Green Day – Dookie

Used on tour from late 80's to September 1993. It was spotted in several early Green Day music videos - Basket Case, Geek Stink Breath. In In an interview with Guitar Center in 2002, Mike mentions: "I've used a 6x10 combo on every record we've ever done, this old Acoustic 6x10 cabinet that I have."

Mike can be seen in concert with Green Day, and an Ampeg VST-II on the right side of the image. From what is known, it is believed that Mike Dirnt used this amp from approximately September 1993 to May 1996. Based off of available pictures, it was also used in studio on the album "Dookie".

"Some guys have gotten great active sounds, but that’s just never been my world. Actually, on Dookie, I played an active P-Bass that I rented from SIR, because my basses were broken and thrashed from touring. That bass had P/J pickups, but the way I had it set, it might as well have just been a P-Bass." At that time, Fender's only active P/J bass was the Precision Plus, so that must be the bass on Dookie.

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 Percision 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 6x10 cabinets, and we put those on top of a 1x18. I think i'm nailing it. I have an MB 2000 running each one of my 6x10 cabinets and then a MB 2000 running both of my 18's"

This is the bass that I think was used on Dookie. While I couldn't find an original article, I did see this message on talkbass.com that referred to several other articles of interviews from Mike Dirnt. They stated...

"Throughout the years in interviews, Mike Dirnt has talked about the bass used on the classic Green Day album Dookie, but he's never actually stated what it was. The info he's given us is that... -It was a Fender -It had P/J pickups -It was black -It was active -It was new at the time -It was rented for the sessions, That's all we know. The task is finding a bass that matches that description."

Mike Dirnt has also stated in another interview that he specifically rented it from SIR. With that knowledge, the closest unmodified bass that fits that description, in my opinion, is the Fender Precision Bass Plus Deluxe.

This was Mike Dirnt's main bass from 1991-1997. After his Peavey Patriot broke (https://youtu.be/VZU1hoTYipY?si=jKUbjhwq8PQ7OCw3) He bought this off of a bassist in Minneapolis, MN. It was used to record Kerplunk, Longview on Dookie, and Insomniac and for every Green Day concert from 1991 until 1996 before he switched to Fender Precision Bass in 1997. However, the G3 made surprise appearance during the 21st Century Breakdown tour at Canada in 2010. It also appears in the music video for "Basket Case" starting at 0:08. It has now also returned on the Dookie 30th Anniversary tour.

Guitar Center, "Smashing Basses with Mike Dirnt of Green Day!", 2007

GC: Tell us about your basses. What do you use and why do you use it?

Mike: Right now, I'm using anything from 1963 to 1974 Fender P-Basses, mostly ash bodies. Sometimes I'll swap out the pickups, if they're dying, to a Seymour Duncan antiquity, which is a pretty hot pickup. I used to use a Gibson G3 bass years ago. I played at least 700 shows out of that thing before Tre accidentally broke the neck on it twice on stage by pushing over my amps.

Bass Player, "Holy Trinity: Mike Dirnt and Green Day", January 20, 2013

On Insomniac, I played my Gibson G3; you can really hear it on Kerplunk and Insomniac. It’s distinctive, like on the intro to “No One Knows.” On Nimrod, that was mostly my ’69 P-Bass and a ’52 Precision, I think.

You seem to favor passive basses.

Some guys have gotten great active sounds, but that’s just never been my world. Actually, on Dookie, I played an active P-Bass that I rented from SIR, because my basses were broken and thrashed from touring. That bass had P/J pickups, but the way I had it set, it might as well have just been a P-Bass. It went through an Éclair Engineering Evil Twin tube DI, and then my 6x10, and an Ampeg SVT. I had the Ampeg for the low end and the extra sub-lows, and then the 6x10 for that classic punch.

It also has 2 of the original pickups and a Bartonini Jazz Pickup (with it being added as the original bridge pickup broke on tour in Europe in 1991) and a Gotoh? Bridge. (https://youtu.be/VZU1hoTYipY?si=jKUbjhwq8PQ7OCw3)

Mike plays his bass in both finishes. They’re modeled after his original Gibson G3.

Mike Dirnt collaborated with Macbeth to create a sneaker.

