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Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipment

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Dave Grohl became really well known as the drummer of the band Nirvana. After Nirvana he switched from drums to guitar and vocals in the awesome band The Foo Fighters. Let's take a look at some of the guitar gear and equipment that Dave has been seen using in his Foo Fighter's guitar rig.

 

CoolClick the gear images for more info and specs at Musician's FriendCool

 

Dave Grohl has had a very large collection of guitars over the years. Below is a good listing of the types of gutars that have graced his collection.

Guitars

- Gibson Trini Lopez (Gibson also made a Grohl inspired DG-335 model)

Gibson Inspired By Dave Grohl DG-335 Electric Guitar Pelham Blue

- Gibson Firebird Studio electric guitar

Gibson Firebird Studio Non-Reverse Electric Guitar Pelham Blue

- Gretsch Duo Jet electric guitar

Gretsch Guitars G6128t-Dsv Duo Jet With Fixed Arm Bigsby Black

- Ampeg Dan Armstrong model electric guitar

- Gibson SG custom electric guitar

Gibson Custom Sg Custom Reissue Vos Electric Guitar Classic White

- Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard 2013  Electric Guitar Translucent Amber

- Gibson SG electric guitar

Gibson Sg Standard Electric Guitar Heritage Cherry

- Fender Deluxe Telecaster electric guitar

Fender Classic Series '72 Telecaster Deluxe Electric Guitar Black

- Gibson Explorer electric guitar

Gibson Explorer Electric Guitar Heritage Cherry

- Gibson Les Paul Custom electric guitar

Gibson Custom Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar Black

- Gibson RD Artist electric guitar

- Gibson Marauder electric guitar

- Washburn Dimebag Guitar with lightning bolts

- Gibson ES-335

Gibson Custom Es-335 1959 Neck Vos Electric Guitar Faded Cherry

- Epiphone Riviera

- Gibson Dove acoustic guitar (he has the Elvis model)

Gibson Dove Modern Classic Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar

- Martin D28 acoustic guitar

Martin D-28 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Natural

- Robin Savoy Standard (according to Robin Guitars site)

- Taylor 814ce and 612ce flattops

Taylor 814Ce Rosewood/Spruce Grand Auditorium Acoustic-Electric Guitar Natural

- Dave Dearnaley custom V guitar, seen in Rope video (original built for Phil Campbell in the 80's)

- Gretsch White Falcon guitar

Gretsch Guitars G6136t White Falcon With Bigsby White

- Duesenberg Starplayer TV

- Custom Hugh Manson Guitar

 

Amp

- Fender Tone Master amplifier heads (x2)

- Hiwatt Custom 100 amplifier

- Custom Audio Amplifiers PT100 amp heads (x2)

- Mesa Boogie Road King (replaced the Vox/Dual rectifier setup in 2009)

- Vox AC30/6TB Top Boost Combo Reissue - 2x12

Vox Custom Ac30c2x 30W 2X12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp Black

-Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Head

Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier 150W Tube Guitar Amp Head Black

 


Cabinets

- Fender guitar cabs (blonde. 4x12. Probably tonemaster cabs.)

- Mesa/Boogie Straight Cabinets / 4x12

Mesa Boogie Rectifier 240W 4X12 Standard Guitar Speaker Cabinet Black Straight

 

 

Effects Pedals

- Boss DM-2 Analog Delay

- Boss DD-3 pedal

Boss Dd-3 Digital Delay Pedal

- Boss Chromatic Tuner pedals (x2) / Power Supply

Boss Tu-3 Chromatic Pedal Tuner

- MXR Phase 90 Phaser

Mxr M-101 Phase 90 Pedal

- Whirlwind A/B Selector

Whirlwind Selector A/B Box

- Rat distortion pedals

Pro Co Rat2 Distortion Pedal

- Dunlop Univibe pedal

- Electro-Harmonix Memory Man

Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man Xo Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal

- Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron

Electro-Harmonix Xo Q-Tron Envelope Filter Guitar Effects Pedal

- Dunlop Heil Talkbox

Dunlop Heil Talk Box

- Shure Guitar Wireless UHF-R with auto-assigning belt packs

- Keeley Katana pedal (pictured in 2007)

Keeley Katana Pre Amp Guitar Effect Pedal

- Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus

Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+ Power Supply

- THD Hot Plates (purple)

- Ebtech Hum eliminator

Ebtech 2-Channel Hum Eliminator

- MXR Smart Gate pedals

Mxr M-135 Smart Gate Pedal

 

 

Strings and Picks

- D'Addario EXL115 strings with .42 for the A-string and a .60 for the E-string

D'addario Exl115 Nickel Blues / Jazz Electric Guitar Strings Single-Pack

- Dunlop Gator Grip .70mm guitar pic

Dunlop Gator Grip Standard Guitar Picks .71Mm 1 Dozen

 

Drum Sticks

- Zildjian Dave Grohl Signature Drumsticks

Zildjian Dave Grohl Signature Drumsticks


 

Go to the next page for awesome pictures of Dave Grohl's guitar rig!

