Chris Martin

Chris Martin used a Martin D-15M throughout Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto tour (2011-2012). In this video of a live Letterman performance of their song "Charlie Brown," starting a 0:55 you can get a good look at his guitar. The D-15 has been painted up to match the aesthetics of the Mylo Xyloto tour.

In an article found on Universal Audio's site, producer/engineer Rik Simpson is interviewed on what gear he used to record Coldplay for their Viva La Vida album. When asked about the signal chain for Chris Martin's vocals in the studio, he mentions how Chris Martin really likes the AKG C 414 XL II Condenser Microphone. Rik Simpson says, "I don't use any other outboard gear when recording. It depends--Chris is a big fan of the [AKG] 414, so we use that a fair bit. He does a lot of vocals in the control room these days as well, with the monitors on, so I don't always like using a condenser mic for that. I'll use a dynamic, like a Shure SM-7 or something. We did use some other mikes other than the 414 as well, but the 414 generally seems to capture what he's about. It keeps it very organic, and earthy, and simple."

Original article link here.

Chris Martin used the Martin D-28 throughout their A Head Full of Dreams tour; in the picture, the D-28 is seen without a pickguard with stickers in relation to their A Head Full of Dreams era

In this photo, taken on Coldplay's Ghost Stories tour in 2014, Chris can be seen playing a Yamaha DYUS1E3. The DYUS1E3 is one of the first he's ever used other than the Yamaha GT-20.

Chris used the Martin 00-15 guitar during his Jordan performance, this guitar can also be seen in the Orphans music video.

Chris uses the D-28 throughout their AHFOD tour; Indian rosewood on the sides of the guitar with a Sitka spruce top (which is factory stock) ; stickers are on the guitar to represent their era (AHFOD): pickguard is removed

In his live at #delltechworld Chris Martin can be seen playing two Martin 000-X2E guitars. He has two sampling devices attached to each guitar that he is using to trigger samples of electric guitar, drums, and other sounds.

You can see at 0:17s that Chris is playing a DC-15ME in this video.

At 0:57 in this music video, Chris Martin can be seen playing a Takamine EN15 Acoustic Guitar.

In this photo you can see Chris Martin playing a Gibson J-200

At 1:44 in this Coldplay performance video, there is a good shot of Chris Martin using a Shure SM7B microphone.

Mentioned in this article from the official Sensaphonics website.

One of the hottest arena/shed tours on the road this summer was Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. With a large stage set-up for sheds and arenas, in-ear monitoring was a critical element to the band’s success. As they have for the past several years, the band members were all on Sensaphonics custom earphones via Sennheiser wireless systems.

However, there were a few key changes for this year’s tour. All four band members have upgraded from the classic ProPhonic 2X-S to the Sensaphonics 2MAX. “Most of the backline crew also have Sensaphonics IEMs,” says [monitor engineer Chris] Wood. “We have found the drivers to be very reliable. I can’t recall having a problem in the eight years we have used them.” A few wedges can still be seen on stage, but are used mainly for backup.

Another change this year is that lead vocalist Chris Martin now keeps both of his earpieces inserted throughout the show. “Previously, Chris wore one earpiece and one ER15 (custom earplug), as he liked to hear the band acoustically,” notes Wood. “But with the increasing size of the venues – and the level of the stage and P.A. – he prefers to make the most of the noise rejection the 2MAX gives him. He keeps both earpieces in place all the time now. And of course, it’s also better for his hearing.”

In this photo, Chris Martin can be seen playing one of his four Gibson Blues King 3 guitars. They were used extensively during the Viva La Vida recording sessions and on tour. The guitars were hand painted by the band's personal assistant, Vicki Taylor. This can be verified in this secondary source, which was originally posted on Coldplay's official site.

"The CP70 is a legendary musical instrument used extensively by touring bands particularly throughout the 1980s before sampled and digital pianos became the norm. This particular CP70 is the instrument on which Chris wrote the song Trouble." - From Coldplay's end of decade clearout sale catalog where they auctioned off their gear.

You can see Chris Martin during an early gig using this guitar. He often used it live and on their debut album 'Parachutes'. His was in a Satin Finish.

Chris Martin has used the Guild F-50 and it can be seen in this video at :50s.

Chris Martin used the Martin OMC-15ME guitar during the "A Rush of Blood to the Head" era. This information is confirmed by the Coldplay: Oracles, where fans can inquire about the band's gear.

Chris Martin is seen using the Shure Beta 58A microphone during live performances, including Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head tour and at the Austin City Limits music festival, as featured in Eduardo Meira's YouTube video of "The Scientist" live performance.

