Nigel Tufnel

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Nigel Tufnel is the lead guitarist of the rock band, Spinal Tap, featured in Marty DiBergi's 1981 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. He is played by actor Christopher Guest.

His hobbies include collecting guitars (particularly noteworthy is his unplayed, unlooked-at foam-green six-string Fender Bass VI), critical analysis of rock band riders and hors d'oeuvres generally, hats, and tennis. Nigel has a great love for Gumby, carrying a figurine in his shirt pocket and wearing Gumby shirts frequently. He also plays mandolin and piano (having written the classical piece in D minor (which he says is the "saddest of all keys") provisionally entitled "Lick My Love Pump"), and does backing vocals. 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, 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.

1 Soloing Techniques
2 Quotes
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Soloing Techniques

Using a violin (as opposed to a violin bow, as perfected by Jimmy Page) to play his guitar
Kicking another guitar
Classical music inspired solos
Facial harmonics
Turning amps to 11, which is louder than 10 by 1

[edit] Quotes

"You can't dust for vomit"
"These go to eleven"
"I'm really influenced by Mozart and Bach, and it's sort of inbetween 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?"

[edit] 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 800 amplifier head with controls from 1 to 20.
In 2006, Tufnel appeared in an American television commercial for Volkswagen.