 

Comments  

 
-1 # Delay and phaserSteven hoare 2013-03-04 21:58
From the rig pics it looks as if Dave has his delay and phaser in front of his amp I.e. into the amp input rather than into the effects loop can anyone shed any light on this please? Thanks
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-2 # Re: Delay and PhaserJ Nightmare 2013-03-04 22:17
Yes, he also has a distortion pedal into the front
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-1 # RE: Re: Delay and Phasersteven hoare 2013-03-05 11:39
doesnt the delay and phaser come out all muffled when in front of the amp why does he do this?
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-4 # Boss DS-2Juan 2012-10-26 01:48
Does anyone know if Dave uses the Boss DS-2 distorion pedal? or if it works?
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+1 # RE: Boss DS-2Jared 2013-02-18 04:43
No. He never used it. He recorded the original with an original RAT. Kurt used the DS-2.
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+2 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentGuest 2012-09-01 01:30
What are the amp settings Dave used for each of the channels on the roadking. Also I'm trying to buy each one of Daves tour rigs from the colour and the shape to wasting light so can you please note on each item listed on which tour it was used.
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+2 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentJoe R 2012-04-15 21:07
On the tour the Foo's are doing at the moment he also plays a Custom Hugh Manson Guitar
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-1 # Dave's Duesenberg guitarFooFighter 2012-04-11 00:10
He's been using a Duesenberg Starplayer TV, for This is a call and Pink Floyd's In The Flesh! cover.

fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/.../...
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-1 # Taylor guitar ?Footos 2012-03-30 11:47
What kind of taylor guitar did he use this time :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqL-YNyxFd0 i think it's a taylor 814 but i want to know it exactlier .
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0 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentJimL 2012-03-26 18:31
Hello, this is an e-mail I've got from Dave Grohl's ex-guitar tech, Joe Beebe, on 24/03/2012.

"I'm not the guitar tech anymore. I'm production manager now and
unfortunately don't have time to fulfill your request. But I'll tell you
what I do know. Dave uses 2 amps to make 4 tones. He uses a Custom Audio
Amplifier (Bradshaw custom) to do the clean and blown out distort tone. He
uses a fender tone master to do low gain classic rock tone and High gain
classic rock tone. Each amp is a two channel amp. They both go through a
bradshaw custom switcher into a Fender 4-12. The switcher keeps a load on
the unused amp."
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-2 # Good possabilitySpud 2012-02-25 00:16
Quoting patrick:
do you know what pedals where used for the guitars in the song The Pretender


Id say that there was a little bit of delay running thru a super clean amp, like a voc AC30 and for the rock sound probably Dual rectifier for the rest of the song. Id say the intro guitar was a telecaster or a strat and not a humbucker guitar.
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-1 # HmmSpud 2012-02-25 00:05
Quoting Juan:
2 Questions:
1 does Dave use the orange distortion pedal from Boss?

2 Do you know if it's possible to buy the DG-335?


1. he may have at one point but doesn't now, as far as i believe.

2. You can buy the DG-335 second hand, here in the UK you usually find them for around the £6000-£6500 mark. dunno about the states.
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-1 # Gretsch White FalconRik 2012-02-24 22:44
In the music video of Monkey Wrench you can see him using a Gretsch White Falcon. And yes, I'm quite sure that he plays a White Falcon and not a Duo Jet, which is mentioned in the list. This website confirms it:
www.just-guitars.co.uk/.../

Rik.
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-1 # pedals for the pretenderpatrick 2012-02-23 22:12
do you know what pedals where used for the guitars in the song The Pretender
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-2 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentJuan 2012-01-31 01:15
2 Questions:
1 does Dave use the orange distortion pedal from Boss?

2 Do you know if it's possible to buy the DG-335?
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0 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentGfeller 2012-01-21 18:43
Quoting MMike:
What kind of studio mic does Dave prefer?

