Nigel Tufnel

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Nigel Tufnel 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 the actor Christopher Guest.

Nigel's hobbies include collecting guitars, (particularly noteworthy is his unplayed, 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," 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.

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
Playing another guitar with his foot
Classical music inspired solos
Facial harmonics
Turning amps to 11, which is "one louder" than 10.

[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 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."

[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.