Rig Rundown - The Offspring's Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman

Article and photos: bit.ly/OffspringRR
Just minutes before doors opened for the Offspring’s sold-out show at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman took a break from the pre-show madness to give Premier Guitar’s Perry Bean the details on his surprisingly high-tech touring gear.
Wasserman has been playing Ibanez guitars since the 1990s, and in 2003 the company released Wasserman’s first signature model, the NDM1-which is perhaps most notable for being wrapped in duct tape. The NDM1 that Noodles uses on the road these days features a DiMarzio Tone Zone bridge pickup, a DiMarzio PAF Pro neck pickup, and an Ibanez Evolution single-coil in the middle position. He also uses a 2006 NDM2 that uses identical pickups and has a more conventional black finish. The newest axe in Noodles’ touring arsenal is a 2012 tv yellow NDM3 with a Seymour Duncan SP90-1 neck unit and an SP90-2 bridge pickup. All his guitars are strung with D’Addario .011-.049 strings, and his preferred picks are Dunlop .73 mm Tortex.

[@kenobibryant1637]

I saw these guys at Warped Tour one year and they sounded AMAZING! and it was outdoors! as crisp and clear as listening to an album on headphones!

[@wodenoftheangles3339]

That's digital for ya.

[@cardbored_]

@@wodenoftheangles3339 sure but it’s also how amazing of a singer Dexter is live, it’s really incredible how close to the recordings he sounds. Their whole sound is dialed in.

[@larsulrich63]

Super humble guy. Their live guitar sound is always amazing.

[@blakjack3053]

Hell yeah the overdrive tones the offspring captured on their first album was frickin badass yo!

[@mbuckhannon]

Noodles is so cool! He just seems like a chill punk dude. And that yellow guitar with the p90's is killer. Makes me want to swap out the humbucker in my les paul for a p90.

[@gtndrums3689]

Malcom Buckhannon Yeah, but only if it could fit :p

[@mbuckhannon]

GTN drums humbucker sized p90.

[@gtndrums3689]

You're right haven't thought about that, but I like the soapbars more.

[@mbuckhannon]

GTN drums True me to. one day ill have a guitar with soapbars in it.

[@KevinLuper99]

POP-PUNK!!!

[@KMA-sm4oh]

Damn. Noodles seems like a sincerely cool guy.

[@jeff7764]

I met these guys at a show in Scranton PA back in 1999. I know everyone says this but, they really were the nicest guys to meet in person.

[@angus4life]

Noodles : Legend.

[@mmtot]

And now he is like hey, I'm punk, make your children wear a muzzle ,the government says so. What a phoney, Commiefornia liberal idiot. Britney Spears is more punk.

[@dlcolwell120]

Noodles is amazing. I love the offsprings music and Dexter still sounds awesome after 20 years.

[@offsrx]

Noodles is such a cool and great guy! Cool gear and a great guitar player! Go Noodles!

[@SakariKempas]

Did he just say "you're using Duncans on everything"? Those are Dimarzios on pretty much everything...

[@revolutionday1]

Sakari Kempas Exactly what I said.

[@splinteredmind88]

He's an old bean now!!

[@shawntyson4339]

splinteredmind88 You aint shitting!!!i am too lol

[@tee5152]

As much as I'm not a huge fan of the Fractal revolution that seems to be permeating through Rig Rundowns recently, you have to look at it through the eye of a touring musician. Kevin even says in this interview that the consistency night-to-night using an AxeFX is a huge influence for why somebody may switch from tube amps to digital. Yeah, it's not the same and he says here he prefers tube amps for recording, but for traveling the country/world it's nice to know you'll get the same sound each night. It's practical and one less thing to worry about on the road when a busted tube amp could create all kinds of issues.

[@bb-of3qz]

tee5152 Actually it is less about the musician and more about the sound people employed by the companies who put these tours together. The companies that do the sound dictates a lot of these decisions since they prefer to have consistency from venue to venue. The people selling the tickets want to provide as good a show as possible w/o all the variables that come with different bands and a bunch of different equipment. The more consistency they can get the easier the load in and load out is. The band is reduced to an act on the tour and thus must act accordingly. Sad but true, they don't have a choice in most cases.

