New GDA Project - Equipment - Please Contribute Information

[~Homecoming]

this is really neat that you are trying to find out what they used on each record. i've been wanting tp see a specific list. thanks a million for doing this!

[Scotty Did]

i can help give me a little bit

[Marie_GD]

Nobody Likes You by Marc Spitz tells the detailed story about Blue. And it also tells the story of Billie's first guitar!

If you don't have the book, I can write down and send you the parts where he talks about any of their instruments.

[Boston]

I will not be able to make any contributions to this topic. Sorry.

[Guest Brian]

Ok, I've been trying to think of some more gear that Mike has. Here goes,... most of this is from memory.

80's G&L L-1000 natural with rosewood fretboard [used with Frustrators]

G&L L-1000 later model in black with rosewood fretboard [used with Frustrators]

70's Kramer 250B [natural with white pickguard and distinctive aluminium neck with "fork" headstock - used around 98'~]

Gretsch Broadkaster Bass [This was mentioned in an interview in a bass magazine around the time of the AI release. Apparently he was going to use it on a song or two live but that didn't seem to happen.]

Fender Custom Shop Hot-Rodded '51 Style Precision Bass [This was mentioned in an interview. It was the precursor to his signature bass. He requested a '51 style bass that had the split pickup and they sent a completely black hotrodded bass with a pickup designed for Tim Commerford (RATM & Audioslave). According to him it was too powerful to use with Green Day but he still kept it.]

Takamine Acoustic Bass (model unknown) [used on the Bridge School Benefit gigs]

I'm sure I'll remember more stuff sometime... Gettin' old and it's gettin' harder!

I'll dig up some details I have on Mike's amp and effects setup tomorrow. That's one thing that bugs me about the equipment pages, the setup on there is about 10 years old! He hasn't used Mesa Boogie since before Warning!

Also, someone mentioned above that Billie Joe had an Ibanez. I have/had a poster from a magazine with him playing one. No idea where it is now but the guitar was a mid 90's Ibanez S540LTD in blue with sharkfin inlays. I remember because I had the catalogue with it in it and I wanted one!

[Scotty Did]

I saw a mag once and and it had a pic of billie with like a tone of guitars all on and around him, I'll try and find it

[rymenocerous]

I will not be able to make any contributions to this topic. Sorry.

haha same.

but it would be sweet if someone could look at the recent studio clips and see if they can determine what Green Day is using for the new album.

[Scotty Did]

Should I just mention guitars I know Billie Joe's used? If so, here it goes (I'm excluding everything that's already up on GDA):

Acoustic:

Gibson J-45

Yairi (that's all i know of the name)

Gibson J-200

Semi-Acoutic:

Gibson ES-335

Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins (I think so)

Electric:

Gibson Les Paul Standard '59 Flame-top Reissue from 2002 (Nickname: Booty)

Gibson Les Paul Standard (Ebony, different from the one above)

Gibson Les Paul Junior '56 (Floyd)

Gibson Les Paul Junior Double-Cut (White)

Gibson Les Paul Custom ('57 i think) Black Beauty w/ original P-90 pick-ups

Gibson Les Paul Billie Joe Armstrong Signature

Gibson Les Paul Goldtop

Gibson SG (He's got Junior, Special Faded)

Epiphone Les Paul Junior (During Knowledge, gives away)

Squier Stratocaster (During Knowledge, gives away)

A Blue Ibanez, not sure if it's his

Here's a bit more Info:

Green Gear by guitar tech Bill Schneider

"Billie is into using whatever sounds good," says long-time Green Day guitar tech Bill Schneider. "He loves his original guitar, 'Blue,' and his old Marshalls, but he's not tied down to that stuff." On Warning, Armstrong relied on a Gibson ES-135, a late '50s Les Paul Jr., and a '59 Les Paul Special -- all loaded with P-90s.