On the Green Day Community website, it says when it comes to effects that Mike used this pedal on Dookie.

Mike Dirnt used Rotosound RS66LD Swing Bass 45-105 strings during the mid-90s, specifically around the Dookie and Insomniac tours. This is evidenced by photographs from the era, which show the distinctive red silk at both the string and ball ends of his bass, as seen in the provided image.

"These heads were at Woodstock. I repainted them for some other show back then. We call these the Dookie mod and also the Bradshaw Gain mod. This cascades the front end and puts on the master volume. The SE lead mod adds a tube to it for even more gain. The way we run the heads is really all the knobs pretty much straight up and the master and gain at 10 o'clock. You turn it up any louder or any more gain it doesn't really sound that great. And Billie's tone is really not about tons of gain. It's actually cleaner than you would think it is. His technique playing and using the pick is more about where the sound is coming out of. I mean he'll turn the guitar down and clean it up then pop it back up," explains Hans, the tech for Billie Joe Armstrong.

Billie Joe Armstrong used the Marshall JCM900 4100 100-watt 2-channel Tube Head during the recording of Green Day's "Kerplunk." He also utilized it for live performances, including some shows during the "Dookie" era.

Billie used this amp while showing off the Dookie Drive pedal collaboration with MXR.

At namm 2019 Mxr along with Billy Joe released the dookie drive pedal. the name and artwork derives from the iconic Green Day album Dookie. the pedal's tone is derived from the tone used on dookie. the tone is based on two modded amps Billy played on the album

Seen in a 1993 promo photo. Also used on “F.O.D.” from Dookie and was recently sold in 2019.

In the YouTube video, "Green Day - When I Come Around /Coming Clean /Emenius Sleepus - Fenway Park - Boston, MA - 8.7.24," Billie Joe Armstrong is seen using the Charvel Jake E. Lee Signature Model. He uses a blue guitar for half of "Dookie" then switches it out for the Charvel Strat.

Billie Joe Armstrong uses a Fender Toronado Deluxe during performances of songs from the album Dookie. In a video titled "Green Day When I Come Around Coachella 2025 Weekend 1" by YouTube user mechawonton, the bridge pickup appears to be modified to a double black pickup.

In this Rig Rundown video of Billie Joe Armstrong’s guitars and gear, his tech Hans shows one of Billie Joe’s most famous guitars, the Fernandes Stratocaster copy named Blue. The guitar shows a lot of wear and is covered in stickers. Starting at the beginning of the video, 0:30 in:

“The guitar everyone likes to hear about most is Blue, Billie’s guitar he got many years ago for his birthday. And it’s the same guitar, he’s still playing it. There’s a pic of him there on the back.”

The interviewer asks if there are any modifications Billie Joe Armstrong has done to it, to which his tech replies:

“I replaced - it’s a Seymour Duncan SH-4, which just sounds great, and… not really much. This is the biggest mod, having the pickup angled like that. It’s a completely different sound than having it just straight, like in a Les Paul. I’m still trying to figure it out in my mind, why it sounds that way, but it just does. Eddie Van Halen - same thing, his guitar has the pickup angled. ”

The tech then confirms that Billie Joe Armstrong uses this guitar to perform Green Day’s older material live, which is all Eb. He also confirms that guitar is strung with Ernie Ball .010 - .046 strings.

Blue's official model is a Fernandes The Revival RST-50 '57 - dating from early 1980. The official color is "Sonic Blue" - which is the same one Fender Japan used on their guitars as the guitar was manufactured by Fuji Gen Gakki (whom made Ibanez and the Fender Japan instruments).

In this article, it states that Billie used a Beyer 201 on Dookie. Under the section "Do You Have The Time To Listen To Me Whine?" it says, “the 201 combines the best of a large diaphragm and the best of a dynamic, and it was perfect for his voice."

Bought by Tre in 1993 and extensively used throughout 1993 and 1994 live as shown in the provided picture from their Dookie tour.

Tré Cool used the DW Collector Series Custom Drum Set during the recording and performances of Green Day's albums "Dookie," "Insomniac," "Nimrod," and "Warning." This is evidenced by a user-uploaded photo on Tripod.