[@tee5152]

Jj Jones Are you saying the bands/performers don't have a choice in most cases what gear they use? Sound people, FOH and otherwise, likely have no say in the process other than levels within the monitors and loudspeaker feeds...all of which will be sorted out during sound check. Plus, acoustics change from venue to venue pending many factors that would need to be compensated only once the sound check process begins. I think of bands like Periphery who apparently don't even use cabinets anymore. Think of how streamlined that process is...running one or two cables out to the FOH and having it mixed accordingly without worrying about mics and feedback and all the other good stuff that comes along with a live performance involving live amplified instruments. I may have missed your point entirely as it seems like you're implying the performers are simply puppets on the stage using whatever they're told will make the sound folks' jobs easier.

[@bb-of3qz]

Yes you have missed my point plus you even make my point in a few place along the way. Simply put, the use of Axefx solves many problems for those who put on shows for touring acts such as bands and other live events. As you correctly state, feedback and monitoring are only some of the important variables that are easily solved when you get rid of mics and cabinets. As far as Periphery is concerned I believe they started out going direct and since have incorporated cabinets due to the issue of sound quality for those in the front few rows ( this was mentioned in a previous rig run down about a half a year ago). So are the bands reduced to puppets? I don't know since that seems to be a subjective observation on your part but I will say that given a choice, most guitar players would prefer to have the interaction of a live cabinet on stage if they are playing heavy music. There are still tons of bands doing clubs that rock amps and cab's but if these bands were given a choice for a 6 month gig w/ all the amenities (commissary,transpo,book keeping ect.) that some of these tours provide, I'm sure they would dump their amps quick.

[@tee5152]

RastaSaiyaman That's an interesting story. When I was playing out regularly I was using a 5150 II stashed inside a bullet-proof road case for piece of mind, and rarely had issues with it. Lately I'm more inclined to use anything tube in the relative safety of my practice space/studio, but I have a 4U rack setup with a POD HD Pro that I've used for playing out and will continue to do so for the exact reasons you mentioning switching from the 900 to solid state. I also think the versatility factor is great with modeling versus tube amplifiers, but technology is enabling folks to still get great versatility from tube amps, and pedals help too, of course. I've been eying the Mesa Mark5:25 and hoping to demo one soon.

[@gingerleyham]

tee5152 The Mesa Mark 5 25's are great man!

[@reneproal]

Love the Rig Rundowns series. Please continue doing it!

[@brianrodgers4484]

Benjamin Carroll -- I totally agree. It's well past time for PG to start training their staff on these. Bring a laptop with Axe-Edit and ask to get some screenshots if they'll let you. Some guys may bristle, but if they would have shown you their analog rig they should be willing to show a few of their main presets. It's fine to let the artist rave a little bit about the consistency and all that they love about the Axe because it's still so new to see mainstream touring artists embracing it, but they're skipping what Rig Rundown should include. If -- as Noodles has -- the artist has gone all Axe, direct to FOH, the rack rundown should be nothing more than pointing that out, showing what power amp and cabs they use, and then moving on to the Axe layout. Similarly, if all that's on their board is a MIDI controller, point out what they're using, but don't spend much time there. 99% of Noodles' rig is what's INSIDE the Axe...the programming. Don't keep skipping over that.

[@FiveseveNp90]

Brian Rodgers I concur. People ar bitching about how "Axe fx make for boring rig rundowns" (sic), but that's only because they rarely go into how the units are actually being used. That's like doing a rig rundown but only showing pictures of closed flight cases.

[@yankee8seven]

Brian Rodgers Very good point!

[@Jo3M]

100% it would be like saying "yeah I'm playing an electric guitar plugged into effects pedals and an amplifier"

[@jasonedenilson]

ty segall rig rundown.

[@Thomas.harding]

Jason Edenilson yes

[@GRBAquatics]

I Was not expecting this to be such a Fascinating Rig Rundown. Thankyou everyone involved, So Very Cool. Cheers

[@AugustoHaack]

I was waiting this rig rundown for months!!