Other guitars used on Warning include a '68 Fender Tele, an '80s Les Paul ("Waiting"), and a Fender Jazzmaster (for the cool clean tones on "Warning"). For the glut of acoustic tones, Armstrong relied on a Taylor 514C and a Guild D-30.

"You can hear the difference between those two guitars real distinctly," says Schneider. "The real full, chimier sound is the Taylor -- like on 'Warning' and 'Hold On' -- but on tunes like 'Macy's Day Parade' and 'Misery,' the more focused, chunkier sound is the Guild."

For amps, Armstrong used a variety of heads and combos. "All of the half-clean/half-dirty tones are a mix of Billie's reissue 100-watt Marshall Super Lead (with a Bob Bradshaw gain mod) and a blackface '64 Fender Bassman head," says Schneider. Both amps run through Marshall 4x12 cabs loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. The record's clean-yet-tough tones are courtesy of a Hiwatt Custom 100 through a 4x12 Marshall. "The tune 'Deadbeat' is a good example of the Hiwatt," relates Schneider. "That amp is super-clean and doesn't break up at all." A '50s Gibson GA-30 combo was used for all of the lead breaks on the record, and a Line 6 Flextone was pressed into service for tremolo tones.

A '57 Les Paul TV Junior on tunes from Warning and Nimrod (live Warning Tour).

From his Shure Wireless, Armstrong's signal goes to a Bradshaw Custom Audio Splitter. His signal is then split three ways. Two outputs go to dual 100-watt Marshall Super Lead heads -- one known as "Pete" and the other called "Meat." Both amps sport gain mods by Bob Bradshaw, with Meat having slightly more gain. "Each of those amps through its own 4x12 cab makes up his main distortion sound," says Schneider. A third output from the splitter goes to a Custom Audio Electronics Three Plus preamp for his clean tone, which is powered by a Marshall power amp. The only effect is a Colorsound tremolo.

From an interview with Bill Schneider (by Gibson I believe), Warning Era. I edited it a bit, he talked about some other stuff to.

The TAylor used on the Warning is the same guitar used to record Good Riddance. but i don't believe it is Billie's I think it's Rob's, cause I heard that MCR used it on one of their albums

and his ES-135 has P-100's not P-90's, and I think it was a Gibson GA-40 not 30, and the Bassman I don't know the uear but it Was a blackface threw a MArshall cab

mike used a Mesa/Boogie 2x15 and Sunn and Ampeg heads on Warning in Tandem with a little Yamaha 2x12 guitar amp

Billie had 2 main guitars on AI. his '56 Les Paul Junior (same one from warning) which was played threw a vintage 100-watt Park amp with a master volume modification by Bob Bradshaw. Chris Barnett further modified the amp and rebiased it for a beefier yet tight-voiced tone. the Park was billie's main amp for the album.

I took tha from the GW interview that was reprinted in Guitar Legendes.

I have the insomniac interview some where But I can't find it and I'm kinda pissed and a little scared that it's gone

[Scotty Did]

On Nimrod Mike used P-Basses. A '66 and a '69. for Amp's it was Mesa/Boogie. They made him some 6x10 cabs and they put those on top of a 1x18. He had a MB 2000 running to each 6x10 and the a MB 2000 both of his 18's.

The grouch was recorded with a Les Paul Jr. running through a really heavy Marshal and on redundant he was running threw a leslie

[Eirik]

I saw a mag once and and it had a pic of billie with like a tone of guitars all on and around him, I'll try and find it

I think I've seen a pic like that, from the Dookie-Insomniac era I think. It said "Though trying his damnest, Billie still hasn't broken any of his guitars" or something like that.

[Peter.]

I've read somewhere that Mike used to play on a SUNN amp. Don't know what model though.

Heres an interview with Mike from the Warning Era:

http://gc.guitarcenter.com/interview/greenday/

Basses:

1963 to 1974 Fender P-Basses, mostly ash bodies

Gibson G3

Gibson Ripper bass similar to the Grabber with a Bill Lawrence pickup system

Amps:

I used Sunn amps on our last record and they were incredible. I used them and my Mesa/Boogies.

