The Black Keys – El Camino

In an article for Premier Guitar: "Auerbach uses this guitar on the acoustic intro to 'Little Black Submarines' off of El Camino. The brass body gives the guitar a more subdued sound so Auerbach prefers to use this on the beginning of the song rather than a traditional acoustic guitar."

Dan uses this emerald green beauty for El Camino and Turn blue, and can be seen playing it during the 2015 Concert for Valor. Auerbach uses this guitar mainly for "Fever", as seen in this Glastonbury 2014, and Governor's Ball, 2015.

In this photo, Dan Auerbach is seated playing a white Fender Stratocaster next to Patrick Carney. The guitar was also mentioned in Auerbach's interview with Guitar World (published in November 2022 issue). Another Fender Stratocaster from 1954 was used to record "Lonely Boy" and was used throughout "El Camino".

In 2012 Vintage Guitar interview, Auerbach mentioned that he used a 1958 Fender Stratocaster on "El Camino". This could possibly be the guitar that he is seen with on Hermanos Gutiérrez 2022 music video for "Tres Hermanos".

Dan can be seen here holding a mid sixties Gibson J-160E. In 2012 Vintage Guitar interview, Auerbach mentions that he used J-160E on 2011 album "El Camino".

In the photos shown, we can see Dan playing what seems to be a 1969 Gibson Les Paul (because of the headstock shape and knobs) in the coachella music festival in 2009. In a interview Dan once said that he used a 1953 gold top Les Paul to record the "El Camino" album, but the one in the pictures above couldn't be a 50s model.

Used while recording Black Keys' 2011 album "El Camino".

I got a ’53 Les Paul while I was on tour. It looks like it was attacked by a shark. I used that a bunch, plus a Danelectro and an early Harmony Stratotone. I had the Stratotone before the Black Keys, and I’ve used it on every one of our albums.

In this "Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar, Dan Johnson shows us Auerbach's Fulltone Custom Shop Tape Echo at 3:00. In the accompanying article "Premier" writes that this is a "Fulltone Custom Shop Tape Echo (with a Strymon El Capistan standing by as a backup) going through it for a continuous tight slapback effect."

In this newest rig rundown, at 3:05 Dan's tech talks about using the El Capistan as a backup because "it's super quiet".

Dan's Radial Engineering BigShot PB1 Class-A Power Booster can be seen at 9:08 into this video.

Dan's Q-Tron can be seen at 10:29 into this video.

"It has the Earthquaker Devices' Terminal, which is a great fuzz pedal. We have it dialed up so that it's barely on...a manageable fuzz that doesn't feedback like crazy," says Dan's tech, at 10:42 in this video.

Dan's Earthquaker Devices Tone Job can be seen at 10:29 into this rig rundown.

An EarthQuacker Devices Hoof can be seen at 10:29 in this video.

One can see an EarthQuaker Devices Disaster Transport Jr. at 10:29 in this rig rundown video.

A Hallmark Nu Fuzz pedal can be seen among Dan's pedals at 10:29 in this video.

"I've got one other gadget that I'm super proud of, the Kikusui voltage regulator...It's really cool because these old amps don't like 120V, they like 117V...It's super reliable," says Dan's tech, at 12:15 in this video.

Dan uses a Boss TU-3 tuner, according to his rig rundown, at 13:51.

Dan uses a Lehle splitter, as seen in this rig rundown, at 16:03.

At 14:00 in this rig rundown, Dan's Malekko Omicron Fuzz pedal can be seen.

Used while recording 2011 Black Keys' album "El Camino".

I use fuzz pedals, but I’ve never used a distortion or overdrive pedal -- just boost pedals. The Shin-ei Companion Fuzz and the Marshall Supa Fuzz are my favorites.

"We wanted to go with 25 Watt Alnico Tubby Tone...They're real deluxe speakers," Dan's guitar tech says at 1:47 in this video.

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown with Dan Auerbach, at 3:43 the back plate of the Commando is shown clearly.

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown with Dan Auerbach´s guitar tech, at 5:18 the back plate of the Challenger Series C is shown clearly.

Used while recording 2011 album "El Camino", according to 2012 Guitar World interview.

My core tone just comes from my amps. For El Camino, I used a Magnatone and an Ampeg V-92 with a JBL D-130 speaker.

Auerbach used D-130 speakers on Ampeg V-92 while recording Black Keys' 2011 album "El Camino", according to 2012 Guitar World interview.

This article states Auerbach used an Orchestron on The Black Keys' album "El Camino."