GREEN DAY
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.
"Those pickups are great for the strummy stuff," says Schneider. "They compress in such a cool way, yet everything stays really clear. That's what Billie digs about them." 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.
When Green Day hits the road, Armstrong will be playing a '57 Les Paul TV Junior on tunes from Warning and Nimrod. For everything from the band's preceding records, however, Armstrong will trot out "Blue" -- a Fernandes Strat copy he has owned since he was 11. "That guitar is in semi-retirement," says Schneider. "The neck has been refretted so many times, and the last time we refretted it, it was tough -- there's not much fingerboard left." Armstrong will also use Fender Custom Shop guitars that sport Tele bodies, but are built to Blue's specifications. They share the same neck profile and weight, and the Seymour Duncan JB humbucker is slanted at the exact same angle.
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. -- DF
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