I use a Mesa/Boogie M-2000 head

I run one amp to two 18"s on the bottom. And then I run one M-2000 each to two 6x10s.

Acoustic 6x10 cabinet that I have

Mesa/Boogie 6x10

[Guest Brian]

I've read somewhere that Mike used to play on a SUNN amp. Don't know what model though.

As far as I know it was a SUNN 1200.

This became the Fender Bassman 1200 Pro when Fender bought out SUNN. They just rebadged it. Mike currently plays through these along with a Bassman 800 Pro.

[The Disappearing Boy]

this should be cool, good luck with it, although i don't think i can add anything.

[British Idiot]

I think the 2 amps "Pete" and "Meat" are pretty interesting and played a VERY important part in the creation of the Dookie and Insomniac sound. Also worth noting that the Pete amp was also used by Rancid for recording And Out Come The Wolves...

[Eirik]

I now have the Metal Hammer magazine with the information about their instuments. I just have to find the damned thing. (I really need to get some type of order in my room)

[British Idiot]

Apologies for restarting an old thread.

I'm a massive equipment geek - and wanted to share what I spotted.

As discussed above Green Day recorded Dookie on an amp belonging to Rob Cavallo which Billie Joe loved. He then got his own copy of it made and called it PETE. It's identified by the word PETE spray painted across it. Most noticeably at Woodstock 1994 (just next to Mike's knee)

Well probably no one else cares, but it made me smile to notice that Billie Joe is loyal to his equipment. If you look at this picture of the gig at the DNA lounge April 2009, you can see a bright red amp in a cabinet. It's painted bright red, but look at it closely and you can make out the letters faintly. P - E - T - E!! PETE lives and is still bringing us Billie Joe's guitar sound. Woo! I love that amp.

(Next to Jason's butt)

(Above the guys arm, to the left of Jason's guitar)

[localinsomniac]

ok here it goes of the top of my head, it's going to be rather sloppy

As far as Billie goes, there's Blue a Fernandes Strat Copy (pretty much just like a real Fender, including the headstock), now Billie covered it up with stickers an put a Bill ----(forgot the name) humbucker on the bridge only to change it later to a Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB humbucker, now billie also made various fender copies of blue and also some other strats: a red strat (97 toronto, alley concerts) a natural (Drunk new years eve) and others

He used blue on all the records till Insomniac (or nimrod) and blue remaining in use till 2004? (not sure, as far as 2002 has been confirmed), as far as Fender goes, he has a couple of Tele's, a jaguar, a jagmaster, a toronado

As far as gibson goes: he used a 135 with P-90 pickups on fashion victim

He also has Floyd : a 56 Les Paul jr with a single P-90 pickup (billie's favorite)

A TV yellow Jr used on the Warning tour (with a JB on bridge)

A lot of SG's without the tone and volume controls (just a single volume control)

a black and white SG used on the Reading Fest

He used a Les Paul Standard on American Idiot

That would be a Bill Lawrence

As for the other Strats, do we know those belong to him? The one he used for Good Riddance that NYE looked more pink, and I heard actually belonged to Carson Daly.

Is that black/white SG you mention the same one he used on the Craig Kilborn Show? They played Maria that night.

I would build a list of all the guitars/basses/amps he and Mike have used on all the albums, but it looks like you've pretty much nailed it!

EDIT: Sorry for not realizing this thread was so old! It's worth mentioning that Billie used a Fender Jagstang on Insomniac in addition to Blue.

[J'net]

That would be a Bill Lawrence

As for the other Strats, do we know those belong to him? The one he used for Good Riddance that NYE looked more pink, and I heard actually belonged to Carson Daly.

Is that black/white SG you mention the same one he used on the Craig Kilborn Show? They played Maria that night.

I would build a list of all the guitars/basses/amps he and Mike have used on all the albums, but it looks like you've pretty much nailed it!

