EQUIPMENT

BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG - GUITAR

Guitars:
~ Fernandes Stratocaster (Blue)
~ Fender Stratocaster
~ Fender Stratocaster Custom Shop
~ Gibson ES 135
~ Gibson Les Paul Junior
~ Gibson Les Paul Special 59'
~ Gibson Standard SG
~ Gibson Les Paul Junior TV 59'
~ Fender Telecaster 68'
~ Fender Jazz Master
~ Fender Telecaster Custom Shop
Acoustic Guitars:
~ Guild D-55
~ Taylor 514C
Amplification:
~ Marshall Super Lead 100 WATTS
~ Fender Bassman
~ Hiwatt Custom 100
Additional:
~ Duplex Tortex .76 - .88mm Custom Plecks
~ Ernie Ball Super Slinky Strings

Notes:

Billie's guitar is a Fernandes Stratocaster copy he calls "Blue". On Nimrod he also used some Gibsons, some old Les Pauls, an ES-355, an ES-135 and a Fender Jaguar. He also made a guitar he calls 'Frankenstein' because it is a combination of several different parts purchased at a Fender shop. He has a Seymour Duncan humbucker added to Blue.

Billie mainly plays through a modified Marshall amp. On Nimrod he used a Fender Bassman, a Hiwatt, and a Leslie. The amp he used on Dookie is most commonly referred to as the 'Pete' amp and can be seen most noticeably at the Woodstock concert; it has 'Pete' written across it. Pete was recently spotted being used at some of the small 21st Century Breakdown preview shows in San Francisco and Oakland.

When asked about what brand his acoustic guitar is, Billie says: "I don't know, one with strings and a hole in the middle!" Billie says a lot of his sound comes from strumming. "I use my thumb. It's that half-pick and half-thumb that gives it that thwack. Also, I don't play with my wrist; I play with my shoulder and hit it really hard."

MIKE DIRNT - BASS

Bass:
~ Gibson G-3
~ Fender Precision '66
~ Fender Precision '69
~ Mike Dirnt Signature Fender Precision
Amplification:
~ Mesa Boogie MB2000
Additional:
~ Duplex Tortex .76 - .88mm Custom Plecks
~ Ernie Ball Super Slinky 0.09 Strings

Notes:

From Guitar World: "On this record [Nimrod], I used Precision basses because my old Gibson G-3 didn't sound good with the new songs. I used a '66 and '69; they have a real warmth on the low end. For this record I knew we weren't going for the huge guitar sound; this gave me more room to get in there. I needed to play a real punchy bass on the old records because the guitar frequencies where everywhere and I needed to get right in the middle. I recorded Dookie with a Precision bass too."

"I use Mesa/Boogie amps, MB 2000's. They're half-tube and half-solid state. I wanted to custom-make my own sound, and Mesa/Boogie was really willing to work with me. They made me 6 x 10 cabinets, and we put those on top of a 1 x 18. I think I'm nailing it. I have an MB 2000 running each one of my 6x10 cabinets and then an MB 2000 running both of my 18's."

TRE COOL - DRUMS

"My favorite Zildjian cymbal is my 19" K Dark Crash Thin. It's the workhorse
of any set up for me, live or in the studio."
Quote from Tre Cool, 2009, in Zildjian's Z Time magazine.

American Idiot Drum Set

Drums: Ludwig Classic Maple Kit
(Silver Lacquer Finish and Purple Shadow Finish)
Tre is most often seen using the Silver Lacquer finish drum set.
~ 18" x 22" Bass Drum
~ 10" x 14" Rack Tom
~ 16" x 16" Floor Tom
~ 16" x 18" Floor Tom

Snare:
Noble & Cooley - 7" x 14" Classic SS Series Maple Wood
Ludwig - 6 1/2" x 14" Black Beauty Snare
Tre has used Noble & Cooley snare more often than Black Beauty.

