make ‘Needle In The Groove’ a bona fide Irish rock classic. In the early days, Pat was known for his trademark 1970 Gibson Flying V guitar. Though he still has it he no longer takes it on the road with him. What is his guitar of choice these days?
“I’ve three or four on the go but when you’re flying in and out of airports all the time you can’t be carrying more than one guitar,” he explains. “My main guitar for touring and recording is my PRS SC, which is quite unique. It’s a cross between a Fender Strat and a Les Paul, it can even give you a Strat and a Les Paul sound. It’s fantastic – it’s surpassed Fender and Gibson as a working guitar these days. They’re quite expensive, and you can go to the custom shop and pay up to £15,000 for one if you have the cash. But they’re quite popular among big name musicians these days. Carlos Santana plays nothing else. I’m very happy with
it. On the last album it did 90% of
the work“
Amp-wise, Pat uses a trusty Fender De-Ville Hot Rod, giving him four ten-inch speakers, cranking out about 60 watts.
“Reliability is important to me. With the Fenders, they never seem to dip below a certain level. They’re nice and compact and handy for packing into a van too.”
In the past he’s used several other guitars including a custom Framus model that was made in Germany for him through an endorsement deal.
“It’s typical German engineering, a bit like a VW Golf,” he laughs. “It does exactly what it says on the tin but there’s not much mojo about it. I still use it sometimes.”
For acoustic work he uses A Martin 00015: a small “parlour guitar” as he calls it.
“It’s a fantastic studio guitar. I got so lucky with it and studio engineers are always asking me about it.”
In the studio Pat mainly uses Line 6 for recording the guitar parts directly to the hard drive, re-amping the guitar sound afterwards.
“I’ve found it easier to do it that way around rather then setting up the amps and effects beforehand,” he explains. “I also have a Porta-studio and I normally play everything on it when I write a song. I run over it with the lads, give them a version of it and they’d make suggestions. I used to do that with Mama’s Boys and it worked well.”
When it comes to effects pedals and other outboard equipment, he admits to a bit of a compulsive streak.
“I’ve the house full of stuff,” he smiles. “I’ve tried everything in the past and I’m still trying everything. I’m a reader of guitar magazines and I’m always checking out new products. I drive the wife mad. She says, ‘You’re not buying another pedal, are you?’ I’d say, ‘This could be the one that makes all the difference!’ I just bought a Karl Martin Quatro, which is an overdrive, a chorus and delay all in one.
“I have an analogue Man overdrive, which a good friend of mine, Andy Powell from Wishbone Ash, put me onto. And I use a Boss pitch-shifter which harmonises for me and I’ve two delay pedals What else? A Morley wah-wah pedal, which I only use in two songs.”
As a live performer he underlines the importance of the soundcheck
“I love doing them,” he says. “It’s a therapy for me as I get nervous before a gig. I like to get a feel for the venue. Some bands don’t bother with them and it’s not always possible at, say a festival. I prefer the smaller gigs anyway – the perfect crowd size for me is anywhere between 500 and 1,500. That’s a real gig. Once it gets any bigger it’s really becoming corporate rock. I remember with our manager going to see Queen in the RDS about 1980 or so. It was a fantastic spectacle. I left halfway through and went down the road to see Dr. Feelgood who were playing on the same night. It was much more exciting and real. Wilko Johnson was, and still is an amazing player.”

Walking Through Shadows is out now. For more info see: www.patmcmanus.co.uk