[@splinteredmind88]

Ditto. Would like to have seen dexters 550's before he switched

[@joshuagoodger2451]

Billie joe has 3 signature models... Les Paul Jr. Es 139 and acoustic

[@ericstigliano8597]

+joshua goodger technically 4. He has a single cut les paul jr, and when that was discontinued, Gibson released a double cut les paul jr. Then there's the ES and acoustic.

[@ralpherl5657]

those signatures are boring, Gibson are so lazy

[@utooberblooper]

thats what billy wanted,not what gibson wanted moron.

[@ericstigliano8597]

trillriff-axegrinder I agree. He liked 50s Les Paul Jrs (which are super simple guitars), so that's why he made that signature. Similar with ES-135 he has

[@WhooNiki]

Haha yeah I thought the same! I've the one he uses at Bullet in a bible. I love this guitar! Such an amazing sound

[@mmmbilly]

Please try to get a session with NOFX, all three rigs! I would love to know more about that Bass setup.

[@MyNamelsBlue]

Mike uses a danelectro DC bass, and has one for "Seperation of Church and Skate" that is tuned a half step down(?). And he uses whatever bass amp the opening band will bring or whatever is backlined.

[@Yohahn]

i saw a video recently and then Mike used a Mesa Subway. El Hefe uses a 50w 5150III from EVH and Melvin still uses his Mesa Boogie Mark 4

[@cardbored_]

Is NoFx still touring?

[@mmmbilly]

@@cardbored_ hell yeah, they are playing a festival in the Uk This weekend.

[@JulianCrisp94]

Noodles glasses are T H I C C

[@tommyholt3627]

P-90 - through all of our technological advances with the electric guitar, we're still reverting to a pickup introduced nearly 70 years ago in 1946.

[@myworstenemy680]

Fractal is the way to go for live shows. The studio is one thing, but there's no need for tube heads at a live event with today's technology. Smart setup.

[@KingBlonde]

Seen them live and you really couldn't tell the difference between them and other bands using mesas and such at a loud show. The only bands that really stood out were the once using VOX and more british voiced amps, but that's a whole different story from the tube vs axe fx thing.

[@Snowy0123]

I love Rig Rundown..

[@terminallumbago5582]

Noodles seems like a really nice man and a great guitarist too!

[@DrummingMoose]

They have to do a rundown of Dexter's gear

[@KingBlonde]

The same thing but louder in the mix lmao

[@TheOriginalGayman]

@@KingBlonde Dirrerent guitars. And i dont think he does his own "pedal pressing".

[@leavemealoneyouprick]

i like this interviewer, he seems like he actually wants to know about the gear rather than asking questions purely to create content. thats cool. noodles seems super cool too!

[@F3rnando666]

Finally!!!! Thanks PG

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

Perry is like the opposite of John Bohlinger. JB owns every guitar known to man (as he loves to remind us, bless him) and Perry has no experience of playing P90s. Poor innocent lad

[@themaggot8]

***** And yet Bohlinger acts like he knows absolutely nothing about guitar gear

[@Sansatilla]

Juan José Fonseca Godoy he's just probably playing dumb to make the artist feel better. Maybe he doesn't wanna come off as a snob haha

[@themaggot8]

Sansatilla Probably, but for example Chris Kies makes an excellent job at rig rundowns, kinda like Rebecca Dirks used to

[@yankee8seven]

Paul McCaffrey And Perry constantly interupts the artists.

[@kangaroofoot]

@@themaggot8 That’s what I love about John. He knows where to place a single sentence that expresses his understanding of what the artist is saying and keeps them engaged and excited. That takes intelligence. 🎉🎉

[@BasementEngineer]

8:08 Mr. Practical Punker! It's important to keep these things in mind when sharing your art form with the world, kids.

[@scrotzki789]

For anyone wondering on the Axe FX, channel 17 default is 5153 100w green channel, which is based on Fender 5150 III, so it's probably likely they used that as a starting point.

[@elpasomyk]

thank you for this!!! everytime i go to an offspring show, i try to peak over at his pedal.

[@shaneedmundson7506]

I'd love to see Rig Rundown's of Offspring guitarists Dexter and Todd Morse

[@AndyLarson666]

Noodles seems like a really cool guy!

