Green Day Guitar Rig Tour with RJM Music

[@rockgibson14]

i always love how much attack green day's guitar tones have in them

[@thepepper5093]

For those asking about the Blues Driver, my guess is it's used as a boost when Billie takes a solo like on "Know Your Enemy" (after Jason). According to Guitar Player, here's some more info on Billie's rig: Clean and Mid bypass the Marshalls' preamps and goes to the 3+SE, Big is both Marshalls without the 3+SE and Big Effect turns on the BD-2.

[@Geekstinkbreath123]

"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."-Mike Dirnt

[@rjmmusic]

@Billiewhat13 The mod that's done to the amp is called the Dookie mod, because they did the mod at the time they were recording Dookie. They still use the same mod today - no changes that I'm aware of.

[@rjmmusic]

It's a modification done to Marshall Plexis and JCM800s that is part of Green Day's sound. LA Sound Design does the mod.

[@danyeo]

Green Day has always had a great crunchy Marshall tone.

[@rjmmusic]

Yes, we hope to do an update next tour!

[@TheOnetimerMusic]

Hope you do one more on the next tour:) I really enjoy this Green Day rig tour !

[@rjmmusic]

@HaydenAottg The clean and mid sounds are coming from the 3+SE preamp, which is switched in using the RG-16 audio switcher. If I recall correctly, the Boss Blues Driver is also switched in for mid-gain sounds (like the first few chords of American Idiot).

[@Revieweverything100]

Hey man, these are Billie's amp settings Presence : 7 Bass : 5 Middle : 4 Treble : 7 Master : 5 Gain : 6

[@MartinAchtelik]

SOLO: A Star Wars Story OFFICIAL !

[@miseryparty3726]

wrong

[@rjmmusic]

@bluepingu345 That's an input selector, built by Bob Bradshaw. Now replaced with one I built for them. :) It switches between all of Billie Joe's wireless units (he has one per guitar) and selects which one is currently on.

[@rjmmusic]

@pedrosaura I'm pretty sure that that's what the CAE preamp is for - to provide a less intense distortion.

[@rjmmusic]

@Winkler96 No, it's a 1959 SLP (the non-handwired version of the 1959 they made in the 90s and 2000s). A handwired could be modified in the same way though.

[@Rabidshore]

A preamp are used in a studio to power the mics and to get a cleaner signal from the guitar and the bass.. but i'm pretty sure its almost the same in a live situation (:

[@IrkonDigital]

thanks, id appreciate it. i saw some videos of them (mostly at the Good Morning America soundchecks) where you could better see the mics. it looks like half are with ribbon mics (can't tell positioning that good since it's at an angle) & the other half has dynamic & they look just slightly off center. right up on the mesh & just like 2" off to the outside of the cone. still s.o.l. on the settings though. you either have to see first-hand or actually focus on the amp w/o bouncing around.

[@DaylonWynn]

Would love to see Mike's basses/rig as well. Gotta show some love for the low end! ;D

[@MajoraMasks66]

I see Blue in the beginning. That guitar is fucking magic, all of that beer, pot, mud, and blood, and love, all made that guitar the best damn one Iv'e ever heard.

[@thepepper5093]

Currently, in terms of amps, just a Line 6 POD XT. I live in an apartment. Might be punk rock to play loud but there's nothing punk about an eviction notice. lol Guitars include a Strat and a Les Paul, 12-string acoustic, beat-up 6 string acoustic and 4 string bass. I'd say the amp sims, a lot of them being accurate, are a great way to experiment with and learn how amp/cab/pedal/mics work together.

[@rjmmusic]

Hans, their tech, tells me that they use standard Marshall 1960B and 1960BV cabs. He says they're old and beat up and that's why they sound good. :-)

[@rjmmusic]

The Dookie mod is similar, but not exactly like the crunch mod. Martin the modder tells me that the Dookie mod was made more for recording (even though they're using it live, too.) The lead mod is the normal L.A. sound design lead mod as far as I know.

[@kylelc17]

the little green screens at the bottom are the receivers for the wireless transmitters on the guitars. from there it goes to the Marshall heads and to the cabs

[@DavidRaphaelSoto]

When will you guys do an update? They've already started touring! :)

[@anthonysclafani3963]

He's using a delay for Holiday? Never would've guessed that

[@rjmmusic]

@clust90 I don't know exactly what is done, but it's an extensive modification of the amp's preamp for more gain.

