I could never forget the moment I first heard Type O Negative. I was truly scared to the bone by Peter Steele’s deep, baritone vocals, but also by Kenny’s lead lines and rhythm playing. That combo of dark, amazing elements haunted me completely.
Although Peter passed away in 2010 and Type O Negative disbanded, I followed the rest of Kenny’s career and spent a good amount of time trying to nail the tone that haunted my senses in my youth.
What I found chasing this sound might surprise you, so let’s check it out together.
Table of Contents
Kenny Hickey Guitars
The early days of Hickey’s work with Type O Negative were spent wielding a white Gibson Flying V as you can see in the epic video for “Cristian Woman”. That dense, chugging sound couldn’t come from a guitar made from any other tonewood than mahogany. If that’s too bulky of a price tag, you can get close with the Epiphone model.
After the Flying V, Hickey played a Gibson SG with green knobs and pickups (an Epiphone one will get you close too). That was the last of the Gibsons he would play live with Type O Negative before moving on to Fernandes Guitars.
Speaking of Fernandes guitars, by 1996, he was playing two models extensively, the Raven Elite Sustainer and the Revolver Sustainer. The Raven especially was his number-one live guitar for half a decade during the late ‘90s.
Also during that time, he could be seen playing a Monterey Deluxe without the EMG pickups and with green inlays. For example, in the video for “I Don’t Wanna Be Me”.
By 2007, Kenny Hickey made the change to Schecter guitars, which remain his first choice to this day. His signature guitars are both painted green (named Steele Green in homage to Peter) and feature a set of green fretboard inlays.
Furthermore, both guitars have the Fernandes Sustainiac System in the neck position and a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge.
These axes come with a kill switch as well as a toggle for the Sustainiac system. Also, they feature a mahogany body and neck, a Tone Pros bridge, and a baritone 26.5” scale. Fretboards are made of rosewood and feature a 14” radius, where the 24 Jumbo frets sit comfortably.
These guitars are a Solo-6 EX S Baritone and a C-1 EX. Let me tell you that, for the specs and the quality craftsmanship, they are great-priced instruments.
You can see him playing the C-1 in this live show in 2007.
Kenny Hickey Effects Pedals
What I told you about above comes as no surprise. A metal guitarist playing mahogany-made humbucker-equipped guitars is a no-brainer. But what you might not know is that Kenny, like Alexi Laiho and many others used chorus to make his guitar sound bigger, more textured, and more epic.
In fact, in close collaboration with Jessup Amps, he released a signature chorus pedal bearing Type O Negative’s logo in bright green that glows in the dark.
Unfortunately, it’s not for sale on any major retailing portal or business, but you can order this made-in-the-USA chorus from the manufacturer. Although it won’t have the same visual attractiveness, you can use your Boss Super Chorus pedal for a similar effect.
Other than the Chorus (which is, from what I hear, always on), Kenny’s effects during his Type O Negative days were mostly rackmount. He used a T.C. Electronic G-Force and an Alesis Quadraverb. These are discontinued pieces of gear.
The Quadraverb can be replaced by your favorite reverb pedal, like the TC Electronic Hall of Fame.
The G-Force could be any multi-effects system in the market right now like the Line 6 HX Stomp.
This is mostly to cover delays and the boosting for solos but not more than that.
Kenny Hickey Amplifiers
Back in the Type O Negative days, most players were playing with rackmount units separating the preamp and the power amp. Kenny played either the legendary ADA MP-1 and MP-2 or the Marshall JMP1 with a Marshall 9005 or a Mesa Boogie Simul-Class 2: Ninety.
This means Kenny was going into digital preamps and then hitting the valves with a hot guitar signal. The perfect replacement for this is what he played afterward in his career, the almighty Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. He was rocking either one or two 4×12 cabs live.
In case a huge head and cabinet combo can’t fit your current budget or lifestyle (you might be chased down the street by angry neighbors!), you can go for a Mini Rectifier or a more affordable Blackstar HT20RH MKII.
Some Settings
Dialing the Type O Negative tone isn’t so hard to do, what you need is to pay extra attention to avoid muddiness when using such a high gain setting.
Although the chorus pedal will help you get your guitar propelled forward and will enhance its understandability, you have to work on the mid frequencies a lot to get rid of that extra low-end that can turn your sound into a swamp. In case you didn’t know, Kenny Hickey tuned his guitar to B Standard.
Remember, these settings require the Chorus to be always on but in a very slow wave form which will hide the effect but enhance the tone. This is an interplay with the amp’s preamp, so you’ll have to play with the knobs until you achieve it.
This is Kenny’s distorted tone:
- Volume – 8
- Gain – 9
- Bass – 6
- Middle – 7
- Treble – 6
- Presence – 5
This is for Kenny’s clean tone:
- Volume – 4
- Gain – 3
- Bass – 7
- Middle – 6
- Treble – 9
- Presence – 7
The Bottom End
Kenny Hickey was a member of one of heavy metal’s scariest bands. Don’t get me wrong, Type O Negative was more than just menacing looks and a baritone voice. Indeed, songs like “Black N°1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” are proof of that songwriting proficiency and superb audio.
Moreover, that song, in particular, stood the test of time and required no theatricals to do it.
So, use the advice above, dye your hair black, and close the curtains as you riff your way into the uncanny world of this great metal band.
Happy (gothic and heavy) playing!
