On October 23, 2007 purveyors of grinding, pulsing stripper-rock Scum of the Earth released their second CD, Sleaze Freak. Guitarist/producer/songwriter, Riggs, took some time to chat about guitars -- and a little about amps with Gearwire.

"I use the Fernandes Vertigo." Riggs says, matter-of-factly, about his instrument of choice.

When asked why, he gives the honest answer I have been waiting for but have yet to hear from any musician.

"They give them to me for free," he says. "They started off a knock off maker; generic Strats, Les Pauls a long time ago."

Then they came up with a new shape, the Vertigo shape, and started making more original models.

When Riggs was playing with Prong, Fernandes offered him a sponsorship. His initial response was not one of blinding enthusiasm.

"This ugly motherfucker? I have to play this pile of shit?" says Riggs.

But Riggs now says that Fernandes had started making and selling better guitars even by that time. It isn't uncommon for a guitar company to start off an imitator and then turn into an innovator. If they do not do this, they often wind up on the scrap heap.

One of the new Fernandes guitars was a Riggs Signature model -- a solid maple guitar with chrome inlays.

And no knobs for volume, just a kill switch.

"Who the fuck needs knobs? If you are playing rock n roll why turn it down?" says Riggs.

The guitar also has bolts that latch onto the straps instead of the normal pegs -- you know, the ones that allow your guitar to fall off and pulverize on the stage.

When Fernandes first came calling, he had an Ibanez Iceman he found in a pawnshop for $100.

"I wrecked it and sent it to Ibanez to fix," says Riggs. "They told me it was one of the first they had ever made and that it was now worthless."

Riggs refers to himself as a "dip-shit" at this point but does note he only paid $100 for the guitar originally (not that that made him any happier at the time).

When it comes to amps Riggs uses different types in the studio versus live.

"Recently I've been using my Line 6 Spider III. Those seem to work good for me. I also have a Diesel head." says Riggs.

In the Studio Riggs uses tube amps but this changes on the road.

"On tour I use solid state. It holds up better, sounds better live. Its cleaner," says Riggs.

These days...He also has a pig skin guitar (personally I think they should mass produce these). Riggs says he really used the pig skin so different people could tattoo it. It is already decomposing a bit.

"You can tattoo it which is the reason I did it in the first place," says Riggs. "I sit around trying to think of weird guitars."

Another offbeat guitar in his collection is his "blood guitar" -- again made by Fernandes (who seem to have turned out to be a pretty open minded sponsor).

"They are easy to work with." says Riggs.

The blood guitar is a hollow Plexiglas and full of fake blood. Riggs says it sounds great. He also has the "devil's banjo," a custom guitar with a pitchfork headstock and an iron cross.

No off the rack guitar is going to keep its store-bought form around Riggs either.

"I am going to fuck them up and make them different." he says.

In part, this comes from growing up watching guitarists before him take certain models as their signatures. He wanted and wants his own signature guitars.

"Les Paul? Taken. Explorer? Taken," says Riggs. "Everyone had their guitars. There are no guitars for anyone else to use. So I will make weird guitars that you can dump blood out of or tattoo."

Scum of the Earth's latest CD, Sleaze Freak is available on Eclipse Records. A tour of the USA begins in February.