Billy Duffy

On the [http://www.billyduffy.com/gear/gibson-les-paul-1960-reissue-gold-top/) of Billy Duffy's website, he says, "This one is just a regular production 1960 re-issue Gold Top that Gibson made in 2000. It was quite inexpensive but it just sounded really good. I did all the usual changes though: changed the pick-up and tuning pegs, took the scratch plate and pick-up cover off. I use this one all the time live. It’s a good, honest guitar. Nothing fancy or special but it really feels good and plays great.”

On the Gear page of Billy Duffy's website, he says, "This guitar of mine comes originally from an event in April 2007 at the Empire State building in New York for Mike Peters’ Cancer Charity ‘Love, Hope & Strength’. Mike, Dave Wakling (The Beat), Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) and I did a hike up the 1,600 steps to the top of the Empire State Building and then played a little gig there. Gibson sponsored the event and let us keep the guitars we’d played on the roof which in my case was a fabulous Gibson J-200."

On the Gear page of Billy Duffy's website, he says, “It’s a great useful pedal that’s also a mute.” There isn't much more information, but the pedal he owns is depicted quite clearly as part of his pedal boad.

One can see a Pedal Power 2 Plus on Billy Duffy's board at 16:33 in this video.

A Tube Screamer can be seen on Billy Duffy's pedalboard at 17:50 in this rig rundown video.

According to this page of Billy Duffy's website, Billy originally used an OD-1. "Another pedal that [Cult bassist] Jamie passed onto me when he joined Death Cult (and swapped guitar for Bass) was his BOSS OD-1. I used that as Overdrive in the early years of the band...”

Billy uses a 2010 Nash '63 Relic Esquire, according to this Guitar Geek rig diagram.

This gear diagram, by Guitar Geek, shows that Billy Duffy uses a Lovepedal Kalamazoo.

Billy Duffy uses the Fulltone Full-Drive2 Mosfet overdrive pedal, as noted on the Fulltone website.

"The ‘Evil Twin’ to Billy’s Gretsch Signature White Falcon this colourway was launched as a limited edition model in December 2015. The spec is identical to it’s twin which in turn was based on his 1970’s ‘Sanctuary’ White Falcon with the only difference being this model has a luxurious black gloss lacquer finish instead of a white one."

“Around 1984 I decided that I wanted to get another single cutaway White Falcon like the ‘Sanctuary one as I loved the way it felt. Unfortunately at that time I couldn’t find one let alone afford one and I came across a Country Club that had the same feel. So, I traded the Double Cutaway Stereo Falcon for it. Originally it was a natural wood finish so I got it painted in London by a guy called Roger Giffin who was a guitar customizer under Kew Bridge. Instead of white I decided to get it painted black because I wanted to create my own ‘Black Falcon’ as I just thought it would look cool. The black guitar, white guitar ‘flim flam’ in the ‘Love Removal Machine’ video were the ‘Sanctuary’ Falcon and this Country Club. I don’t think I ever played live with it with the wood front though. I think I invented the Black Falcon before Gretsch did! When I got it painted by Roger Giffin, the paint that he used was supposed to be black but sometimes if you paint a guitar and there’s too much moisture in the air ‘clouding’ can happen. The finish got a bit cloudy like a milky black, almost with a green tinge to it. But in fact that’s what happens to some vintage black guitars anyway so more out of luck that good planning the Country Club became a black guitar with a vintage finish. Something else that happened was that in December 1989 we were on tour in Canada and it was extremely cold. This guitar was in a truck with the ‘Sanctuary’ Falcon and the paint lacquer finish on both of them cracked. But, it was in a very attractive 1950s way, which made both the guitars look kind of sexy and more vintage than they really are. It was a fortunate accident! So combining the clouding paint effect and the cracked lacquer I ended up with a guitar that almost looked like it had been antiqued.

Later on, as I usually do, I changed out the pick ups at the bridge as for a hotter one which was a TV Jones. In the 1990s or 2000s I swapped out the tremolo arm for a White Falcon one that Fat Rick from New Kings Road Vintage Guitar Emporium found for me. For a long time it became my backup live guitar to the ‘Sanctuary’ Falcon but was never my primary guitar. I just had it there in case I broke a string on the regular Falcon but I never did as the ‘Sanctuary’ one was so reliable that I never needed my spare. One final piece of trivia on this guitar is that in the 1980s Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera rented it to use in a video. He saw it in when I was having some work done on it and he asked to use it so I let him as I thought he was a nice guy and cool. It still is a very pretty looking guitar and one of my favorites.”

"Yeah, and I like the DD-3 also. It’s a good one — y’know, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! I use the flanger [BF-3] a little bit, and I’ve been using the Super Overdrive [SD-1], the yellow one."

Boss pedals: DM-2 Delay, BF-2 Flanger, PH-3 Phase Shifter, NS-2 Noise Suppressor, TU-3 Tuner, DD-3 Digital Delay x2

“I’ve always used them. I like them – they always work. Well, I’ve always used them, apart from one period where I got a couple of rack-mounted Korg delays, and I had like a rack-mounted guitar system for a while. I really like it, but it’s a little bit complex, and the way we work now, we do some fly-in gigs, and me being able to control it all from the floor is pretty bombproof.”

Duffy's official website states that Duffy has been using Herco Flex 50 picks since roughy 1978, recommended to him by Johnny Thunders.

"DUNLOP HERCO PICKS"

"Billy always plays with Dunlop Herco Flex 50 medium guitar picks and was first turned onto them by Johnny Thunders as he explains here… “Thunders gave me one of those picks, himself, back in ’77 or ’78 when he was playing Manchester University. He was at a payphone and he pulled one out of his pocket while he was on the call and handed it to me. I’ve never played anything else since. Another thing: I play with the pick “sideways,” compared to the traditional grip, and always have done. Not a lot of people know that.”

"For a number of years Billy has had his own custom versions made exclusively for him by Dunlop and initially they were embossed with DUFFY and an Iron Cross graphic and made in Manchester City Blue and then Gold (to celebrate City winning the English Premier League in 2012)."

"The current design is an embossed Billy Duffy silhouette logo and are made in white and black to match his Gretsch Signature Falcon Guitars."

Duffy acquired his Les Paul Junior after being inspired by New York Dolls' frontman, Johnny Thunders, according to a November 2022 article about Thunders, published in Guitar World.

Johnny’s weapon of choice, the Les Paul Junior in TV yellow, was the perfect axe — minimal, direct and cutthrough with the essence of rock ’n’ roll — basically the blueprint for Thunders’ own ethos. That guitar became an object of desire for the Cult’s Billy Duffy: “I lusted after his TV yellow Les Paul Junior. [Laughs] I finally picked up my own Les Paul Junior in 1979, though it was a wine red one. I couldn’t find a yellow one in England at that time!”

Listed on the official Lovetone "Clients" page.

Billy Duffy MB/DG/BS/BC/WL

Listed on the official Lovetone "Clients" page.

Billy Duffy MB/DG/BS/BC/WL

Listed on the official Lovetone "Clients" page.

Billy Duffy MB/DG/BS/BC/WL

Listed on the official Lovetone "Clients" page.

Billy Duffy MB/DG/BS/BC/WL

Listed on the official Lovetone "Clients" page.

Billy Duffy MB/DG/BS/BC/WL