Featuring on Talking Heads’ debut album – Talking Heads: 77 – and released as a single in late 1977, “Psycho Killer” was a breakthrough for the New York art rockers.
A couple of months after the single’s release, guitarist/vocalist David Byrne, guitarist/keys player Jerry Harrison, bassist Tina Weymouth, and drummer Chris Frantz were across the pond in a U.K. studio filming a rendition of the timeless track for the BBC’s live music show The Old Grey Whistle Test.
In this classic clip the band’s raw, angular guitar lines evoke an off-kilter feel that reflects the uneasy state of mind of the song's bugged out protagonist.
But what exactly are those unusual electric guitars they're using? Qu'est-ce que c'est?
David Byrne’s chime-y clean tone comes courtesy of a lesser-spotted Gibson ES-335-12. A twist on the perennially popular ES-335, the 335-12 made its debut in 1965 at the zenith of the electric 12-string guitar craze.
By the early ‘70s, the ES-335-12 was no longer in production due to lack of demand – much like Fender’s equivalent model, the Electric XII (also released in ’65).
As its name suggests the ES-335-12 is based on its 6-string progenitor released earlier in ’58. Aside from double string courses and modified hardware they can be easily identified by their two-piece ‘split diamond’ headstock inlays.
Tina Weymouth’s taught, driving bassline sets an air of tension that complements the song’s lyrics perfectly. Her short 30-inch scale Fender Mustang Bass sports the cool ‘Competition’ finish racing stripes introduced in the late ‘60s and has been modified to include a neck pickup in addition to the original split pickup.
Although the Mustang Bass was introduced as a budget/student model in order to compliment Fender’s highly popular Mustang guitars the model was sometimes preferred by pro players, including the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman who also used a Competition finish model.
Jerry Harrison’s Fender Telecaster has been modded in a similar fashion, in this case with the addition of a humbucker in the neck position along with extra switches mounted to the scratchplate. The same guitar has also been spotted fitted with a single coil pickup in the neck.
A popular pickup mod for Telecasters since the ‘60s, Fender eventually released version two of the Telecaster Custom in 1972 featuring a Wide Range ‘bucker in the front/neck position in tandem with a regular Tele bridge single coil.
Buy Talking Heads: 77 here.
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