Paul Lacques, guitarist for L.A.-based I See Hawks In L.A. is a lefty with a penchant for older gear and he has some luck in getting that gear at lower than "market value."

"I have a 68 left handed telecaster I bought in hitchhiking," says Lacques. "I got it for $250.I completely dinged it up and whoever had it before had taken half the finish off."

He took the rest off. And while he has used other guitars the old lefty Telecaster is what he prefers.

"It is kind of like home to me. had a lot of others but always come back to tele. It has the bite, but it has the neutral sound," he says. "I have never got my hands on left handed gibson but I have had some Strats."

And he has nothing against the venerable Stratocaster. He just doesn't use the more "colored and edgy" sound of the Strat. The Telecaster also just seems to fit the music of I See Hawks and other bands in the genre.

"I know millions of roots country bands ion LA--they all use telecasters," says Lacques. "It is the feel of the neck and the body...it is kinda what you are used to. A strat feels kind of strange when I pick it up now."

When it comes to mic-ing his Telecaster Lacques uses a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb.

"I got lucky I managed to get ahold of the 65 Deluxe reverb before the prices went through the roof,"he says. "It is sort of a primitive and parochial habit. I just like the sound. I have played through a marshall and I just do not get it. I do use a peavey classic 20 for recording. It has a huge sound, a stadium rock sound, in an an amp smaller than Princeton."

He also has a Princeton Reverb from he first year of the silver-faced models. That amp is used in rooms that are not quite as big.

I See Hawks may be an Americana sort of band but there is also more than a dash of psychedelic rock in the mix. To that end Lacques employs some time-honored pedals.

"I have an original MXR phase from the 70s and they do sound better than the reissues. I don't know why," he says. "I have a Jim Dunlop wah. We do some psychedelic country."

In general he says the older gear sounds better but it is a matter of small increments in some cases.

"Played reissue deluxe reverb amps and they are close. There is a difference," he says. "I am certainly not a collector but I do believe older stuff sounds better."

Not all of the gear he uses is vintage, however.

"I have a box of rock distortion pedal I really like. I just got it. By far my fave distortion I have ever used. It is a boutique guy. He doesn't make a lot of them. It is distinct and it is weird. I am still getting used to it. Depending on how wide open and loud you are playing it reacts differently. It seems to have a mind of its own," says Lacques. "I also have an Ibanez analog delay. It is a little smoother, mushier I guess. I either use the short slap back or longest delay setting barely on."

Even though Lacques says he likes tape the band has never used it (can you say "budget"). Instead they worked on their most recent recording using ProTools.

The band's second record, Grapevine, was recorded on a Korg D1600 workstation.

"I might be crazy but I think the D1600 sounds a little better than the protools I have used even though ProTools is higher resolution," he says, adding;"I will probably change my mind 180 degrees next month."

Lacques says that for recording the most important thing are mics, pre-amps and converters if you are in the digital mode.

"Maybe mics are first but pre-amps and how convert to digital are crucial." he says.

Ultimately he says that whether it winds up going on to tape or a digital format might not be as important as is made out.

For instance he says he had an early large diaphragm condenser mic from Mojave. At the time Mojave were selling kits.

"You'd buy one and he would hot rod it," says Lacques. "It came with own power supply in old army ammunition cases. I use them for everything."

He also has an early prototype of a ribbon mic he uses on fiddle.

"It is good for more treble sound." he says.

Most of the mics the band use are from Royer--whose catalog consist of ribbon mics.

I See Hawk In L.A.'s latest CD, Hallowed Ground will be released in May 2008 on Big Book Records.