Death Cab For Cutie

As the indie-rock heroes embrace a digital future, we find an analogue theme to their triple-pronged guitar attack

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When we arrive at indie-rock titans Death Cab For Cutie’s sold-out show at Bristol’s O2 Academy, we’re told not to photograph any of the Fender Deluxe combos that line the stage. Why? Turns out they’re dummies, and the band – which includes Mustang-toting frontman Ben Gibbard, gearhead six-stringer Dave Depper and multiinstrumentalist Zac Rae – have made the leap to Fractal Audio’s Axe-Fx. Although the trio wax lyrical about the benefits of their new setups and the integration of their existing analogue gear, they apologise for the lack of visual appeal. “Whether it’s Fractal or Kemper, the one thing they do not have going for them is they are not sexy-looking,” Ben laughs. “We could bring a bunch of cool-looking and unique collectable amps on tour with us, but that really would just be for the sake of the people who knew what they were!” Fortunately, there’s plenty of drool-worthy gear between the trio to sate your rig lust…

GUITARS

’70S FENDER MUSTANGS

1 Ben Gibbard: “I got a Mustang in a trade, and I just really liked that the neck was so easy to move around on; it was very similar to the Fender Bullet I played when the band started, so I found my hands moving around the neck in a similar fashion as I did in some of the older material and that re-inspired me to play more guitar.

“I have a fleet of ’70s, maple-necked Mustangs where I’ve taken out the pickup-switchers and I’ve removed the tone knob, and I’ve just wired them in the middle position. I have one capo’d into position, but it’s all standard tuning; there’s one song called