Tom Morello's Rig

Tom's Gearbox

Whether in Audioslave, Rage or solo as The Nightwatchman, here's the gear Tom keeps close by:

GUITARS
“Arm the Homeless” Frankenstein guitar

The body is a Kramer Pacer that was routed so that the Floyd can go up and down. It contains EMG single coils in humbucker housing, Ibanez Edge Floyd Rose Tremolo, toggle switch, and a locking nut on a 22- fret Kramer neck.

1982 Black American Fender Telecaster “Sendero Luminoso”

“Whatever It Takes” custom Ibanez Galvador Acoustic
A nylon string acoustic guitar used during concerts as The Nightwatchman.

Ibanez Custom Talman
Three single coil pickups, an Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge Floyd Rose Tremolo, and the killswitch. He noticed that the guitar made a weird noise when the middle pickup was selected and the noise could be manipulated with the tone knob. Ibanez built him a new guitar with that internal noise.

AMPS + CABS
Marshall JCM 800 2205 50-watt head
Peavey 4x12 cabinet

PEDALBOARD

DigiTech Whammy WH-1 (original)

DOD FX40b Equalizer

Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah
Boss DD-2 Digital Delay
Boss TR-2 Tremolo
MXR Block Phase 90 Phaser
Ibanez DFL Flanger
Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2

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Drums by ZZ Top

The pix below are not in chronological order and in no way is this an exhaustive list of all their Drums. But it's still nice to see how the pros do it. IMHO Frank Beard is one of the most Under-rated Drummers ever.

Exhaust Pipe Drums

The RECYCLER TOUR

The Year: 1983 "ELIMINATOR"

Welcome to the Trailer Park

Still looking for the best in a Pro Series Pedal Board? Well then you haven't been to the Trailer Park.

Plexiglass tops allow for your choice of colors to shine through.

Classic Valve Amp - Now that's Old School

II-classic

15W Valve mono power amplifier

Introduction

A faithful reproduction of the original, the new Quad II-classic offers audiophiles the chance to recreate the spirit and atmosphere produced from one of the most famous amplifiers in audio history. The original Quad II was first launched in 1953, designed by Peter Walker. At the time, many of his contemporaries were also producing good quality valve amplifiers. The Quad II looked, in comparison, very simple and unassuming, but its performance was far beyond that which its diminutive dimensions might suggest. The property which set the Quad II amplifier apart from other amplifiers of the time was its output stage. It was arranged such that the cathode coupled circuit emulated the performance of triode operation, but with the size and efficiency characteristics of pentode operation. It was this breakthrough that ensured the Quad II was to remain in continuous production until 1970. Peter’s circuit, notably the design of the output transformer, has become the stuff of legend amongst electronics engineers. Studied and analysed by the finest minds in the industry, the elegance and coherence of the design is still regarded as a reference today.

Given the quite modest components of the day, he was able to engineer something which was quite literally greater than the sum of its parts. The Quad II-Classic has been recreated accurately with output valves and input valves the equivalent of those used in the original design. The same balancing act has been employed to ensure the same wealth of detail and gentle tone of the original. The output valves produce around 15watts per channel, operating in Class A which, although slight by modern standards, allows a gloriously sweet and refined sound with appropriately matched contemporary loudspeakers.

See more here.

Jimi's Rig

Effects During his career Jimi used many effects both in the studio and in live performance. For example, Jimi used many fuzz box units among which were the Arbiter Fuzz Face, the 'Axis' fuzz , and the Mosrite Fuzzrite.  Another effect that Jimi used and has since become synonymous with his name was the Vox wah-wah pedal. Jimi employed this effect on many of his studio recordings such as "Voodoo Chile (slight return)," and "Burning of the Midnight Lamp."  A third type of effect that Jimi used in the studio was a Leslie Speaker cabinet. This effect created the swirling sounds heard on studio tracks such as "Little Wing" and "House Burning Down."  The Uni-Vibe was yet another effect used by Jimi predominantly in live performance. This created a swirling effect quite similar to the Leslie Speaker cabinet, although it differed in that it had a speed control, unlike the Leslie cabinet. This meant that the swirling effect could be sped up or slowed down. This effect was employed on tracks such as "Hey Baby (The Land of the New Rising Sun)," "Earth Blues," and "Machine Gun."  A fourth effect Jimi used was the Octavia. This device, as noted by "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy," "gives the effect of a multiple mirror image of the actual sound," but phased inverted. So really it produces a sound that absolutely multiplies all the harmonics up, almost to infinity, so you get an extremely high tone out of it." The Octavia made it first appearance on "Purple Haze."  Finally, there is undoubtedly a plethora of other effects that Jimi used in the studio other than just the ones that were mentioned above but to name and detail all of them would take far too much time. The only thing left to be said is that Jimi Hendrix was enormously gifted and was one of the most brilliant musicians that has ever lived.  Most of the information on this page came from the book "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy," by Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek.   The Vox wah became an integral part of Hendrix's setup and he kept many Vox wah pedals in his collection of gear. According to Michael Fairchild, one of the earliest photos showing Hendrix using a wah pedal dates from a gig on August 15, 1967 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Almost all photos taken after that time show him using a Vox wah pedal, which at the time, was manufactured by Jennings Musical Industries Ltd. of Kent, England. This particular Vox wah pedal was used by Hendrix during his Band Of Gypsys period in 1969-1970. In 1970, it was traded to Stuyvesant Music, a New York City music shop (now long out of business), along with a burned Stratocaster. The guitar and pedal were exchanged for another instrument. As a fan of Hendrix and a budding young guitar player himself, the owner's son kept this pedal and it still remains in his personal collection. The bottom of the pedal is marked "J.H. EXP" in black marker, written across a strip of red electrical tape. This was a common ID used to mark much of the personal stage gear belonging to members of the Experience. Jimi's Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face Jimi's Roger Mayer Octavia - Uni Vibe Prototype  Jimi's Vox Wah-Wah Pedal Jimi's Jax-Vibra-Chorus Pedal  The Hendrix Rig Several photos taken by photographer Joe Sia at a gig on December 31, 1969 clearly show Hendrix's chain of effects and the order of setup for that particular show. His setup would sometimes vary and it is believed that the type of Fuzz Face pedal he was using (as described above) had a lot to do with where it was placed in the effects chain. Sia's photo shows the Vox wah as the first pedal in line from his guitar. The wah was connected to the Octavia prototype pedal (marked "Octavio"), then linked into the Fuzz Face, followed by the Uni-Vibe, and finally plugged into a Marshall amplifier and matching 4x12 cabinets. (Due to technical difficulties I had to replace the original photo. This was the best I have been able to find. You can still see Jimi's chain of effects and amps but I'm not sure if it is in the order as described.)