Musical equipment
In an interview about guitars in 2008, Homme claimed to own an amount of guitars close to 35, adding that only 3 of them were "really good". He also declared that he purposely did not have a Fender Stratocaster or a Gibson Les Paul, but that he's always in search of intriguing, unique guitars, which are not always generally accepted as "quality" guitars, but are nevertheless great to use. He said that he tends to buy "weird, Japanese" guitars, or guitars that are already "scarred" and thus have a story.[34]
Kyuss-era gear
Guitars:
Homme is very evasive about his guitar equipment, choosing to either change the subject or even lie when asked about his setup in interviews.[35] However it has been established that Homme owns three 1984 Ovation GPs (one sunburst, one black, and one red),[36] and that he often downtunes his guitar to C standard.
• Ovation Ultra GP - Homme owns three 1984 Ovation GPs (one sunburst, one black, and one red).[36] The sunburst finished GP were also modifed with a string through body and fitted DiMarzio Super 2 pickups. The black one has been fitted with a Tune-o-matic bridge.[37]
• B.C. Rich Mockingbird - Used up until Blues for the Red Sun.
• Gibson Les Paul Goldtop
• Gibson Les Paul double-cut Finished in a very rare cream color, later owned by Dave Catching.
• Gibson SG - Cream color finish.
Amplifiers:
• Peavey amplifiers - Used during the early days of Kyuss.
• Marshall amp with Ampeg bass cabinet - Used from Blues for the Red Sun.
• Tube Works amplifiers with Ampeg bass cabinets. - Used during the later years of Kyuss.
Queens of the Stone Age-era gear
During the tours up until Lullabies to Paralyze, Homme mainly relied on his Gibson Marauder, his Epiphone Dot, Maton M503 and M524 along with his Ovation GP's. For the Lullabies to Paralyze and Era Vulgaris recording sessions and tours, Homme retired his GPs, and almost exclusively plays semihollow guitars. He is also listed as a user of Seymour Duncan's SH-11, SHR-1b and SH-1 guitar pickups.[38][39]
Guitars:
Homme performing on the Lullabies to Paralyze tour, during which he almost exclusively used semihollow guitars.
• Motor Ave BelAire - The first ever BelAire model was sold to Homme's longtime collaborator Alain Johannes, a few weeks later Homme ordered one for himself in a black finish and with a silver scratchplate.[40] The guitar was also Homme's main guitar during the recording of Era Vulgaris.
• Ovation Ultra GP - Homme used his GP's until the Lullabies to Paralyze tour.
• Maton MS503
• Maton MS524
• Maton MS520
• Maton BB1200 - "Betty Blue" in Black, Blue, Red Wine and a Tobacco sunburst with Scroll Tailpiece.[41]
• Maton BB1200JH - The new Josh Homme signature guitar based on his favorite Maton, fitted with custom wound "Hommebuckers" and a trapieze tailpiece.[42]
• Maton MS500 12 string - Developed by Maton in collaboration with Homme, available in standard[43] and deluxe[44] versions.
• Maton MS526 - Equipped with Bigsby vibrato.
• Gibson Barney Kessel Signature . Barney Kessel's signature guitar, produced between 1961 and 1974.
• Yamaha SA503 TVL - Bandmate Troy Van Leeuwen's signature semihollow guitar in black finish, equipped with three P-90 pickups and two three way switches.[45]
• Teisco '68 V-2 - An unusual Japanese guitar that "wishes it was a Fender" originally purchased by a friend of Homme in Boise, Idaho.[46]
• Epiphone Dot - A cheaper version of the Gibson ES-335 launched by Epiphone in 1958.
• Gibson Marauder Custom - A short-lived solid body produced from 1974 to 1979 , designed to compete with Fenders single coil guitars.[47]
• Gibson SG
• Ampeg Dan Armstrong - A rare Plexiglas guitar featured in the "Sick, Sick, Sick" video.
• Hagström HJ-500 - A reissue of the jazz box originally designed by Jimmy D'Aquisto and Hagström.
• Gretsch Corvette - Used during the recording of Lullabies to Paralyze.
• Gretsch Spectra Sonic - Also used during recordings.
• Christocaster - A crucifix shaped guitar. Built from church organ pipes and a neck salvaged from a pawnshop fire. Built by Chicago guitar builder Fred Mangan.[48]
Pedalboard includes:
• Dunlop QZ-1 Crybaby Q-Zone
• Electro Harmonix POG
• Electro Harmonix Bass Micro Synth
• Lovetone Meatball
• BOSS GEB-7 Equalizer
• BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive
• Aqua Puss Analog Delay
• MXR Phase 90
• Whirlwind Selector pedal
• Smart People Factory Overdrive
• Smart Peoples Factory Distortion and Fuzz Box
• Ernie Ball Volume Pedal
• SIB Echodrive (x2) • Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah
• Fulltone Fat-Boost
• Fulltone Ultimate Octave
• Maestro MPF-1 Parametric Filter
• Matchless Hotbox
• Z.Vex Super Hard-on
• Klon Centaur
Amplifiers:
Homme on stage.
During the early days of QOTSA much of his late setup from Kyuss was still being used, later Homme turned more towards Ampeg amplifers and cabinets.[37] Throughout his career Homme has experimented a lot with different combinations of amplifiers, cabinets and settings, here is a list off some of the equipment he has been known to have used.[37][49][50]
• Ampeg VT-22 120 watt amplifiers with V212 4x12 cabinets (x3)
• Ampeg V-4 amplifer (x2)
• Ampeg V-4B - Owns both an amplifer and a combo version.
• Ampeg VT-40 - One top mounted, pre 1972 and one panel mounted circa 1974.
• Ampeg VL502
• Ampeg 4x12 ST-42L Colossus cabinets
• Vintage Fender Black Face Bassman
• VOX AC30
• Gibson Amplifiers - Homme is known to own at least three.
In addition to guitar, Homme frequently plays a Yamaha SA-70 semihollow body bass on songs such as on "Burn the Witch" and "Long Slow Goodbye," as well as every track on QOTSA's debut album except for "You Would Know" and "Give the Mule What He Wants" as well as piano and keyboard under the pseudonym "Carlo Von Sexron". Homme also plays the drums with Eagles of Death Metal, on The Desert Sessions as well as on some QOTSA tracks. He has also occasionally played lap steel during the Desert Sessions.
