NIGEL TUFNEL

'Nigel Tufnel' (1945-) is the fictional lead guitarist of the rock band Spinal Tap featured in the 1984 mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap''. He is played by actor Christopher Guest.
Nigel's hobbies include collecting guitars; particularly noteworthy is his un-played unlooked-at foam green six string Fender Bass VI. He also plays mandolin, piano, and does backing vocals. He is currently writing a classical piece in D minor which he claims is the 'saddest of all keys' and is provisionally entitled 'Lick My Love Pump'.
Nigel has a great love for Gumby, carrying a figurine in his shirt pocket and wearing Gumby shirts frequently. He is also a self-proclaimed 'fish nut', liking cod and canned tuna because it has 'no bones'.
Tufnel was born in Squatney, East London. He got his first guitar from his father at the age of six, a sunburst 'Rhythm King'. His life changed when he met David St Hubbins (played by the actor Michael McKean) who lived next door. They began jamming together in a toolshed in David's garden, influenced by early blues artists like Honkin' Bubba Fulton, Little Sassy Francis and particularly Big Little Daddy' Coleman, a deaf guitar player, and wrote their first song, (Cry) All the Way Home. Before long they had formed the Thamesmen and the rest is history.
Tufnel has stated that if he wasn't in the music industry he would like to either enter the field of haberdashery or become a surgeon: 'I like surgery'.

Contents

Soloing techniques

Quotes

Trivia

External links

Soloing techniques

★ Using a violin (as opposed to a violin ''bow'', as perfected by Jimmy Page) to play his guitar

★ Playing another guitar with his foot

★ Classical music inspired solos

★ Hair popping

★ Facial harmonics

★ Turning amps to 11, which is 'one louder' than 10

★ Playing another guitar from a distance using horseshoes (as in the Return of Spinal Tap)

Quotes

★ ''"You can't really dust for vomit."''

★ ''"These go to eleven."''

★ ''"I'm really influenced by Mozart and Bach, and it's sort of in between those, really it's like a Mach piece."''

★ ''"What are the hours?"''

★ ''"It's like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none, none more black."''

★ ''"What's wrong with being sexy?"''

★ ''"We've got Armadillos in our trousers. It's really quite frightening."''

★ ''"In D minor which I always find is really the saddest of all keys."''

★ ''"(When asked what his D minor song is called) This, this is called 'Lick My Love Pump'."''

★ ''"These amps go to 11. That's one louder."''

★ ''"If I wasn't in the band I would probably be working in habadasherie."

Trivia

★ In September 2002 the ''Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'' included the entry: "Up to eleven: Up to maximum volume", a reference to Nigel's amplifier that had controls that went beyond the usual maximum setting of 10.

★ In homage to Nigel Tufnel Marshall Amplifiers released a version of the classic JCM 900 amplifier head with controls from 1 to 20. The advertising material featured Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel saying "That's nine more, innit?"

★ In 2006 Tufnel appeared in an American television commercial for Volkswagen.

★ In the audio commentary for the 2007 film Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright jokingly refer to an actor who plays a convenience store cashier as Nigel Tufnel, pointing out his resemblance to the Christopher Guest character.

External links

★ The Ultimate Spinal Tap Discography - an illustrated guide to Tap's albums (both real and imagined)