EDIT: Sorry for not realizing this thread was so old! It's worth mentioning that Billie used a Fender Jagstang on Insomniac in addition to Blue.

I don't mind you guys posting in this old thread. The project hasn't been completed yet. Andres and I have discussed putting the information in a database, which we still need to design. Also, neither of us is an equipment geek, so we need all the help we can get with QA. If any of you wants to look at the equipment page on GDA and tell us anything you see that's incorrect or anything that needs to be added (you could put it in this thread) that would be very helpful. I've enjoyed all the discussion in this thread, and I would really like to do a nice job of the equipment page. We're also going to need some new information regarding the new album and tour as soon as we can start figuring it out.

Thanks to everyone who's helping!

[Juan]

That would be a Bill Lawrence

As for the other Strats, do we know those belong to him? The one he used for Good Riddance that NYE looked more pink, and I heard actually belonged to Carson Daly.

Is that black/white SG you mention the same one he used on the Craig Kilborn Show? They played Maria that night.

I would build a list of all the guitars/basses/amps he and Mike have used on all the albums, but it looks like you've pretty much nailed it!

EDIT: Sorry for not realizing this thread was so old! It's worth mentioning that Billie used a Fender Jagstang on Insomniac in addition to Blue.

Yes, that is the SG, at the end of the video Billie throws the guitar into the air and I'm not sure, but he might have cracked that neck

[fashionvictim86]

I'd like to take this opportunity to say Thank you for taking this project J'net....so I don't have to. I had enough trouble finding out info the first time I did that crappy page.

[J'net]

I'd like to take this opportunity to say Thank you for taking this project J'net....so I don't have to. I had enough trouble finding out info the first time I did that crappy page.

Wow, I don't think it's crappy, and I'm impressed that you found out so much! It's not an easy project ... we can compare notes in our later days .

[fashionvictim86]

Wow, I don't think it's crappy, and I'm impressed that you found out so much! It's not an easy project ... we can compare notes in our later days .

LOL I actually do not remember when I did that page. I think maybe Matt was still part of the team and he helped out. It just wasn't that important.

I think the tabs section could use more to it, I wanted to mention it to Andres but I forgot because he's been a spoiled brat and flyin' about the country to see my boys.

[J'net]

LOL I actually do not remember when I did that page. I think maybe Matt was still part of the team and he helped out. It just wasn't that important.

I think the tabs section could use more to it, I wanted to mention it to Andres but I forgot because he's been a spoiled brat and flyin' about the country to see my boys.

Uhm, our boys, Courtney ... .

And I agree about the tabs section.

[Juan]

oh yeah, Billie's now using a TV Yellow Les Paul Special Doublecut for half step down songs and his white LP jr for standard stuff.

Jason is using Les Pauls

[GreenDayChannel08]

I don't know much about tre's drums but in Dookie era it was DW, then in Insomniac it was Ayote

Then from nimrod till warning Slingerand and on AI-present Ludwig

Well, here's the most detailed info I could find on Tre's drums:

Slingerland drumkit, the "Spitfire". It consists of a 18x22 Slingerland Bass drum, a 5 1/2x14 Slingerland Radio King Snare, a 6 1/2x14 Chrome snare, an 11x14 Slingerland mounted tom, and a 16x16 Slingerland floor tom. Though the Spitfire comes with Slingerland cymbals, Tré still uses a 19" Zildjian K Dark Thin Crash on the left, a 20" Zildjian A Medium Ride on the right, a 22" Zildjian K Heavy Ride on the bottom right, a 14" Zildjian K Medium Top, 14" K Medium Heavy Bottom Hi-Hats, and Zildjian Super 5B drumsticks. He also uses Remo Power Stroke 3 on his snare and bass drums, Remo Coated emperors on the tops of his toms, clear ambassadors on the bottoms, and Remo Falam Slam Pad on the bass drum.

Hope this helps some.