[@thepepper5093]

That makes the two of us. I've been toying with the idea of getting a BD-2 with a Keely mod.

[@rjmmusic]

First step is to figure out what amps, effects, etc. you need. What sounds are you trying to get? Get all the gear picked out first and make sure you like the way it sounds before going further. Then you can work on the details of getting it all in a rack and connecting it to a switching system (if needed).

[@rjmmusic]

The Marshall heads are modded for more preamp gain - it makes them sound more ballsy and, well, angry! The power amp sections of the Marshalls are not modded as far as I know, and neither are the CAE preamps.

[@Seabee156]

This time the tech guy wasn't chewing his gum, obnoxiously...

[@KeeperOfPoops]

like in Chris Kies' interview with him, Chris Schleyer and Eden Galindo

[@rjmmusic]

I don't know the settings but will try to find out. The Blues is only on occasionally. I don't know about the mic position. Will try to find that out too.

[@rjmmusic]

It's a combination of 1960B (G12-75 loaded) and 1960BV (Vintage 30 loaded) cabs

[@rjmmusic]

@Winkler96 Standard Marshall 1960B cabs, I believe.

[@fdxx00]

@greenNroses Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, most of the time with the marshall 1960 cab. He also has the gibson tom delonge signature that has only a gibson dirty fingers at the bridge. He now uses AC30's with AVA.

[@rjmmusic]

Start with a Marshall, and you're most of the way there already! A hot rodded Plexi would be best, but you can get there with most any Marshall.

[@Equestional]

@greendayrokr actually the CAE is a preamp, not a marshall. its called the CAE +3 preamp. its the white 2 space unit with 3 channels, sounds awesome. the marshall mods were done by Golub.

[@STEMOSbruder]

it would be great if they wold show billies guitars!

[@itsGoboboy]

Please explain to me the mod, the preamp out and power amp in, are the two heads combined driving the signal?

[@Matt-Rowe]

@IrkonDigital the cabs facing forward are just for decoration, all the sound is coming out of the backward facing cabs... on-stage they dont need to hear whats coming out of the cabs because its going through their in-ears, so they point the cabs actually hooked up to the amp-heads backwards so it doesnt come through the vocal microphones (:

[@kylelc17]

@ROBandTHEfuzz you see the yellow wire covers? all the cables are hidden inside and under it. the pre-amp that runs from the marshall heads are all connected then run to the cabs.

[@rjmmusic]

Those are 1959SLPs, modified by Martin Golub of LA Sound Design.

[@rjmmusic]

@pedrosaura I think you'd be able to get that sound with a pedal - a more classic sounding overdrive or distortion pedal should be able to do it. Try a few at your local music store - it shouldn't be hard to accomplish.

[@IrkonDigital]

on my list to buy asap

[@ZaynAli416]

@rjmmusic is it possible for you to tell us his amp settings

[@rjmmusic]

The Blues Driver is way more versatile than it sounds. It's really good at making solos fatter and thicker sounding.

[@jordandedomusic]

@rjmmusic Oh, that's cool then. The first guy just seemed really crabby or something. God, I'd love to have that job! Cool video and cool rigs!

[@siavashmassoudi]

In case if anyone was wondering what pedal jason in this is an RC booster pedal

[@rjmmusic]

The techs do the changes for them - it's a pretty common thing to do for big bands these days.

[@2cooldoyle53]

@Rjmmusic What mics do they use on their guitar cabs

[@2cooldoyle53]

How are the guitar amplifier mics positioned

[@AnyTechReviews]

Awesome, thanks!

[@rjmmusic]

@J3PPISH 2009 at a pre-tour rehearsal, Viejas Arena in San Diego.

[@2cooldoyle53]

@rjmmusic Shit dude really sweet! I took his advice on my marshall amp and it actually made it sound better thanks .

[@rjmmusic]

@t0psecretshit They also use it to switch between the Marshalls and CAE preamp, and I think they use it to control the channel switching on the CAE as well (not 100% sure on that last part).

