Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire
The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 1996 album Evil Empire.
Music from Evil Empire
Artists on Evil Empire
Gear Used On Evil Empire
Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire (1996). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.
Tom Morello
Roles:
Guitars used by Tom Morello on Evil Empire
In this Instagram post, Tom Morello says "This guitar was used to record “Tire Me” on Rage Against The Machine’s Evil Empire album. The guitar, which I’m not even sure is made out of wood (plywood?) cost 40 Canadian dollars at a Toronto pawn shop. The song won our first Grammy."
St. George Goya Rangemaster Copy
In this video of Tom Morello's guitars and his home studio, he says that he bought this cream colored ST George Goya Rangemaster Copy guitar for 40 Canadian dollars. He talks about it 2:46 into the video:
"This was a guitar of indeterminate name and origin that I got at a pawn shop in Toronto for 40 Canadian dollars, because I sort of liked the way it looked. I’m not even sure it’s made of wood! But I liked the way it looked, which is sort of my main criteria for getting guitars at the time. And we wrote and recorded Rage Against the Machine song Tire Me entirely with this guitar and with a 20 watt solid state amp, which is in that room over there... and that was our first Grammy."
The bridge pickup looks to have been replaced with a black DiMarzio DP218 Super Distortion S Strat Humbucker Pickup.
Effects Pedals used by Tom Morello on Evil Empire
Avg price: $625.00
In This Article Tom Morello Says This:
“While using an old, vintage distortion pedal called a Tone Bender, I found out that when I turned on the pedal but didn’t play anything, I picked up a crystal clear signal from a Korean radio station,” he told Guitar World. “In earlier mixes of Sleep Now In The Fire, that radio thing was featured more prominently. We had the signal running through the entire song, it was a little annoying, so we decided just to stick it at the very end. I always like to say there are no samples on any of our records, and this is a good example. That radio signal was no sample – it was played!”
Harmonizer & Octave Effects Pedals
Avg price: $214.95
3:34 into this video shows some of Tom Morello's pedals in his home studio. The pedals shown seem to be consistent with the pedals he has relied on throughout his career. The DigiTech WH-1 Whammy pedal (the original whammy) is part of Morello's setup.