Gear/The White Stripes
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Jack White
Electric Guitars
- two 1964/65 JB Hutto Montgomery Airline electric guitars
- This guitar was his main guitar with the White Stripes, and is the instrument he is most identified with. Standard tuning, twenty frets, all original (except for the tuning pegs) (on his main Airline), Res-o-Glas (fiberglass) body, control knobs on the bass side of the body (a Valco trademark), and only the bridge pickup worked (on his main Airline).
- vintage Harmony H73
- Most sources list this as being a Harmony Rocket, but based on photo comparison, I'm pretty sure this is a H73 with a replacement tailpiece (and possibly other modifications).
- 1970s Crestwood Astral II
- Tuned to open E for slide. Primarily used for songs like "Let's Build A Home", "I Fought Piranhas" and "Goin' Back To Memphis", and used throughout the recording of their self-titled debut. This was previously thought to be a 1960s Domino Dawson; this has since been debunked (the headstocks are much different). This guitar has been seen with Jack in photos dating back to Two Star Tabernacle.
- 1950s Kay Hollowbody (photo)
- Old archtop guitar, tuned to open A, and most often played with a slide for "Seven Nation Army" and "Death Letter". This guitar was covered in paper for a while, for "personal reasons", and it was rumored that the paper helped to stop feedback. Reportedly, at some point, the paper was removed (briefly) (and part of the pickguard was cut off) for the Icky Thump tour.
- vintage Gretsch White Penguin
- The first of Jack's many Gretsches, introduced on the Icky Thump tour. Jack also gave a White Penguin to Conan O'Brien as a gift after Late Night ended.
- Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird
- Custom white Billy Gibbons/Bo Diddley signature; used on "Another Way To Die" (and can be seen in the video for the song).
- Fender Coronado
- Played on Icky Thump tour, as seen in Rolling Stone photo gallery.
- Fender Telecaster
- Played with Loretta Lynn for Van Lear Rose, and a subsequent Letterman performance. Who Plays What says it's a 1968 Tele. It has a Bigsby tailpiece, and supposedly, he used/uses it in the studio.
- Danelectro doubleneck
- Only seen once in a bootleg video, only used for "Astro".
- Framus hollowbody archtop
- Seen in the video for "We're Going to Be Friends". See this thread.
- Gibson SG
- Seen in an early picture.
- DiPinto Mach 4
- Seen in a WBC-era picture.
- Gibson EB-2 bass
- Jack used a cherry Gibson EB-2 bass for a peformance of "My Doorbell" on "Later... with Jools Holland". It is not known if he used the bass anywhere else, live or in studio.
Acoustic Guitars
- Gretsch Rancher Falcon
- 1915 Gibson L-1 acoustic
- Vintage parlor acoustic used with the Stripes, especially during the GBMS/Icky tours. Same model of guitar famously pictured with Robert Johnson (some believe that this is the only reason why he uses the Gibson L-1).
- borrowed Martin acoustic
- Miked with a STC 4038 ribbon mic for the acoustic tracks on Elephant.
- Burns acoustic
- Used on "It's True That We Love One Another" on Elephant.
- Unknown acoustic
- Seen in the video for "Hotel Yorba".
Pedals
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
- This was Jack's main distortion pedal with the Stripes. Jack had two of them, one on his main pedalboard, and another on a pedalboard in front of Meg's drum kit. Painted red.
- Digitech Whammy WH-4
- Octave pedal, used to create the rapid modulations in pitch for his solos. Without this pedal, "Seven Nation Army" and "Hardest Button to Button" would need a bass guitar, and "Black Math" would need a 29th fret.
- Electro-Harmonix POG
- Another octave pedal, introduced on "Blue Orchid. Jack had one on his main board, and another on his board in front of Meg's kit. The POG was covered in some sort of custom-made red plate, to keep the settings unchanged.
- vintage MXR Micro Amp, white
- for boosting the signal
- Boss TU-2 tuner, white
- Z.Vex Fuzz Factory
- Z.Vex Tremolo Probe
- Jack had three Tremolo Probes, painted black.
- Boss CS-3 Compression/Sustainer
- Various sources say Jack used this; I haven't seen/heard of it being used with the White Stripes, however.
- custom AnalogMan switchboxes
- AnalogMan built three "tuner mute" boxes for Jack in 2005 -- one peppermint, one red, and one white, for each of his three stage positions for instant muting (in order to tune his guitar).
Amplification
- two - three Fender Twin Reverb combos
- Reportedly, he used a 1970s silverface and a 1960s blackface.
- vintage Silvertone 1485 head w/ two 100w Sears Silvertone 6x10 cabinets (w/ Jensen speakers)
- Jack said this amp gives him "the crunch -- and the crunch that comes from those six Jensen speakers is amazing."
- two Sonic Machine Factory (SMF) 15 Watters
- Used as a travel amp for secret or smaller shows, and also as keyboard amps for larger shows.
- wood box on top of his Silvertone 1485
- See this thread.