[@silentcypher]

@FerSalem117 I read in Guitar Legends (I think that's what that magazine was called), Billie said that what they did was that they recorded it with just the distortion effect, strumming at each count. After recording only they used the tremolo effect from the recording program. He said they did it that way so there won't be any inconsistencies. I manage to get it on my POD XT Live. I set the tempo to the song, tremolo effect set to 16 beats (forgot what's that note called XD)

[@yutuubfreak]

@IrkonDigital bands have been doing that forever. kiss never had there marshall cabs loaded in the 70's. back then it was for the look now its to keep the mix clean

[@Rabidshore]

I'm pretty sure Jason has a tremolo pedal from boss (:

[@rjmmusic]

@seeker909 Yes, they use 1959SLP Plexi reissues modified by LA Sound Design.

[@IrkonDigital]

@xlMooCowlx ok that makes sense. i thought that he was saying that the mics were facing away because they were testing the vocal mics at that moment. i didn't put it together because i thought they miked the rear facing monitors to broadcast through the rest of the PA speakers. certainly they mic the cabinets to broadcast the sound from the guitars on the rest of the speakers? and what are all the forward facing cabs for then? any sound they broadcast could end up in the vocal mics.

[@Nico_TVC]

can you give me the settings ? Love his tone, I have a Plexi 1959 Reissue with the cascade mod, I think that is like the dookie mod!

[@Panholzer1]

Green Day tour's coming up in a couple of months - are you guys planning on a new in-depth rig rundown then?

[@horrorguy16]

@clust90 The silver ones are Condenser mics

[@redbulletlive]

Wish Billie would show a video of Blue. That'd be awesome =D

[@rjmmusic]

Yeah, I don't know what exactly he's using for, but the pedal does give a fatter, more midrangy sound regardless of what you're playing.

[@rjmmusic]

They're 1959SLPs (JCM1959 reissues)

[@IrkonDigital]

not bad... i wouldn't mind tinkering with one of those. i was originally using a Harmony 28w amp but that doesn't provide gain. i added a distortion pedal but it's not the greatest. but i have this old Behringer 15w V-Tone with modeling for UK amps and cabs and i plugged that in and cranked it up... it's pretty good at modeling the SLP! don't let the small size fool ya. i run that into a receiver, then out to some big speakers and it's pretty impressive after adding the pedal. still tuning

[@itsGoboboy]

It sounds like the two marshalls are both modded differently, perhaps the crunch mod and lead mod?

[@yutuubfreak]

@gitaard those are the imput cables to the amps.

[@rjmmusic]

Those are Shure wireless units.

[@Hollywood5STL]

I think its actually a "pignose" one of those little battery operated travel amps. U can get the sound with an EQ pedal with highs and lows cut out.

[@rjmmusic]

Not 100% sure, but it sure looks like them. They've been using those modded Marshalls since Dookie.

[@rjmmusic]

The mod adds more gain and aggressiveness to the preamp.

[@jeosterberg]

Wich venue was that,and what year? :D

[@fidalginator]

Hi, I'm an avid Green Day fan and have a Green Day cover band. I love this video. I'm aiming for Bilie Joe's sound buying his Les Paul Junior, RG16, the CAE 3 Preamp and 1959 SLP w/ Dookie Mod by Martin. The only thing that I can't figure out are the amp settings. I've been experimenting with the amp, but to no avail. I was wondering if you guys had any sort of photos of his Marshall heads or any sort of contact with Hans Buscher or Greg Howard. I could really use your help. Thanks, David.

[@macshune]

Do you have both the Dookie-modded 1959SLP amd SE Lead-modded 1959SLP plugged into the same stereo cab?

[@IrkonDigital]

@hansblooey that would be awesome. thanks for the info man!

[@BrandonKent136]

ok cool thank you so much. im in the market for a new amp and dont want to spend too much on a marshall head but still want a green day sound. but ya ill do the 1960 cabinets for sure. i just need some type of marshall head that is cheap and has a good green day sound. do u have any recomendations?

[@thepepper5093]

If you're talking about an actual tube amp, then probably any 100 watt amp that has 3 12AX7s in the preamp and 4 EL34s. Since one of Billie's amps are modded for more preamp gain, you could probably stick an overdrive pedal in there to get more preamp gain. If an actual tube amp isn't a strict requirement, then I had some pretty good luck getting a Green Day type sound with my Line 6 gear.