[@MyNamelsBlue]

Love the Egerton nod

[@krisfrosz133]

Please do an updated Offspring Rig Rundown featuring Noodles, Dexter Holland and Greg K.

[@dlcolwell120]

If you haven't seen them on guitar center sessions. They are amazing.

[@ajk1989]

Nothing's more punk than a Starbucks sticker on the gear :-P

[@revolutionday1]

Adam Kingsley Then, they hung out with Carrie Underwood..... Ugh.

[@revolutionday1]

Das Wombat I'd say "I'm on-board!", but....I rent.

[@KevinLuper99]

They're not punk.

[@465marko]

Yep, advertising corporations is punk af

[@JoQeZzZ]

we have 12AX7's in Europe...

[@RockBassTv]

JoQeZzZ That's what I thought. People can get the same rig in every western European country...

[@danielvejmelka515]

RockBassTv eastern Europe too man ;)

[@fredmachine]

JoQeZzZ In Germany we call 'em ECC83, though.

[@danielvejmelka515]

In Czech we call them 12ax7s ;)

[@JorisGriffioen]

JoQeZzZ Yeah, he probably doesn't know that the vacuum tube was invented in England and the EL34 and EL84 were concieved by Phillips in the Netherlands. :)

[@TheShotgunMarriage]

Yeah, yeah. Yeah? Yeah, absolutely yeah. Yeah, that's killer. Yeah, i take that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Egnater, yeah! Yeah, no tubes in Europe, yeah. Dexter's yeah. Yeah, it's great, yeah. Yeah yeah, it's the same yeah. Yeah, make senses, yeah. Yeah, punk rock yeah. Yeah solos yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah? Yeah! That's killer yeah! Yeah, Cry baby. Yeah! Optical yeah. Sound yeah!

[@kimycola22]

TheShotgunMarriage That's Noodles summed up in one paragraph.Cool hair, Yeah, Yeah, More yeahs, Cramps T-shirt, yeah, 3 models by Ibanez, yeah.

[@Saintlife-nf9nj]

Yeah

[@onurhankocaman]

Hahahaha "yeah, punk rock yeah" lmao

[@mykimikimiky]

you know you know you know yeah you know yeah

[@SimBol1216]

You've basically just written an Offspring song

[@nickybareau3639]

Love the new guy doing rr he seems interested in the answers! more please! p.s i'm not the guys mom!

[@ricardoclemente3255]

sorry about my ignorance, but are those guitars Ibanez?

[@wodenoftheangles3339]

Yes

[@catalanguitar8280]

Guy is interviewing people for Premier Guitar and has no idea about P-90s???

[@ethanlll2876]

They always choose this guy for punk rig rundowns and he doesn't know about p 90s

[@KidNato]

@@ethanlll2876 Glad Noodles dropped some knowledge about the OG's that used P90s

[@thestuffmikedoes2309]

He did his job--he asked the question and let the interviewee explain his choice.

[@altrock86]

I dig straight forward kind of stuff. I have a guitar, overdrive, distortion and wah and that's it and amp. some people I jam with spend more time stomping 10+ pedals than playing guitar

[@Louquillis]

What a nice dude!

[@1thess523]

I didn't believe in these digital amps but i tried a Kemper i think it's called yesterday through an EV 15 monitor at Sam Ash yesterday and i couldn't tell the difference what so ever, it had the feel of a real head and cab. It really sounded like the real deal on every amp i demoed.

[@Marcones33]

Beautiful Electric Guitar XD

[@joshfoster1409]

he asked if p90's were "monophonic"....

[@CamRebires]

Dammit, his glasses get me every time xD

[@sameerbankar6073]

9:09 That Laugh.

[@robinmanneheut9139]

I like this interview ! No fancy gear but as Noodles said there is no need for it !

[@paulthegeek]

Robin Manneheut "no fancy gear"? ONE of those Axe-FX things costs more than my entire rig.

[@olympus_9470]

I saw offspring live in az Brufest it was awesome

[@carlos73]

8:23 Kirk Hammett Loves this part.

[@Nitrochamberlain]

Is it better for arthritis?would you recommend a certain. ..?

