Gear Review: Chasing Claymores lead guitarist Scott Baird on his Gibson SG

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Scott Baird, lead guitarist of the San Diego based alternative rock band Chasing Claymores, about the gear he used when recording the band’s newest release, Hindsight’s 20/20. Here’s how the conversation went.

What kind of gear did you use when recording Hindsight’s 20/20 (guitar and amp setup)?
Scott: Our producer (Brian Grider) has this amazing custom Fender Stratocaster that we used for most of our songs. We also have parts where we used an ESP LTP and then a splash of a Gibson SG standard as well. We ran it all through this tiny Jet City head that really gave us a tone that we were going for. As far as a live set up, I’ll run the SG through a Marshall JCM 2000 which works great!

Besides guitar what other instruments do you play?
Scott: I’ve dabbled with keyboard a bit, but by no means are we ready to have that live!

How many guitars do you own?
Scott: 3 currently. A Gibson SG (which I use most), a Mexican Fat Strat and then a Takamine acoustic for lounging around.

Do you use special tunings on the guitar?
Scott: Yup, we use standard tuning down a whole step for the majority of the songs. On “The Optimist”, one guitar stays standard while everyone else tunes down a step.

What is the most difficult aspect of recording your distinctive guitar sound?
Scott: Playing it over and over and over again until it was done right. It was my first time recording in the studio, and I had to do way more takes than I thought I was going to. Everything from keeping a great palm muted sound to getting pinch harmonics had to be meticulously done over and over until it was right. We also used a few weird chords on “Well Played, Mauer”, that would have open strings in conjunction with notes on the higher frets. That took a while to get right as well.

Overall, which guitarists have you been the most inspired by?
Scott: I don’t get too crazy technically for most of our songs, but I have to say that the guys in Rise Against have been a huge influence. With most punk guitars, it’s easy to get content doing power chords over and over, but they do a great job of breaking the mold and having their guitars be different while still fitting the song really well.

Past or present other than Chasing Claymores if you could be a guitarist for any other band, which band would it be?
Scott: The most amazing guitarists I’ve ever seen were in Story of the Year. It had absolutely nothing to do with their playing ability, but they did flips off these 15 foot speakers for their shows and that was one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen at a live concert. It looks like so much fun and it really got the crowd excited, so I would swap with them for a gig! Although I’m not very graceful, so I would probably crash and die.

Did you have formal education on the guitar?
Scott: Absolutely none. I’m always torn about getting lessons as well. I would really like to be able to better communicate with other musicians, but at the same time I think teaching myself everything has let me develop a unique creativity for writing.

Do you think about distinguishing the guitar performances and sounds from release to release?
Scott: I would say so. We’re always learning some new tricks and getting new influences, so I would imagine that it would change a bit going from release to release. I wouldn’t foresee any drastic changes, but quite possibly some more diverse tones, particularly when going back and forth on clean channels.

Check out the song: “Smile and Fake It”