The Fervor hail from Louisville, Kentucky. They are a band with an almost laid back feel but with an intensity -- born of sensuous vocals subdued guitars that still growl -- just below the surface. Natalie Felker's vocals call to mind singers such as Imogen Heap or P.J. Harvey. The band consists of Natalie Felker on vocals and keyboards, Ben Felker on guitar, bass and vocals, Mat Herron on drums and vocals and Michael Campbell on bass. Ben Felker talked to Gearwire about the guitars and amps he uses live and in the studio. On their first release, Felker was a multi-instrumentalist handling bass and guitar duties. Since playing both live is a problem the band added Campbell.

"On our first EP I played both bass and guitar. We kind of used the EP to put a band together. Mike Campbell is our bassist now." says Felker.

These days the bass-less Felker sticks to guitars and uses a Rickenbacker 360. This guitar lists at around $2,500 but $2,000 is about the price you would usually pay for one. The body and neck are maple with a rosewood fingerboard. It weighs about eight pounds and has Hi-gain pickups. These pickups are another reason Felker likes the Rickenbacker. They were used by Rickenbacker in the late 60s up until the 90s [although they were not used on all Rickenbacker models].

"They have a real fat humbucker sound. I use it in the bridge to get that 'bite-y' Rick sound. I guess the hollow thing is part of it. It is shiny and you can get it to ring out a lot. I play chords leaving whole notes. The hollow body fills out the space. I can play minimally and it still sounds big," he says. "It is the only guitar I have owned for ten years. I am almost ashamed to admit I bought it in a Beatles phase. I like the semi-hollow feel. I like the scale of it."

And there is no better guitar to get that Beatles / Byrds feel than a Rickenbacker. Just ask Tom Petty.

When it comes to amp there is what he has used, what he does use and an old school find that he loves.

"I actually just bought a new amp, an Orange AD30R but I did not use it on the record." says Felker.

The AD30R is a class A combo tube amp and has two 12 inch Celestion speakers. Felker wishes he had the Orange when he was recording but instead he used a Silvertone 1472 from around 1967 -- an amp his wife bought for him, which is also a neat little amp.

"There are tons of old Silvertones and Airlines for sale. You will spend a couple of hundred bucks, but they are great studio amps." he says. "I used that on half the record. It sounds like it is ready to disintegrate."

Old Silvertone and Kay tube amps are widely available and often have a really nice tone; especially when used in the studio or miked in a small room. But sometimes you just need something loud. He needed something with some "oomph" to play live.

"Other parts I used a Marshall Club and Country -- model 4033, I think. It was built as a bass amp, an answer to the Fender Bassman amp. There were three models, two for guitars and one for bass. I used the bass model," says Felker. "The Silvertone also doesn't have the power to do a club. I bought the Orange to replace the borrowed Marshall. It just wasn't for sale -- the Orange has more midrange and is beefier."

Felker keeps it simple when it comes to effects. He uses them, but he is not one of those people with 60 pedals arranged around them like a mandala.

"I am not a real heavy effects guy." he says.

His favorite device is the Moogerfooger Delay [model 104].

"It is an all analog delay. It took awhile to get used to analog . . . getting the timing is tricky," he says. "If you are willing to play with ears instead of feet it works. It is worlds away from a digital pedal."

The end result, in other words, is worth the sometimes steep learning curve. Although "learning curve" might be a bad term to use. It is more about feel, adjusting how you approach the pedal. Before he had the Moogerfooger, he used a Line 6.

"I had a Line 6. I was happy with it until it broke. It cost so much to fix I soured on it." he says.

The band is supporting their recently released CD Bleeder with nine shows in April and weekend dates here and there after that.

"We are doing as much as we can to make it happen -- any way we can play and still keep our day jobs." says Felker.