Drum Heads: Remo
~ Coated Powerstroke 3 (Snare Batter Head)
~ Coated Emperors (All Toms Batter Heads)
~ Clear Ambassadors (Resonant Head For All Toms And Snare)
~ Clear Powerstroke 3 (Bass Drum Batter Head)
~ Ebony Powerstroke 3 (Bass Drum Resonant Head) with the AI logo on it.
Sometimes Tre can be seen using a coated head as a resonant head for his rack tom.

Cymbals (used live): Zildjian
~ Hi-hat: 14" K/Z Dyno Beat Combination OR 14" A Mastersound/K Dyno Beat Combination
~ Crash 1: 19" K Dark Medium Thin Crash
~ Crash 2: 19" A Medium Thin Crash
~ Ride: 22" A Ping Ride or 22" K Ride
~ Crash Ride: 20" K Crash Ride (We suspect an unknown Bosphorus was used before the K)
~ China: 20" Oriental Classic China or 20" Oriental China Trash
Where two options are listed, Tre most often uses the cymbal listed first.

Cymbals (used to record the album): Zildjian
~ Hi-hat: 14" K/Z Dyno Beat Combination Hi-Hats
~ Crash 1: 19" K Dark Medium Crash
~ Crash 2: 18" A Medium Crash
~ Ride: 22" A Deep Ride and 22" A Ping Ride
~ Crash Ride: 21" A Sweet Ride and 20" Vintage Avedis Ride
~ China: 20" Oriental Classic China
Thanks to Zildjian for providing this list when requested.

Timpani: Ludwig
~ 23" Timpani
~ 26" Timpani

Pedal: DW 5000

Hardware: DW

Sticks/Bag: Zildjian
~ Tre Cool Artist Series Drumsticks
~ Tre Cool Artist Series Drumstick bag

Other Equipment:
~ Shaker - Put on a remote Hi-Hat stand, it is used only in the song Wake Me Up When September Ends to make the "sshh"
sound for the intro of the song. The remote pedal stays on the left side, next to the actual Hi-hat stand.
~ Tambourine - Also used only on Wake Me Up When September Ends, it makes the "Tshin!" sound on the intro of the song.

Click here to see a diagram of Tre's American Idiot drum set.

21st Century Breakdown Drum Set

Drums: Leedy Custom Set
(White Marine Nitron Finish)
Since the 1960's, Leedy no longer makes drum sets. Leedy now belongs to Gretsch. Tre asked the owner to build him a
few custom made sets.

~ 16" x 22" Bass Drum
~ 9" x 13" Rack Tom
~ 16" x 16" Floor Tom
~ 16" x 18" Floor Tom

Snare: Leedy
~ 6.5" x 14" Broadway Standard Snare

Drum Heads: Remo
~ Coated Emperor X (Snare Batter Head)
~ Coated Emperors (All Toms Batter Heads)
~ Clear Ambassadors (Resonant Head For All Toms And Snare)
~ Clear Powerstroke 3 (Bass Drum Batter Head)
~ Smooth White Powerstroke 3 (Bass Drum Resonant Head) with the Green Day logo in 21st Century Breakdown font.

Cymbals (used live): Zildjian
~ Hi-hat: 14" K/Z Dyno Beat Combination
~ Crash 1: 19" K Dark Medium Thin Crash
~ Crash 2: 19" A Medium Thin Crash
~ Ride: 22" A Ping Ride
~ Crash Ride: 20" K Crash Ride
~ China: 20" Oriental Classic China

Pedal: DW 5000

Hardware: DW

Sticks/Bag: Zildjian
~ Tre Cool Artist Series Drumsticks
~ Tre Cool Artist Series Drumstick bag

Click here to see a diagram of Tre's 21st Century breakdown drum set.

Last Updated: May 3, 2009

Thanks to Alexandre Ziolkowski and Alex Khristov for the thorough updates to Tre's section.
Thanks to Simen Linderud for sending in the Z Time magazine quote from Tre.

More updates to follow regarding Tre's equipment on earlier albums.