Chino moreno
1 1996GIBSON SG STAN DARD
“This guitar I use for pretty much everything, with the Eazy-E sticker. I fuckin’ love it, to me it just feels so perfect and comfortable. When I started playing guitar, I actually started out on one of Stef’s six-string Jacksons… I still have it! I started playing pretty late, we were already a band, and it’s what I used to write Change, Digital Bath, RX Queen, et cetera. After that ES P sent me their Viper model, which is their version of the SG, and as much as I liked it, I always wanted a real SG. As soon as I got this, I loved it – the weight distribution and how light it felt. I would play Les Pauls loving how they sounded and felt, but they felt so heavy and awkward to me. This SG is the most comfortable guitar for me, and I’ve broken this one many times – my tech has kept it breathing and in great working order. Compared to my backup, it feels better, maybe it’s a mental thing because it’s an older, more original piece of work.”
2 GIBSON SG STAN DARD
“This one is slightly different, though very similar in feel. The body on this one is a little thinner. I bought it from Guitar Center. It’s a great guitar, though not quite my number one. I’m working with Epiphone right now, and they’re hopefully going to make me a version to the exact specs of my main one. I also have a couple of Yamaha guitars, though I haven’t started using them properly yet.”
3 ORANGE DUAL TERROR
“My main rig in the States is actually a Rivera Tre Reverb with EL 34s and Rivera backup. I wanted a Rivera out here and to use an Orange Dual Terror backup, because I couldn’t afford to have loads out with me, but it was too late. So right now, I’m running the Dual Terror set as close as it can to a Rivera – who are a small boutique company. I have this other project called Palms, and our other guitar player Cliff was using Rivera. One day I just plugged in and thought, ‘Holy shit!’ They’re based in Burbank, right where I used to live so I called them to see if I could try some stuff out. I bought it right there and then! It was pretty pricey, because they’re a small company, but it was so good and so loud. I bought the 100-watt and I’ve got a 50-watt now. So when I came back to Deftones, I walked into rehearsal and Stef wasn’t using any cabs at that stage. I was 10 times louder than him and he got so pissed! ‘C’mon man, what the fuck are you doing?’ And I said, ‘But listen to how awesome it sounds!’”