[@guilhordas]

I really would like to know how he matches tone from foh direct sound and real cabs

[@RobertFisher1969]

I love The Offspring. And if I were a touring guitarist, my rig would be similar. But it is weird to call it punk when there’s signature guitars, Axe F/X units, and concern for consistency. Just call it rock.

[@TheCpj1976]

That’s my biggest gripe about punk. It was invented as rebellion against the “constraints” applied to the music that came before it, breaking the rules, musicianship being irrelevant, supposedly a democratization of music. Hilariously enough, punk has adapted the same affinity for specific rules: have to play with shitty equipment, have to be unschooled, have to have your songs be 3 minutes or less, have to garb yourself a certain way, etc. For a genre that prides itself on breaking rules, it has a lot of rules for what is considered punk. You comments above exemplify that myopia.

[@RobertFisher1969]

@@TheCpj1976 Very interesting point! I’m not sure I agree, but that’s something to think about.

[@Manu_Santini]

I'm still waiting for kevin parker's rig rundown pleaaaaase

[@Bunjamin27]

More artists doing the rundown! :)

[@tworivers71]

This dude is so fuggin rock n roll its sick.

[@Mattnh]

Nice. Sweet dude. :D

[@TheDelboyoelmundo]

he is a Punk grandad

[@southamericanrocker]

original punker

[@jefflindman5488]

Lol. His ass was old 30 years ago.

[@rappy90]

Age happens :) Nice to say he never joined the 27 club

[@fluffy1826]

could someone tell that song at the beginning because every time before i go to sleep i turn on my radio and that song always comes up.

[@edbosh3343]

@Fluffy 182 Self Esteem by The Offspring

[@bo1ivarj]

What a cool dude

[@TanVai]

what strings size did he use ?

[@Guitarjosii]

PLEASE try to get on/behind/under the AC/DC stage!!

[@lucianos1990]

axe fx is ruining rig rundown

[@THEQueeferSutherland]

This shit needs to stop.

[@grenade.turtle]

lol poor guy

[@KingBlonde]

"muh gerrrr"

[@henrydemonfreid1985]

strongly agree

[@kitten-inside]

Yaeh, how dare they not lug around tons of equipment, instead opting for repeatable results that won't spoil a concert due to bad power, or random cable buzz. It's sad when stars care about their roadies or gig quality, man.

[@tps1020]

I would have like to see him ask about the string saver saddles, locking tuners and even the guitar straps and picks

[@jsebastianch]

Does anyone know what amps are emulating on the fractals?

[@toadetteremotewithwiimotio3330]

I‘ve played a Surfgreen Talman years ago but didn‘t bought it because it was too expensive for me back then. Couple weeks later i felt in love with Offspring and realized i did a big mistake. Now they‘re discontinued :,(

[@heaart2145]

Underated Awesome kick ass band!😏

[@austinlindsay]

It's about time PG started using lav mics.

[@KratosIsSick]

"pay the man" - legendary song

[@mattvdh]

Hey RigRundown! Could you guys showcase NOFX at some point in the future? El Hefe's tone is buttah

[@mattvdh]

I think it would be cool if Premier Guitar got down to the nitty gritty of what musicians are doing with Axe Edit and showed you *exactly which models they prefer. If you just say ''I use AxeFx' that's extremely vague because there's thousands of variations and settings that can be combined.

[@AreJaySmith]

Axe fx make for boring rig rundowns

[@ClamsAnonymous]

LoadedAndPlay absolutely

[@AreJaySmith]

That being said I love The Offspring!

[@ClamsAnonymous]

oh fo sho!

[@jamesjackson5132]

Agreed

[@ethanlll2876]

But it makes for a awesome live tone

[@flipcupall-stars8646]

Is using a Fractal punk rock?

[@lukasschaupp5105]

they could show how they did setup their presets... so it would a new way of rig rundown :D

[@325spoon]

do the power amps act as the head of the cab or just replace it all in all?

[@Fa5Squad]

I think it just makes it sound better

[@benjamynfoxcroft5205]

just the head :) he runs them through cabs still as far as I am aware

[@niallduffy704]

Premier Guitar, Can you do a U2 rig rundown, they have just started their new tour, and The Edge has just UPDATED his rig, and Adam Clayton has got a few new basses too?