Chris listed Kawai MP9000 amongst his equipment in Coldplay's self published E-Zine in 2003. It was used extensively for touring throughout the Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head tours in 2001 and 2003.

Visible on Martin's pedalboard in Coldplay: Live at Glastonbury 2005 starting at 7:13. The SD-1 is shown up close at 7:34.

The same pedalboard, once again to the right of Martin's piano, is visible in archive footage from the Twisted Logic Tour in Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams at 1:18:32. An identical backup pedalboard can be seen in the background on an amp, next to Martin’s Vox MKIV Teardrop.

Chris Martin used a Yamaha GT20 upright piano during his Mylo Xyloto Tour, as evidenced by a photo shared by Jimmy Dushku on Flickr.

In this photo from Coldplay’s 1999 Reading Festival set, we see Chris playing a post CBS, late 60s style Jazzmaster in sunburst.

In this photo from the X&Y recording sessions, Chris can be seen with a Yamaha CS80 Synthesiser. It's been used by Chris widely in the studio as well as on tour.

coldplay recorded all of their latest album with this mic

Mentioned by producer Rik Simpson in this interview from the Universal Audio website, dated shortly after Coldplay's nominations for Viva La Vida & Death and All of His Friends for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.

Yes actually, in the studio we've got a couple of 6176s. Chris' vocals always go through a 6176. (...) It's generally fairly flat, actually. I just like the sound of it. I don't really pump the EQ too much, maybe shave 2 or 3 dB off, and it just gives a lovely character, a full sound. We actually moved around a fair bit during the last album. We did recordings in Barcelona, New York, and in L.A. Wherever I went, I could always find a 6176 wherever I worked, so could always recall my settings. Chris is very much a perfectionist, he'll always get the basic performance right, but there might be a few words that two or six months later, he wants to re-sing. Obviously, if I can't get the same sound that I had initially, it's going to sound off. So it was always great to be able to find the same equipment, and know that it would sound the same, so close. I could just drop in those few lines, and you'd never be able to tell that it wasn't part of the original performance.

It was also used for Mylo Xyloto, as mentioned in this 2011 UA interview.

We've got about eight 6176 Vintage Channel Strips, which cover everything from bass, vocal, piano. Generally I go through the same mic amps every time for the whole project, so I don't have to repatch stuff and everything is always ready to go.

For Colplay's Mylo Xyloto tour, Chris Martin played a Fender Classic Series 72 Telecaster Deluxe for the song "God Put A Smile On Your Face." The guitar is tuned C# G# C# F C# C# with respective string gauges: .070 .052 .042 .028 .017 0.13.

This is confirmed in a Charitybuzz auction, where Chris' Telecaster is being auctioned off. Some of the Tele's details are listed, including "Maple, 21 fret, 3 bolt neck. 25.5" Scale. 2 x Fender "Wide Range" Humbucking pick-ups connected directly to output jack socket (i.e. No tone, volume or switching controls) and is hand-painted by [graffiti artist] Paris."

In the video, Chris Martin can be seen playing the Telecaster Deluxe starting at 0:24.

In This video you can see Chris Martin use the ever popular M50x's to track his vocals

In this photo Chris can be seen playing Korg KONTROL49. Coldplay used these MIDI controllers extensively throughout the Viva la Vida and Mylo Xyloto tours. The same keyboard can be seen in detail here: http://lucylovesya.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/012-Another-lovely-keyboard1.jpg

Mentioned by FOH engineer Dan Green in this AudioTechnology magazine article about the Ghost Stories Tour.

AT: I’m fascinated by your 500 series lunchboxes at front of house. What’s going on there exactly?

DG: Anyone who’s worked on a Midas XL4 will remember how you really only needed to give it some gain and push up the fader and you were good to go. Now with digital consoles — and as happy as I am with the Digico SD7 — you don’t get that, especially on drums.

In my search to rediscover that instant ‘analogue’ sound I began to play around with effects pedal-style boxes, but they were a bit flakey. On the other hand, I’ve always found Radial gear to be super-reliable. When it came out with the 500 series Workhouse, I tried out a few different pres, and settled on eight modules of Neve 1073 (which work really well on Chris’s SM58), four of the Helios Type 69-500 EQs (I love what the Helios high/mids do to the guitars) and four Shadow Hills Mono GAMA mic pres.

If anything does go awry with those, there’s a macro on my SD7 that’ll instantly flick back to the preamps on the SD stage rack.

This blog post from Coldplay's official site tells about Chris Martin playing with Noel Gallagher. Noel plays a loop through the ZVex LO-FI Loop Junky, which Chris Martin thinks is "the most amazing thing he’s ever heard." Noel later gives the pedal to Chris.