They used a Neumann U67 on There's Nothing Left To Lose.
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-1 # Just a thoughtSpud 2012-01-17 14:08
Quoting Conner:
what les paul does he use in the breakout video?


It lools like a vintage red 58 Gibson les Paul. Hope this helps a little
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentConner 2012-01-17 01:27
what les paul does he use in the breakout video?
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-1 # Studio Micuberproaud 2011-12-22 20:26
Quoting MMike:
What kind of studio mic does Dave prefer?

As reported in Electronic Musician mag, Dave uses a Bock 251 mic in the studio for vocals :)
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentMMike 2011-12-22 14:50
What kind of studio mic does Dave prefer?
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentParker 2011-12-13 14:41
Quoting Jonathan:
HUGE FAN!!! What is the black acoustic that Dave plays?

It's either that elvis sign. or a gibson songwriter
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+2 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentJonathan 2011-12-13 11:45
HUGE FAN!!! What is the black acoustic that Dave plays?
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+1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentRaff 2011-12-12 22:39
are you sure that the pick that he uses is that one?
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0 # EverlongSpud 2011-10-27 12:25
Does anyone know the guitar he uses in the everlong video cheers, I think pat smear uses the same guitar but not in the video. I hear pat plays custom hagstrom guitars :sigh:
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0 # Re-EverlongNightmare 2012-12-18 12:27
Quoting Spud:
Does anyone know the guitar he uses in the everlong video cheers, I think pat smear uses the same guitar but not in the video. I hear pat plays custom hagstrom guitars :sigh:


In the actual music video, Dave uses his 1990 Les Paul Custom (ebony with rosewood fretboard.) Pat used some hagstrom swede and he has a custom shop model also.
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-1 # L.E.S lightingxcfvgbn 2011-08-27 14:52
I worked lights on their last tour and dave has added an mxr carbon copy analog delay to the pedalboard and has an Olympic white american deluxe hss strat that he only uses as a backup. He only used it twice on the whole tour
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+2 # New guitar gear pictureuberproaud 2011-07-21 15:50
Hi all. Just added a new Dave Grohl 2011 Foo Fighter guitar rig picture (pedalboard) to the rig page!
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-1 # Other HeadJ-and 2011-06-16 16:23
He has been using a Hiwatt Head, maybe you can add it :lol:

I Think is a Hiwatt Custom 100!! :P
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+2 # Dave Dearnaley custom Vuberproaud 2011-04-18 15:48
Quoting roberto:
for the music video in "Rope" from wasting light you can see a Gibson flying V so add it if you can :P

It's a Dave Dearnaley custom V guitar. We added it to the gear list.
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0 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentNathan 2011-04-18 15:39
Quoting roberto:
for the music video in "Rope" from wasting light you can see a Gibson flying V so add it if you can :P

It's actually not a Gibson, it's some other obscure brand, I don't know what it is but I know it's not a gibson
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-1 # gearroberto 2011-04-17 21:39
for the music video in "Rope" from wasting light you can see a Gibson flying V so add it if you can :P
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-3 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentLuke 2011-04-17 07:16
In the booklet of Wasting Light you can see a Boss Ge-7 Equalizer.
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipmentdman 2011-04-07 14:36
acapella.harmony-central.com/.../page273