[@AnyTechReviews]

No guitars or Jason's pedalboard? Maybe next tour :P

[@rjmmusic]

I'm sure they'll do whatever you ask for - if you want the 100% same exact mod, I'm sure they'd do it for you. Give 'em a call! Tell Martin I sent you (Ron from RJM) and tell him that he needs more work to make sure he stays out of trouble. :-)

[@fidalginator]

@rjmmusic Hey Ron, do you have any pictures of the amps or contact with Hans. I've been desperately searching for the settings of these amps and all I've gotten are blurring pictures and very vague answers. I've spent a lot of time, money and patience in getting this exact rig together. I sent Hans some messages through KZbin, but seeing that he hasn't logged on in 2 months, I don't see him answering any time soon. Any tips on the settings? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, David.

[@yutuubfreak]

i just saw some pictures of billies rig. its bigger and alittle different. im wondering if this is the new one or if the pics i saw were newer.

[@Doomerscroller25]

Are you guys going to do an update one and see some of their guitars this tour?

[@rjmmusic]

@ROBandTHEfuzz No, the amps are connected to the cabs in the normal way.

[@ImpThaW]

@goooooogy he uses a switch in the circuit and i believe he has different presets for both heads all put together in one switch

[@IrkonDigital]

Ron, a few questions pls... could you tell what the EQ settings are for Billie's Marshall? i've eyeballed the video trying to see the little black dash for where the knobs are set (at least for Jason's) and can't figure it out. lol im guessing they never change his EQ since it's covered. is the Blues on 100% of the time? also, could you tell where the mics are positioned on the cabs (centered or off)? i noticed when he switched the controller, there were never more than 3 sets on the RG16.

[@greendayforever2k9]

I think it's an EQ pedal with the mids boosted and bass and treble cut.

[@Rabidshore]

Well. they got the money.. Great music is not always about being sick at guitar (: if it sounds good it is good

[@yutuubfreak]

@rschilch i have no idea but i can take a random guess. looks like 2 mics on each cab and the black one looks like a shure sm7 B that ive seen videos of mick jagger and james hetfield recording with in the studio. as for the silver one idk. maybe a neumann? im sure greenday can afford those.

[@Matt-Rowe]

@IrkonDigital yup, purely for show, they probably don't actually have any electrical components / speakers inside, i think its just a cab with nothing in it just looks good :P

[@61SGman]

Greenday use ruffly the same amps as AC/DC

[@mefmef21]

i think the back ones will be miked quite low, to capture the tone and send it out through the p.a but dont know about the others. i imagined they were to give the front rowers the on stage sound. not channeled through a speaker to their sides. :S

[@Θανος-ι6φ]

Do the Marshall Dookie mods have EL-34 or 5881 tubes?

[@motor4832]

@hansblooey is it true that Billie's bridge pickup on blue is the Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck Jr? several different websites say that so I was wondering if its accurate.

[@ZaynAli416]

@rjmmusic Does Billie Joe only use the blues drive for effects and then all the distortion is from the amps? Also does he use the same dookie mod for all his other songs or are there other mods because when he plays american idiot it sounds different and then when he plays dookie stuffs it sounds different and then when he plays 21st century breakdown it sounds different

[@HandsomeMrMoe]

@HandsomeMrMoe I would greatly appreciate any advice on what the Gain, EQ, Master, etc. should be set on. Any advice on how to simulate the modded preamp stage used by Billie? The tone i'm going for is going to be used for "Welcome to Paradise." I need that kind of pulsing, crunch sound, if that describes it :p I'm not sure if I want to get all over-driven or not. P.S. I think that my "UK 90's" preamp is much more gain-y than the standard Marshall super lead head. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP

[@conkerjb09]

I wish I knew what size speakers they use for recording. I'm love Billie's tone and am trying to decide between a 4x10 combo or a 2x12 combo.

[@rjmmusic]

@RevolutionRock101 @rjmmusic I'm pretty sure it's just a splitter like a y-cable.

[@BrandonKent136]

wow your fast thank u so much

[@ZaynAli416]

@hansblooey could you please tell something about the black les paul jr like which year it is from. And also can we use an eq pedal instead of a preamp. And when you say billie's tone comes from his hand, do you mean where he hits the strings, and how hard he hits it?

[@itsGoboboy]

@hansblooey Hey, can we get the EQ settings on the amps? Thanks.

[@gitaard]

where ends the patchcable in jasons heads at 2:07? thankyou

[@2cooldoyle53]

@hansblooey Okay thanks that helped! But whered you get that info?