MELODY MAKER Band Breakdown - 4 March 1972

Words by Chris Charlesworth ~ Pictures by Barrie Wentzell

There are fans and there are fans! Over the years some of the bands rabid fanbase have concentrated on the more technical aspect of what made Slade...'Slade'

Slade had a unique sound, maybe two or three sounds throughout their career. Back in 1972 when this article was written up by Chris Charlesworth, Slade enjoyed what many fans from the era consider to be the 'classic' Slade sound. Whether it was the amplifiers used, the guitars, the customisation of those guitars or the way they were all wired up together to form the Slade 'wall of noise'. There are fans to this day that know the in's and out's of all things gear related, Stu Rutter is my go to man for anything guitar related that I need to know!

In 1972 Melody Maker listed the gear and equipment that Slade were using, so here it is listed as it was written in March 1972...it doesn't mean much to me and is going to be a pain in the arse to piddle around typing it out, but someone somewhere will like to look over it half a century after the event...(frightening isn't it that it was that long ago!)

DAVE HILL: Lead guitar/harmony vocals. Custom built Gibson guitar, S.N.S. 125w amplifier with built in reverb, 1 S.N.S. M.12 speaker cabinet, 2 S.N.S. M.15 speaker cabinets, Cheap Japanese wah-wah pedal (make unknown). Vocal mike: Shure Unisphere 544, Equipment mike: Shure 545

JIMMY LEA: Bass guitar/elec. violin/harmony vocals. Gibson E.B.3 Bass guitar, fitted with extra pick-ups for boosted treble, S.N.S. 125w amplifier connected to S.N.S 125w slave, 2 S.N.S. M.12 speaker cabinets, 2 S.N.S. M.15 speaker cabinets, secondhand violin (cost £6 in Wolverhampton junk shop) filled with cotton wool and with a carbon mike attached. Vocal mike: Shure Unisphere 544.

NODDY HOLDER: Vocals/rhythm guitar. Fender Telecaster guitar. S.N.S 125w amplifier, 1 S.N.S. M.12 speaker, 2 S.N.S. M.15 speakers, Vocal mike. Shure Unisphere 544.

DON POWELL: Drums. Hayman custom made kit to specification, Dark Blue in colour. 26" x 17" bass drum, 18 x 18" deep tom-tom, 14" x 12" small tom-tom, 14" x 5 1/2" Ludwig snare drum, Rogers bass pedal, hi-hat by Slingerland. 1 Avedis-Zildjian 22" cymbol, 2 Avedis-Ziljian 20" cymbols, 2 Avedis-Ziljian 14" cymbols on hi-hat, Premier 'C' sticks. bass drum miked with A.K.G. 190E.

P.A. System: W.E.M Bandmixer, 5 100w W.E.M Slave amplifiers, 8 60w W.E.M 'B' columns, 2 50w W.E.M. 'C' columns, 200w x 29 (W.E.M.) speakers (4 cabinets, 2 horns) 2x32 W.E.M. tweeters, 50ft mike leads through a high-low impedence transformer.