Chris' Gear: The Narcissism Era
Chris’ gear circa 1993. L-R: Kawai K2B bass, “The Amoebacaster”, Epiphone LP-300, “Boda”, Silvertone Classical, Aria 12 String.
Contents of the first pedalboard can be seen in front of the guitars, and the Marshall 30 watt combo sits behind.
Guitars:
Homemade Telecaster, a.k.a., “The Amoebascaster”
Built in 1992 from a prefab neck and a homemade body cut from Canadian hard rock maple, this was Chris' main guitar in the classic era. Electronics were a Seymour Duncan '54 bridge pickup and a half functional Guild XR7 humbucker in the neck.
When it was restored for the 25th anniversary reunion show, the tuners were upgraded and the nut was replaced.
In 2022, the neck humbucker was replaced with a fully functional one, and a coil split and phase switching options were added to broaden the sounds available.
1990 Epiphone LP-300
Chris' first electric guitar, this was bought for his 15th birthday. In the earliest days of the band, Paul seemed to like it more than him, though it did get used fairly often. It was last used for the 10th anniversary reunion, after which it was left in storage for a decade and a half until getting restored in 2022. Since that restoration, it has taken on the nickname of “Grover”, a reference to the Sesame Street figurine sewed to the strap, which is itself a replica of the one that lived there in the 90s.
1990 Aria AW200T-12 Twelve String
Prominently heard on "Matter", this plywood bodied Japanese acoustic has been a staple of Chris' sonic tool kit for decades. Paul also used it on "Shadow", and Robbie can be heard playing it on "So Do i".
It has appeared on every Amoebas project since Narcissism with two exceptions: the "Towel" EP which is bereft of acoustic guitars, and "Taste" due to it being in a state of disrepair.
After tracking Full Charisma Bypass, Chris decided to finally retire this guitar. It no longer played or sounded as good as it once did, despite many attempts at rebuilding it over its more than 30 years of use.
In a fitting epitaph, the final recorded appearance of this guitar was Paul reprising his "Shadow" part for "Half A Lifetime".
Late 60s Silvertone 14109, a.k.a., “Boda”
Given to Chris as a box of parts, it was later reassembled into a guitar (the name comes from Kurt Cobain's childhood imaginary friend).
Used a lot in the early days, notably on "Amoeba", "Frog", and the Happy Punk Workout version of "Pro-Zak", it wasn't really playable below the 4th fret, which is why "Amoeba" is played with a capo at 4. Its last recorded appearance was on “Stand By Your Man”.
Like all of Chris' pre 2000 gear, this was damaged in a fire. However, this guitar, along with a few others, was not able to be restored.
Late 60s Silvertone Classical
Chris’ first guitar ever was this cheap, plywood, nylon string from a Sears catalog. It was only used a handful of times with The Amoebas, for instance, on “Matter” and “Headcase”, and prominently heard on their 2023 Christmas song "Feelin' Christmas".
This was also severely damaged in the fire, and was fully restored by Chris in autumn of 2023. However, unlike Robbie's Guild which was brought back to original condition, this was restored to what Chris always imagined it to be, so his poor initial attempts at refinishing and electrifying it were done properly.​​
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Amps:
Marshall 5010 30 Watt Master Lead Combo
Purchased from Phil Cross of the band Crayon, this amp defined a key component of Chris' sound. While he has used other amps in the studio, the fundamental tone he always returns to is based on this one– to this day he still defaults to a Marshall sound over all others. Since it doesn't have a proper clean channel, Chris always used it with the distortion rolled back to just the edge of breakup, which caused a great deal of compression and made for a pretty powerful clean sound as heard on "H.M.", "Pro-Zak" and "After". Paul also used this amp often, sometimes employing the line out function rather than a mic (as heard on “STaLE” and “Before”).The green paint job became something of a trademark for Chris, and this amp had its grill cloth changed twice, once to a southwestern/mezzo American pattern (seen in the photo at the top of this page), and once with a more “hippie” sun and moon motif that matched the shade of green perfectly (seen in the Bassman and MOSFET pictures in the Boston section). This was the first piece in the recent wave of restorations, being completely rebuilt and refinished during lockdown.
Gorilla GG20
A very basic practice amp, this can be heard playing the counter melody on the Narcissism version of "Pro-Zak". By that point it was painted red, and like so many other pieces, it did not survive the fire. It has since been replaced for nostalgia purposes, and has even shown up on a few songs.
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Effects:​​​​
Effects have long been an important component of Chris' guitar sound, and while they are fairly commonplace now, a board of this size seemed like overkill to many players in its time.
Pictured: modern recreation with mostly original pedals
DOD 555 Distortion
This pedal is the classic Amoebas guitar sound. A precursor of the ubiquitous-in-the-'90s DOD Supra Distortion but with an 18v power section (and therefore a little more headroom), Chris traded his pre-Amoebas bass player, Phil, a different distortion pedal for this one.
It developed a unique malfunction around 1996, where the volume and tone controls stopped working entirely, and were both stuck on full. When Chris reassembled his original rig for “Carol Of The Bells”, this was a necessary component, so he used it with those controls defeated.
Since then, via a schematic diagram, he was able to diagnose and repair the problem, and it now is back to its former glory.
Aria APE-1 Multi-effects
The original version of this was retired shortly after Narcissism's release. Prior to that, though, it was used extensively, particularly the very distinct chorus sound. It was also used to process the vocals on "Bug".
For the 2020 re-recording of "Carol Of The Bells" Chris bought another one of these specifically for that "seasick" chorus sound (the original one has been gone for decades).
Maestro PS1-A Phase Shifter
Probably the most defining factor of Chris' early guitar sound is his love for the phase shifter. It nearly reached joke levels back in the day; "all you gotta do to sound like Chris Neal is to turn on the whooshy pedal." Not only did it fill up the sound of a one-guitar band, but it was excellent at hiding when that guitar was slightly out of tune.
While his use of this was tempered over the years, it was a crucial component of every pedalboard he used until it was relegated to home/recording use only in 2022.
Dunlop Crybaby Wah
Despite this being one of the first pedals Chris bought, it didn't get much use.
Subsequently, wah hasn't been on any of his boards since 1997.
Like the 555 and phaser, this is the original piece, and was recently restored.
Sabine STX1100 Tuner (Hidden)
Added to the updated version is this chromatic tuner, assigned through the APE-1's effects loop. Since this was not on the original version, it is tucked behind the DOD 555 to maintain the vintage look, though is visible when in playing position. ​​
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Strings and picks:
Dean Markley 9-42 electric, Martin 12-string extra light acoustic, Martin Ball End Classical
Dunlop Tortex .73mm standard; MacPherson 1.0mm Studio Design used on "Matter"
The original pedals in a loose configuration.