Ken Follett | Music | My instruments

My instruments

With Damn Right, at the moment I’m playing a Steinberger Spirit bass. It has no headstock – the machine heads are on the body, behind the bridge. I like it because it is much lighter than a regular bass. It has a neat, precise feel. My other favourite is a Warwick Fortress, a sturdy German instrument that sounds great and has taken a lot of bashing.

With ClogIron I dithered for a long time. I started playing a Fender Jazz, but it just doesn’t look right on stage with a folk band. I have a beautiful eighteenth-century double-bass that has appeared in several films. I have used it for recording with ClogIron. But it is very hard to get a big noise out of a string bass – which is why you see six or eight of them in a classical orchestra, all playing exactly the same thing.

When I was in Russia I saw a street trio with a bass balalaika. It was just like a regular balalaika, with three strings and a back like the underside of a rowing-boat – but huge. What impressed me was how loud it sounded. When I got home I went on the 'Net and found a UK company that imports them from Romania. I bought one, and that’s what I now play with ClogIron. I tune it E, A, D just like the lower three strings of a bass. It sounds terrific and looks good on stage, too.

I play regular guitars too, of course, though not on stage. I have two Martins, a Guild, and a bashed-up black Fender Stratocaster. My latest acquisition is a Blueridge, a very pretty Martin-style guitar that is a pleasure to play.

I have several of the short harmonicas that we call blues harps. I can play Bob-Dylan style, but I have tried and failed to learn to play real blues harp, bending and double-bending the notes in the 'wrong' key. I also fool around on the piano, and I have a reconditioned 1925 Steinway that sounds wonderful when played by my father.

With Clog Iron, playing a Steigenberger Spirit

With Damn Right members Ant Harwood, Floella Benjamin and Emanuele Follett. The Steinberger has a red ribbon around the neck as it was a gift from Emanuele.