- Triple Tremolo amp
- Homemade amp, built by Jack and wired by Johnny Walker of the Soledad Brothers. It had three speakers, and the front one revolved with a peppermint swirl design. It was rarely (if ever) used, but can be seen on a Letterman performance, Daily Show performance, and in the De Stijl artwork.
- old Supro amp
- Supposedly, he used it with one or more of his keyboards, though I have never seen it before.
- Selmer Truvoice Zodiac Twin 30
- Jack used this on Elephant in place of his Silvertone, which he didn't want to ship over to Toe Rag Studios in England. The studio website still lists this amp as part of their backline.
Keyboards
- Fender Rhodes Mark II
- This was his main electric piano prior to the Icky Thump tour.
- Wurlitzer 200A (red)
- Replaced the Rhodes on the Icky Thump tour.
- Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
- Painted red and used for synth parts live on the Icky Thump tour.
- custom Hammond A-100 w/ Leslie 3300 speaker, by B3 Guys
- "Here's a custom finish Hammond A-100 and Leslie 3300 we did for The White Stripes 2007 World Tour. Actually, we built two identical tour rigs as pictured - one for USA, one for UK/Europe. Following the tour, they informed us it was loaned to Bob Dylan for a few dates. One currently resides at Jack White's Third Man Studios here in Nashville, Tennessee." This organ replaced the Korg CX-3, and can be seen throughout the UGWNL film. photos at B3 Guys website
- 1980s Korg CX-3
- Hammond clone, used for organ parts prior to the Icky Thump tour.
- vintage Fender Rhodes Piano Bass
- Mounted over his grand piano on their Daily Show performance. He also supposedly briefly toured with this.
- 1946 Jennings Univox J-10 Concert
- Very early monophonic synth, used for the synth parts on "Icky Thump" (played with the Moog live).
- Organ at Toe Rag Studios
- On "In The Cold, Cold Night": "That organ sound was from me lying down on the studio floor pressing the organ pedals. If you listen close you hear wood popping on the piano pedal. Toe Rag's scary to a lot of people. They don't want to be confined. But the limitations make you work." The Toe Rag Studios website lists a Hammond L100 as part of their equipment backline.
Other Instruments
- black Gibson F-4 mandolin
- Used for "Little Ghost" live.
- custom Ludwig-Musser M250 Concert Grand marimba
- Used on their '05/'06 tour ("The Nurse"), and had an original custom red/white/black flight case. He flipped it over on the last show of the tour. Jack later auctioned this instrument off in 2010 to benefit the Nashville chapter of the Red Cross after the 2010 Nashville flood (coincidentally, only a few weeks after Trent Reznor auctioned off his custom marimba).
Other
- Jack used either GHS Nickel Rockers (according to GHS), the more common GHS Boomers, or both. Jack said he used them because they were made in Michigan.
- Jack typically had an ashtray full of custom picks with the III logo on them, usually placed on top of one of his Twin Reverbs.
- He used an effected vocal mic on the Icky Thump tour, reportedly run through a POG and some sort of reverb.
- He used some sort of stereo mic configuration for something or whatever, I don't know. (See the Jools Holland performance of "Effect and Cause")
Meg White
Drums
Meg's used various drum kits with the White Stripes. She's used only Ludwig drums with the band; prior to that, she played Pearls.
- As of (at least) the GBMS tour: Ludwig Classic Maple kit (typically in Red Sparkle):
- 18x22 kick (w/ miscellaneous custom heads)
- 5x14 snare
- 9x13 rack tom
- 16x16 floor tom
- Pearl kit (prior to the Ludwigs)
Cymbals
- Paiste cymbals (as of 2007:)
- 14" Signature Medium hi-hats
- 19" Signature Power Crash
- 22" 2002 ride
- Some sort of china cymbal
- Over her floor toms on the GBMS tour.
Percussion
- Desk bells ("Red Rain")
- Meg had a custom red/white desk bells set (brand unknown) to her left on the GBMS tour. It absolutely baffled many people, as evidenced by a Google search -- a MIDI controller for bass, an analog synth, and a sample pad were just a few of the things this mysterious instrument was thought to be.
- two Timpani ("Passive Manipulation")
- Custom red timpani, brought on the GBMS tour for "Passive Manipulation".
- Tambourine ("Apple Blossom", "Little Room", "Your Southern Can", etc., etc.)
- Maracas ("My Doorbell", "The Denial Twist")
- Bongos ("As Ugly As I Seem")
- Cardboard box ("Hotel Yorba")
- JingleMute
Other
- She endorsed Vater sticks, and used Vater XD-Rock Wood sticks.
- Prior to the Vater sticks, she used either Zildjian DIP sticks, Zildjian ROCK sticks, or both.
- For the 2007 tour, her setup was miked with Sennheisers: e902 (kick), e905 (snare), KM184 (hi-hat and overheads) and e904 (toms). She sang through a Sennheiser e935.
- She played a vintage TrueTone electric guitar on the last episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2/20/09), for a performance of "We're Going to Be Friends".
