Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 22

RE-20 echo, Boss Digital Delay, and a Line 6
Verbzilla.
van Dyk: I don't use much... mostly the
Marshall's distortion channel and a couple
pedals Jesse had lying around. Live, I never
use effects because as a rhythm player, I don't
really need them. Maybe that's why I've always
been a big fan of Mick Ronson.
Bunskoeke: I use a Tech 21 SansAmp, an
Electro-Harmonix Bass Preacher compressor,
and a tube radio for rough edges.
One of the highlights is your duet with
singer Peter te Bos on "Lovesick." How'd
that come about?
van Dyk: We've known Peter since the late

'80s, and in the early '90s we shared practice
space with his band. While recording "Love
Sick," we lowered the pitch of one of my
backing-vocal tracks, and we said, "It sounds
like Peter te Bos!" So, we called him, and we're
very honored he did the duet.

"Digital Sin (Nr 7)" is another highlight,
but it's a bit out-there.
Peter: Joppe and I were jamming a lot,

Go Dutch!

B

ettie Serveert is still going strong, 25 years
after bursting on the scene in Amsterdam
at the height of alternative rock.
Palomine, its acclaimed debut, mixed
fuzzy riffs and folky jangle with engaging
vocals by singer/guitarist Carol van Dyk.
And while most contemporaries have long
since hung it up, the Betties - van Dyk,
guitarist Peter Visser, bassist Herman
Bunskoeke, and drummer Joppe Molenaar
- continue to release well-crafted albums
of melodic, punchy guitar rock. Its latest is
called Damaged Good.

Did you do anything differently for Damaged Good, in terms of writing or recording?
van Dyk: Every album is new adventure,

and our daily life has an impact on our songs.
We don't sit down and say, "Let's write a song."
Sometimes, a song will write itself and all you
have to do is let it happen. Peter and I had
done a project with [producer] Jesse Beuker in
Australia in 2009 (Me & Stupid), so when we
heard he built a studio in Amsterdam, we went
to visit. Shortly after, we started recording.
Which guitars did you use?
Visser: A Gibson SG 1968 with a 490 in

the neck and 498 in the bridge, both now
with Alnico II magnets, a Frankenstrat with
great-sounding '70s Strat-style pickups, and
a pimped-out '75 Ibanez Les Paul copy with
Gibson '57 Classic pickups, Grover tuners, and
cavities filled with mahogany.
van Dyk: I played my '99 Rickenbacker
Jetglo 360, my mid-'70s Fender Starcaster,
and Peter's Dixon acoustic. For "B-Cuz," I
borrowed Peter's SG.
Bunskoeke: My workhorse, a '69 Fender
Precision I found on a wall in a little studio.
I was lucky.
What about amps?
Visser: I used a Marshall JCM 900 Dual

Reverb Top with a Framus 2x12" FR cab and
a Vox AC30 reissue.
van Dyk: Mostly a Marshall JCM 900 4x12,
but I also used Jesse's Twin-Reverb.
Bunskoeke: In the studio, I plug straight
into the mixing board, and live I use a Fender
Bassman with an Ampeg 4x10.

And effects?
Visser: My pedalboard has a Boss Tremolo,

an '80s Ibanez Tube Screamer and Yamaha
DI-01, a Zvex Fuzz Probe, DigiTech Whammy
5, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Boss Tuner, Boss

VINTAGE GUITAR

22

September 2017

What's the vintage-guitar scene like in
Amsterdam?
Visser: There are, relatively, a lot of vin-

tage shops in Holland. In Amsterdam, there
are three used-gear shops I visit on a regular
basis - but not too often because the urge to
buy might get the better of me!

Are you planning to tour the U.S.?
van Dyk: We'd love to, but we have day jobs

and pay for everything ourselves, so won't be
able. Never say never, but any foreign artist/
band needs a work permit, which is expensive
and takes about five months to get. And if you
get denied, you don't get your money back.

Twenty-five years together is a huge deal
for a band. How does it feel?
van Dyk: We're really grateful there's still

an audience that wants to hear us play, because
at the end of the day, they decide whether we
can tour! The fact that Peter, Herman, and I
have been close friends for more that 30 years
is probably the main reason we're still together,
because we're family. A dysfunctional family,
but still, a family. - Kathleen Johnson

Bettie Serveert: Sjors Schuitemaker.

BETTIE SERVEERT

and we recorded all of that. It sounded like an
abstract piece of prog-rock until Carol added
vocals and shaped the chord structure.
van Dyk: I totally didn't get Peter and Joppe's
idea. I've never been good at jamming, but I like
writing songs. So I listened, then asked, "What's
the beginning, what's the middle?" At home,
I'd recorded a rough demo of "Love Sick" and
there's a specific melody I play in the bridges
that's basically the same as when the first verse
starts in "Digital Sin." Peter and Joppe mainly
wrote the first half, and I added the last half!
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