Bob Mothersbaugh

Bob playing a La Baye 2x4

"Yes, I played a Rickenbacker 330 of unknown vintage that I bought from Doug Fieger of the Knack, as well as a custom guitar Ibanez made for me."

"On the latest album, I used a WEM Dominator combo. It’s an old British tube amp that sounds incredible. Other than that, I just used a Line 6 PODxt Live."

This is an approved repro. by Bob Mothersbaugh of his Devoized custom les Paul... Back in 1979, .... The 360 Systems people recommended I use a Les Paul, and at the time I was horrified—I thought Les Pauls represented arena rock, long hair, and Puka shells. But I got a Les Paul and took a jigsaw to it with the intention of making it look like a skull. I cut the little horn off at the cutaway and flipped it over backwards and thought it looked a lot better.

Bob Mothersbaugh plays a TV Yellow dual cutaway Gibson Les Paul Jr. with a P90 pickup in this video of him performing with the Visiting Kids.

Throughout this YouTube video, Bob Mothersbaugh can be seen using a Blue Ibanez Iceman. This guitar was also used during the 1980 "Freedom of Choice" tour after the song "Mr. DNA", and used for the songs "Gut Feeling/[Slap Your Mammy]" and "Come Back Jonee".

Bob Mothersbaugh used an Ibanez Tube Screamer while performing live with Devo in 2011.

"For the live shows, I’m using a ’59 Les Paul reissue—a Gibson Custom Shop instrument modeled after Mike Bloomfield’s guitar. For the new album, I used a 1964 SG and a couple of my G&L SC-2s. The SC-2 is probably my favorite guitar. I was introduced to them when we did the New Traditionalists album. I did an interview then where I mentioned buying a weird guitar called a G&L and how much I liked the tremolo system because it stayed in tune. The day after the interview hit the newsstands, someone from G&L called me and asked, 'Hey, can we endorse you?'"

"For the live shows, I’m using a ’59 Les Paul reissue—a Gibson Custom Shop instrument modeled after Mike Bloomfield’s guitar. For the new album, I used a 1964 SG and a couple of my G&L SC-2s. The SC-2 is probably my favorite guitar. I was introduced to them when we did the New Traditionalists album. I did an interview then where I mentioned buying a weird guitar called a G&L and how much I liked the tremolo system because it stayed in tune. The day after the interview hit the newsstands, someone from G&L called me and asked, 'Hey, can we endorse you?'"

In this photo, as well as other photos and footage from the era, both Bob 1 (Mothersbaugh) and Bob 2 (Casale) can be seen playing Gibson L6-S guitars.

In Devo's official video for "Girl U Want," Bob Mothersbaugh can be seen playing a custom Ibanez guitar, uniquely designed with a cloud or potato-shaped body. This one-off instrument's distinct design allows it to stand upright without a guitar stand, showcasing its flat-edged body.

This screenshot from a 1984 interview with Jim Mothersbaugh, DEVO's technical assistant at the time, states that Bob owned a GR-300, but he didn't use it much since its sounds were easily duplicated on other synthesizers.

Throughout the music video for "That's Good" Bob Mothersbaugh can be seen using a Kay K1962. It was also seen on TV performances of "That's Good" and the music video for "Time Out For Fun".

Bob Mothersbaugh's room at Mutato Muzika studio features a Mac G5.

"On the latest album, I used a WEM Dominator combo. It’s an old British tube amp that sounds incredible. Other than that, I just used a Line 6 PODxt Live."

Bob Mothersbaugh has been playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard Light Burst from the 2004 model year since the 2010s, as evidenced by a user-uploaded photo.

In the music video for the song "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprize" Bob Mothersbaugh can be seen using an Olympic White Fender Musicmaster. It can also be seen in the film "Human Highway" directed by Neil Young, during the performance of "It Takes A Worried Man".

"But at the same time, Bob 1 [Bob Mothersbaugh] and Bob 2 [Bob Casale] were still using Performer and are kind of happy with it. "

A Fractal Audio Axe-FX Ultra can be seen in Devo's guitar rack, and it is labeled as being Bob Mothersbaugh's ("Bob 1").

Bob states in this interview that his first guitar was a Coral Sitar.

In this video of Devo live at The Crypt in 1977, from 0:00 to 22:05 there is a picture of Bob playing a Gibson Explorer next to Gerald Casale.

In this picture from the behind the scenes of the movie Human Highway, you can see Bob holding a white 1960s Musicmaster with a tortoise pickguard

He plays this guitar a lot in this concert.

According to Eastwood Guitars - who created a DEVO-authorized limited edition “replica” of Bob 1’s “Peek-a-Boo” original: “If you've seen the music video for Peek-A-Boo, then chances are you've seen this guitar being played by Bob1. It was also used extensively while DEVO was touring for ‘Oh No! It's DEVO’ in '82. The guitar was a custom build by JB Player, a brand that was active between 1980 and 1990. The brand is probably best known for their endorsement deal with the band Vixen, but if you were around at that time, you might recall having seen their entry level strat-like guitars on the walls of your local guitar store. JB Player made custom guitars for a few other artists as well, and while it never made it into mainstream production, this ‘Peek-A-Boo’ guitar was Bob1's signature model.”

The history of J.B. Player goes back a little farther, and starts in the Westlake Village of California. Dana Zacuto was the brother of Mighty Mite founder Randy Zacuto. In 1981 or so Dana started taking Mighty Mite components and constructing fully-functional high-end guitars out of them. Apparently, Dana was a bit of a nutcase who always wanted to push the envelope of what could be done with guitars. One of his experiments was taking Mighty Mite's triple-coil pickup, the Motherbucker, and wiring it so each coil could be turned on, off, and out of phase. He had these pickups dropped into exotic body shapes that spoke to California's new wave scene, which was reaching critical mass as Devo played arenas and Wall of Voodoo, the Motels, and Oingo Boingo started making waves and breaking the surface.

Bob1 had two of these custom J.B. Player guitars - the “Peek-a-Boo” (as featured in DEVO’s music video and other television appearances) and his “Mr. DNA” that was altered with the Bigsby for his often violent “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA” solos (which got tossed around - strings-broken nightly and ultimately lead to the “destruction” of the guitar)!