scroll down and it shows you close up pics of dave pat and chris pedalboards racks and guitars
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0 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentParker Rhea 2011-03-29 19:06
He's using Fendertone masters and a gibson flying V that was used on Motoerhead's Ace of Spade. I only know it has three humbuckers.
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+1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipmentdanny 2011-02-19 19:52
Nowadays they uses Fender amps..
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-2 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentBilly 2010-01-17 21:01
Anyone know what string gauge Dave uses?
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0 # EXL115uberpro 2010-01-19 10:02
Here is a quote from Dave's tech in Performing Musician 2009 mag: He also has to Frankenstein strings for Grohl because of the sheer heaviness of his live axe playing. "I use D'Addario EXL 115s, but I throw the bottom two strings away and I replace them with a .42 for the A-string and a .60 for the E-string", explains Beebe.
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-8 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentND 2009-12-13 17:42
You can see how Dave's time in Nirvana influenced his gear choices. He uses a lot of the same pedals Kurt Used.
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipmentjames 2009-12-14 09:52
what are you on about
kurt only ever used boss ds2 and ehx small clone and polychorus....dave doesnt use any of those
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-8 # He used the sam brands!NAD 2010-01-04 09:44
:sad: He uses a lot of the same brands of pedals Kurt used. Kurt used a a Boss Ds-1 and he used a lot of electro harmonix stuff too. And he also used a rat and so does Grohl. Of course their pedal boards aren't the same because the foo fighters aren't grunge
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-8 # The same brands?Pawel 2010-02-11 06:08
Quote from the www.foofighters.com FAQ says:
"Dave uses Rat Distortion Pedals, Boss Digital Delay Pedals, a Dunlop Univibe Pedal, and a Retrospeck Squeeze Box Pedal."
He uses amp distortion or a Rat. Cobain use Rat only in a studio for few songs.
Foo Fighters aren't grunge? I think Nirvana weren't strict grunge also, ... maybe on a first album only. The rest is indie rock with a little of grunge.
;-)
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentGuest 2009-12-12 07:48
anyone know what guitar he was playing...i cant remember the award show but it was a clear, electronics exposed guitar?
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentGuest 2010-01-05 23:59
It's the Ampeg listed up there.
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipmentmatthew 2010-01-20 20:14
its the ampeg guitar i forget the model number
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentaRAGman 2009-11-22 01:28
does anyone know what guitar dave uses in the resolve video?
i think i know what it is, but i can't find it on the internet anywhere.
fantastic list by the way.
thanks
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentOlli 2009-10-23 11:34
He also uses a Keeley Katana boost pedal as seen here www.bbandhisfob.com/.../DSC_0035wtmk.JPG - it's the little white one between the BOSS delay and the amp footswitch
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0 # drums?jack 2009-09-14 20:06
hey what about daves drums? i think they were tama but other then that i do not know
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0 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentGuest 2009-08-11 22:42
the mesa roadking replaced the vox/dual rec in 2002 and he also uses a keeley katana boost pedal now
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentJon 2009-07-19 14:19
Execellent list. Can anyone name an exmaple where the q tron is used?
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipmentamy 2009-03-22 14:08
Which guitar does he use in the Times Like These video..?
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+3 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipmentuberpro 2009-03-23 09:38
Looks like the Ampeg Dan Armstrong guitar in the video.
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-2 # Ampeg Dan Armstrong plexikyle 2009-08-20 00:54
This might not be the EXACT guitar, but I know it's the right brand.
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0 # Dave guitar on TLT videoLeonDave 2009-11-10 08:05
is the Gibson Trini López, in the shot of Times Like These UK
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-1 # Foo Fighterswareagle1807 2009-12-05 13:33
In american version he uses and Ampeg Ada6 in the UK version its the Gibson Trini Lopez
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentPiers 2009-03-05 13:01
Definitely now a Mesa Roadking MkII v 2 (almost exclusively in channel 4 - modern with the full suite of 4x6L6 and 2xEL34 selected) with a 4x12 Roadking Straight and 2x12 Roadking straight cabs.
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentGuest 2009-01-18 06:44
no daves grohl rig now is a mesa roadking boss tu-2 boss dd-3 mxr phase 90 and a 2nd tu-2 for acustic set blue gibson dg-335 standard tuning blue gibson firebird drop a black gibson dg-335 drop b and a elvis presley acustic
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-1 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentShredmonkey 2008-07-16 10:26
He's got a red trini lopez model and the blue one's his Dave Grohl inspired by model =]
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-2 # flangeKris 2008-05-05 17:37
in the song breakout what did he use for flange or was it the phase 90?
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-1 # MXRuberpro 2008-05-05 17:44
word on the street is that it was the MXR, but not 100% sure.
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+1 # RE: flangeGuest 2009-01-18 22:19
dave grohl uses the phase 90 for breakout set at 10oclock
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-1 # The One and OnlyNoiseBox 2008-03-03 09:22
He's got a blue firebird (about the same color as the signature) too. I can't remember if it's a studio or a firebird IV, tho (I was a little more than too drunk at the show to remember).
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+2 # GibsonUberProAudio 2008-02-28 08:03
The blue one you speak of may be a Gibson Trini Lopez signature model which the new Dave Grohl inspired Gibson DG-335 is inspired after. I'll include the DG-335 guitar in the list.
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-2 # RE: GibsonKris 2008-02-29 06:32
Thanks that was the one I was talking about.
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-2 # RE: Foo Fighters - Dave Grohl's Guitar Gear Rig and EquipmentKris 2008-02-28 06:54
So what kind of guitar is that blue one he plays lately?
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-1 # foofan829karl zerfoss 2009-06-03 13:24
his new blue one is the dg335 it has abody of the es335 but the neck of a firebird and head stock of a firebird
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