Bruce Franklin of Trouble: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

Bruce Franklin of Trouble: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview

Feature Photo: Silvy Maatman Photography

When we talk about bands that influenced genres, let alone sub-genres, it can be easy to fall down a rabbit hole of proverbial hyperbole. And so, when I say that Trouble is one of the most influential metal bands to ever take the stage — I’m not overstating anything.

To that end, Trouble’s guitarist, Bruce Franklin, has been instrumental in the development of sludge, stoner, and doom metal. Indeed, without Trouble, these bedeviled genres probably wouldn’t exist. Classic records such as Trouble (Psalm 9) (1984), The Skull (1985), Run To Light (1987), Manic Frustration (1992), and Plastic Green Head (1995) transcend and predate many of the records that would come to prominence in their wake.

As he ruminates on his next move, Bruce Franklin dialed in with ClassicRockHistory.com to run through the many dimensions of his guitar stylings as they pertain to Trouble and beyond.

What first inspired you to pick up the guitar?

When I was 5 or 6 years old, hearing The Monkees got me really interested in music. I wanted drums, and my parents got me a really, really cheap drum set. I drove them nuts banging on it, and my parents decided I was going to change instruments to guitar. I started on guitar with lessons around the age of 7. So, my parents were the inspiration, but I was just happy getting into music.

Can you recall your first guitar, how you obtained it, and if you still have it?

I can picture it, but I can’t remember the brand. Some cheap off-brand that my parents bought at a department store. I no longer have it and don’t even remember what happened to it. My second guitar was a Telecaster copy, and I don’t know what happened to that one either, as we’re talking 45 or more years ago.

What were the first riff and solo you learned?

I don’t know if I remember the specific first riff or solo that I learned, but 1972 was the year I started learning things by ear, from listening to records. Before that, I had been learning things in guitar lessons, but not really guitar rock stuff. Deep Purple Made in Japan was a big album for me. I tried to learn whatever I could from it. Led Zeppelin IV was another one. I can remember learning the “Black Dog” riff. I do remember spending a lot of time trying to learn the solo in Steely Dan’s “Reeling in the Years.”

Who most influenced your sound, and how is that best illustrated in your style?

There are a few bands and guitar players, but the two main influences, especially early on, were Ritchie Blackmore with Deep Purple and Tony Iommi with Black Sabbath. Iommi for the tone, riffs, and some soloing, and Blackmore for the soloing, vibrato, lead guitar tone, and some of the riffs. There are others like Robin Trower and Frank Marino, not only because of their magnificent playing but who both used the chorus effect, which appealed to me. There are others as well, but I would have to say, Judas Priest, as a band, was pretty influential in the late ’70s and early ’80s on me and would later have an influence on Trouble as a band.

How doesn’t your approach today differ from Trouble’s early years?

I guess the thing that doesn’t differ is that I still write stuff on my own, for the most part. I could count the songs that Trouble has collaborated on writing as a band on my fingers, and I probably have a couple of fingers left over. Other than that, you aren’t the same person at 60 that you were at 20, so things are bound to evolve in playing and writing.

What moment or moments have defined Trouble and you as a guitarist?

I guess there would be a few. When our first album came out, we heard a lot about the heaviness of our guitar sound. I can specifically remember Bill Metoyer, our recording engineer on the first record, telling me that many musicians asked him what the secret was to that guitar sound. Also, I think the work that we did on our fourth album, Trouble in 1990, was the first time we were actually reaching our potential. That record was very rewarding for me and quite influential on some fairly big bands. Another is the Supershine record that I did with Doug Pinnick of Kings X. This was also a big and rewarding moment. I had a lot of freedom in writing and being the only guitarist on it, and I feel like it is one of the creative highlights of my career.

Which record do you feel features your finest work, and why?

I don’t know if I can narrow it down to one record, but the Trouble (1990) album would be one. I was super involved and motivated in the making of that record because I felt that it was our first real shot since it was our first major label release. The Manic Frustration album has some of Trouble’s best guitar playing also. We were in a comfortable and creative part of our career. Some of our best guitar solos are on both of those records. Again, the Supershine record that I recorded in ’99/2000 has some of my best guitar work also, whether it be riffs or solos.

What solo and riff do you love most, and can you recount their inception?

As for riffs and solos, “The Psalm 9” riff is a pretty good and memorable doom riff. One of my favorite guitar parts is this descending riff I play in “Breathe” from the Manic Frustration album. The descending riff plays over a clean chord progression and sounds dark and eerie. The riff for “Paranoia Conspiracy” off our last album, The Distortion Field, is a favorite groove riff for me.

As for solos, maybe the first emotional one is the solo in the middle of “Run to the Light.” I think the whole solo section in the middle of “The Misery Shows (Act II)” is pretty intense sonically. It also includes a slide, which I don’t use a lot. The solos in “All is Forgiven” are some of my favorites, too. The first one was a satisfying challenge. Rick Rubin said that we tend to “Play over our heads.” Neither Rick Wartell nor I will be mentioned in the same breath as shredders like Yngwie or Zakk Wylde, but we try to write interesting solos that fit the songs, and we try not to just play predictable pentatonic scales.

