Brad Whitford

[V.G.]: How are your guitars set up?

[B.W.]: On Les Pauls, I use .009-.042s. On Strats and Teles, I basically go with a .010, or in some cases a little heavier. If I tune a guitar down, I might go to an even heavier gauge. It helps if you can tune it down, because it gets a little slinky, and with that big meaty string, there’s nothing like that sound. The action is nominal – I don’t go super low or super high. I keep it high enough where I’m getting nice ring, but fret noise drives me crazy.

[V.G.]: What type of picks are you using?

[B.W.]: Dunlop 1mm black nylon. I used to use a Herco kind of like it, then I was just using standard plastic picks, but I found that I like these Dunlop nylon ones. They are kind of like the Hercos, which are hard to find. I have a bunch stashed away, but I’d kind of like to hold on to them.

[V.G.]: How are your guitars set up?

[B.W.]: On Les Pauls, I use .009-.042s. On Strats and Teles, I basically go with a .010, or in some cases a little heavier. If I tune a guitar down, I might go to an even heavier gauge. It helps if you can tune it down, because it gets a little slinky, and with that big meaty string, there’s nothing like that sound. The action is nominal – I don’t go super low or super high. I keep it high enough where I’m getting nice ring, but fret noise drives me crazy.

[V.G.]: What type of picks are you using?

[B.W.]: Dunlop 1mm black nylon. I used to use a Herco kind of like it, then I was just using standard plastic picks, but I found that I like these Dunlop nylon ones. They are kind of like the Hercos, which are hard to find. I have a bunch stashed away, but I’d kind of like to hold on to them.