[@misakiyoshida]

Niall Duffy U2 sucks ass.

[@crimsun7186]

Niall Duffy That would take too much time. And the damn thing called 'The Edge' doesn't even have the slightest idea how his own rig works. He has to be babysitted by his tech.

[@misakiyoshida]

Crimson Sunrise "the damn thing called 'The Edge' " LMFAOOO

[@grebe66]

ty segall/fuzz rig rundown?

[@jeff3443]

I love The Offspring and never knew that Noodles was blind lol

[@jasonwatrous8689]

We need a Rancid Rig Rundown!!!!

[@danedgar1539]

How big is this dude? His guitars look like junior's

[@louderthangod]

Good P90's are magic. The mid's just roar and cut through.

[@chrisholian5778]

Wish we could of saw some of Dexters old RGs with the diamond plate

[@COBHC8890]

The second guitar shape is the "Ibanez Talman TV" I wish they would bring back the shape... :-(

[@huesox37]

do All Time Low's Rig Rundown plzzz

[@InfiniteRhombus]

woah on the hey's

[@thef1sh17]

How does this guy work for PG?

[@peanutbutterisfu]

Love when really great guitar players like noodles are in punk bands and not in metal bands! I do love metal too but hate the egos that so many of the guitar players have almost like if ur not in a metal band ur just not good enough and when a great guitar player is in a pop punk or punk band and says stuff like oh metal is cool but punk is the best kinda music in history I just love hearing stuff like that. Maybe noodles isn’t the best example but he definitely is much better technically then the music he plays would make u think.

[@russrussellson3928]

Believe it or not, it's just as easy to get a 12AX7 in Europe as it is in the USA ;) And any tech worth their beans would carry a range of tubes anyway ;)

[@dannysanchez7924]

Russell Hampson instructions were not clear, got valve stuck inside axe fx

[@russrussellson3928]

Classic Potts

[@rolandmdill]

7:05 Yeah right it is impossible to get 12AX7 tubes anywhere in Europe. We don't even have elctricity. We live in caves and hunt with a cudgel. And also it would be a paint to have some spare tubes on hand, they are a pain to carry around, so huge and heavy...

[@HARTYNMUGHES]

Excuse my ignorance but why use a power amp for a cab? Just for a less muddied signal?

[@pyrofritte7584]

cause without a poweramp you wouldn't be able to power a guitar cab, which are all working passive.

[@HARTYNMUGHES]

+Theta eh? You don't need a power amp to run a cab. Unless you're talking about a head?

[@randman21]

If I'm not mistaken, the Axe FX is the preamp, and just having that going to a cab wouldn't provide enough power/volume. So where there's a preamp and power amp built inside an amp head, Noodles just has separate preamp and power amp.

[@HARTYNMUGHES]

+randman21 I'm with you. Makes sense, cheers mate. Never had any experience with modelling units.

[@LiberTBo]

P-90's are the way to go...I got two with P-90's a PRS 245 and a custom made cherry body guitar made by Linc-sonic ....

[@sliceofcheese3237]

I wish they would have showed more gutiars

[@johnnycanosoda]

Love the Duct tape....to hell with the tonewood...lmao

[@vj9988]

5:33 hilarious

[@GuitarBillCurran]

Well I sure won't be buying any tickets to their shows just to listen to AxeFX.

[@NofreedomofspeechonYouTube]

Punk rock is true rock music.

[@krisfrosz133]

Noodles is wearing a FitBit Charge HR.

[@ambarchakravartty8180]

do dexter next

[@Lisiotm]

Billie Joe from Green Day have 3 signature guitars from gibson: les paul junior , les paul junior dc and es 135(or something)

[@MyNamelsBlue]

FxK Tom Delonge has Fender Strat, a Gibson sig,and a Epi sig

[@shortyc94]

FxK You forgot his J180 acoustic. So, he actually has 4.

[@Lisiotm]

shortyc94 that true

[@kirklandborgerson2510]

MyNameIsBlue Tom actually also has a Squier version of his Fender.

[@HeyItsErika]

Noodles is a badass