How do you measure the importance of Trouble in creating what we know today as sludge? How did you initially create that sound?

Honestly, I don’t measure my importance or that of Trouble. I think that’s for other people to do. I do know that we were one of a handful of recording bands that were playing slow and heavy in the vein of Black Sabbath, which was not a popular thing to do in the early ’80s. As for creating the sound, I always wanted to recreate that down-tuned sound of the Sabbath era from Master of Reality and Vol. 4, but also combine some of the ’70s Judas Priest dual guitar approach to create this heavy hybrid. That would pretty much describe our first two albums.

Is the guitar the be all end all when it comes to a song for you, or merely a vehicle for you to relay your message?

For Trouble, it pretty much is because the guitar tone is a big part of our sound. I have also worked with keyboard players to play certain parts of our songs. For instance, the intro to “The Beginning” from the Run to the Light album was written on piano, with me trying to teach someone what to play by humming the parts.

How do you balance the want to craft quality songs with the desire to shred?

I have to admit that I don’t have the desire to shred. In fact, the song is what’s always important to me. I try to write memorable riffs and hope there will be a great melody put to them. Sometimes I write singing melodies, but singers usually prefer to write their own. I never write something to just be a vehicle to play guitar solos.

What guitars, gear, pedals, amps, and effects are you using, and why? How has that changed from your ’80s and ’90s heyday?

Not a lot has changed, but some things have. My main guitar and amp are a 1964 Gibson Les Paul Junior (SG) and a ’90 Marshall 100-watt JCM 900. I always use an ’80s Boss GE-7 Equalizer pedal and a ’70s Electro Harmonix Clone Theory Chorus/Flange pedal while occasionally using a Morley Bad Horsie 2 wah pedal.

For the first 20 years of Trouble, I played a ’76 Ibanez Rocket Roll (Flying V) and used a ’79 Marshall JMP 100-watt amp. I still own both of those, but the DiMarzio pickup in the Ibanez died, and subsequent pickups don’t sound the same. The Marshall JMP had to be retubed and doesn’t sound quite the same, either.

I lucked into getting the SG from a guy that I knew that wasn’t a guitar player. He showed me this guitar that he had and asked if I was interested in buying it. I immediately knew that it was an early ’60s SG and that it was worth a couple of thousand dollars. I asked how much he wanted, and he said that a guy had given him the guitar as compensation for the money he owed him. The guy owed him $250, so this guy I know told me, “$250,” and I said, “Sold!”

Do you prefer vintage guitars or new ones?

I prefer what gives me the sound that I am looking for. I find that vintage Gibson guitars are great for what I want. First of all, vintage guitars were much more handmade and had better quality control than modern assembly line mass-produced guitars. The big thing for me is the original P-90 pickup in my ’64 Gibson. That guitar fell into my lap for a very cheap price in 1989.

I have owned two different Fender Stratocasters in my life. Both were stolen, many years between each. I don’t think Fenders are good guitars for heavy or fat tones, and you can’t get as clear of a palm mute because of their bridges. I do prefer a Stratocaster tremolo bar for those kinds of solos, though. A good example of that is the first solo in “The Eye” off our Plastic Green Head album.

How has the Gibson SG shaped and defined your sound? Do you feel it’s the definitive metal guitar?

On the first five Trouble albums, I was using my Ibanez Rocket Roll (Flying V) with a DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup. I have been using my ’64 SG for the last 20+ years, and the P-90 pickup gives it a distinctive tone. I don’t think all SGs necessarily sound great. The stock Gibson Humbucker pickups aren’t great for metal. Tony Iommi has had custom hand-wound pickups since the very early ’70s in his SGs. James Hetfield had a great metal sound using a Gibson Flying V and Gibson Explorer on the first five Metallica albums. I have gotten really comfortable with playing my SG, though.

Is there one guitar or guitars you’ve had for a long time that means the most?

I have had two ’76 Ibanez Rocket Roll guitars for a long time – one since 1980 and the other since 1989. I’ll never get rid of those guitars. They were modeled very closely after the original 1959 Gibson Flying V, and Gibson ended up suing Ibanez because they copied it so close. Those Ibanez guitars from ’75 and ’76 were far better than what Gibson was making at the time, which was their biggest motivation to sue.

The other one is the ’64 SG, which I will keep until I die as well. I was once asked why I take that vintage guitar on tour. In 20 years of gigging, I have put some wear and tear on it, but my answer to the question is that guitars are meant to be played. I’m not a guitar collector that just hangs guitars on the wall. I only own five electrics and one twelve-string acoustic, but the three I described above are the ones that mean a lot to me.

What’s next for yourself and Trouble in all lanes?

Trouble is in the midst of recording an album right now, and I also have my own project that is about 60% done. I’m looking into some options as far as a singer for it, but that is currently on hold while we work on the Trouble record. As for touring, so much has changed over the last couple of years in the entertainment business, and not necessarily for the better. Hopefully, economics and other things will turn around so that bands like us can tour like we used to.

Bruce Franklin of Trouble: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2023

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