Kim Thayil (Soundgarden)

Kim Thayil provided the guitar grunt for alt-rock-grunge icons Soundgarden. His guitar style sounds as if it were inspired as much by Black Sabbath as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. His wah drenched lead on “Fourth of July” from the Superunknown album is one of my all time favourites.

Guitar wise, Thayil used a Guild S100 (or variation on the S100) throughout his time in Soundgarden. The Guild S100 can be heard on every Soundgarden release. In the early days in particular, Thayil used a ’74 Guild S-1.

In a November 1996 interview with Guitar One, Thayil was asked why he preferred the Guild S100.

When I was eighteen I bought a Guild S100. It was affordable, light, and I liked the action on the neck. I’ve pretty much been using that for seventeen years. The stock pickups are really hot and the tuning keys that came with it were very easy to tune and keep in tune, which is good for beginning guitarists. Guitar One, November 1996

Other guitars Thayil has also reported to have used in the studio include a Gibson Les Paul Custom Lite, Gibson Firebird, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, Fender Jaguar, Fender ’59 Telecaster.

In the early days of Soundgarden Thayil actually used a Bass Ampeg amplifier with a 15″ speaker.

On Badmotorfinger Thayil was reported as using a Peavey VTM-120, 65-watt Music Man HD130 and Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. His Peavey heads can be seen in the image below.

In a September 1990 interview with Guitar For The Practicing Musician Thayil was asked what sort of amplifiers he liked.

I like Fenders a lot because they get the low end, a really full tone out of it. But there are some Marshalls I’ve played that I like. For the record, I used a Music Man and sometimes Mesa-Boogie. I use this 4xl2 cabinet. I have two Guild S-l’s and one Les Paul, and this Epiphone thing that I imagine will be sacrificed before the tour’s over. We’ve got it as a backup, because we’ve broken a couple guitars and a bass. Guitar For The Practicing Musician, September 1990

For the Down on the Upside album, Thayil used a variety of amplifiers, however a Mesa Dual Recifier was used on a majority of the albums leads. Thayil expanded on this in a 1996 interview with Guitar Player magazine.

I used a lot of different amps. I used Mesa Dual Rectifiers for leads, but for rhythms we used a new line of Mesa 50-watt Mavericks, an old Fender Super, a Fender Princeton, Fender Twin Reverbs and Vibro-Kings, and an old Orange head. There were also a couple of preamp boxes we used for direct stuff, an Intellitronics LA-2 and a Summit. Guitar Player Magazine, 1996

In terms of his amplifier settings, Thayil stated that he turned the low end up, set the midrange to around 11 o’clock and the treble at around 2 o’clock.

I started doing that because during the first few years that we played together I was using an Ampeg bass amp with a 15″ speaker, so I’d crank the high end all the way up, drop out the mids and keep the low end there for feedback and the big woof. Guitar Player Magazine, 1996

In a July 1996 interview with Guitar Player magazine, Thayil was asked about some of the effect used on “Applebite” from the Down on the Upside album. For the subtle pitch-modulation effect Thayil used a Jim Dunlop Rotovibe in the Rotovibe setting, as opposed to the chorus setting. The whistling guitar sound, almost akin to a Moog synth, is actually a Mu-Tron phase shifter.

Whilst Thayil used a Dunlop CryBaby for a majority of his time with Soundgarden, a Colorsound wah was also used a few time on the Down on the Upside album.

Thayil also used a couple of different Chorus pedals with Soundgarden, including an MXR Chorus. A Boss CE2 Chorus also seems to have been used at times, as can be seen in the image above. There are also two DOD FX-10 Bi-fet Preamps, and possibly a DOD flanger of some sort (although that is just a guess).

King Animal

For the recording of the King Animal album Thayil used the familiar Guild S-100s but is on record as saying he also used a few Guild S-300s in the studio as well fitted with DiMarzio Super Distortion and PAF humbuckers.

When it came to alternate tunings as well as overdubs and layering he went for variety.

I used some Teles on the new album here and there, for when I play in the open C–G–C–G–G–E tuning featured in King Animal’s “A Thousand Days Before.” I played my Firebird quite a bit on King Animal, when I’m playing in the E–E–B–B–B–B tuning used on “Down on the Upside” and “My Wave.” For most of the dropped-D stuff, I use my S-100s. One of the surprises of the recording was our producer’s guitar, this Gibson Trini Lopez signature model, which was great for the clear, hollow, bell-like tones used for layering. ‘Interview: Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil’, Premier Guitar, October 2012.

When it came to amplifiers, for the most part he relied on the same rig he’d been using live, Mesa Boogie Electra Dyne heads and Tremoverb 2×12 combos.

Pictured: Thayil’s stage rig, two Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne heads, two Mesa/Boogie Tremoverb 2×12 combos and two Mesa/Boogie Stiletto 4×12 cabs.

I really paid less attention to the gear this time around, because I knew that the Mesa/Boogie stuff was solid and has worked for me. Other amps that I plugged into during the sessions were Matt’s ’60s Vox AC30, Ben’s ’50s Fender Champ, and Adam’s Ampeg VT-22, Savage Audio Rohr 15 combo, Fender Vibroverb, and Fender Pro Jr. ‘Interview: Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil’, Premier Guitar, October 2012.

For the recording of the album effects used included:

Dunlop/CAE MC-404 Wah

Dunlop/Custom Audio Electronics MC-402 Boost/Overdrive

Dunlop Rotovibe

Electro-Harmonix Micro POG

Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere

Ibanez CS9 Chorus

MXR M-151 Doubleshot Distortion

T-Rex Reptile

T-Rex Dr. Swamp

The MC-402 and the Doubleshot Distortion were used on some of the solos. The Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere, made famous on ‘Black Hole Sun’ also popped up on the album.

I still have that same Rotosphere on my pedalboard, and I alternate between the fast setting for the verses and the slow setting for the choruses. Other songs I use it on are “Hunted Down” and “Let Me Drown.” I use the high rotor speed to emulate the Leslie 147 used on the record. For King Animal, we would occasionally use the trim pots to speed up the modulation to more of a stun-gun effect and put that through an Electro-Harmonix Micro POG—like in the guitar melodies of “Been Away Too Long.” Other applications on King Animal are the glassy shimmer in “Bones of Birds” and the swirl of “Halfway There.” ‘Interview: Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil’, Premier Guitar, October 2012.

In the Rig Rundown interview Thayil did with Premier Guitar while on tour for the King Animal album in February 2013 he walked through his touring pedal board.

Top left to right:

T-Rex Tap Tone delay (used occasionally on solos)

Ibanez CS-9 Stereo Chorus (for darker chorus sounds from earlier albums)

Custom Audio Electronics Boost/Line Driver (almost always engaged)

CAE Boost/Overdrive (for additional dirt/solos)

Electro-Harmonix Micro POG

Boss NS-3 Noise Suppressor

Bottom left to right:

Dunlop CAE Wah MC404

Not sure (potentially a switching system for the old Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere that is reported to be racked off stage)

Providence PEC-2 Programmable Effects Controller

Last update: July 2020