Chris Shiflett

In this video, Chris Shiflett talks about his signature model Tele Deluxe:

"I have a new Fender signature guitar, it just came out. And what it is it's a Telecaster Deluxe, and we made a few a modifications to make it just a little more rock friendly.

So the main thing that we changed about this guitar is that normally a Tele Deluxe has wide range pickups. So we swapped out the wide wide range pickups for humbuckers, so it's a little beefier tone. They normally have a maple fretboard, and we used rosewood - it’s a little warmer, nicer. And they also usually have a 3-bolt neck back here, and we did 4 cause its a little more stable. And of course they don't normally have my name on written on the back of em, but we put that on here as well. We worked for a few months to get this thing together, we ran through a couple prototypes and wound up with this.

As far as my signature sound, or my sound that I’m most comfortable playing with has always been humbuckers. I was always a humbucker guitar player. I grew up playing in rock n roll bands. As a teenager, sort of not knowing what was what, that I plugged in a single coil pickup guitar, it just freaked me out and scared me and sounded so thin and weird and jangly that I didn't know what to do with it so I always ran back to a guitar with humbuckers.

And especially in in Foo Fighters you gotta have a humbucker, it's just that kinda sound - big meaty rock chords and stuff. With the Dead Peasants, I like playing a single coil pickup like a regular Tele. But for anything Foo Fighters and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, anything that's rockin, I have to have humbucker pickups, so that’s what we went with."

In this video, "Foo Fighters - Something From Nothing," Chris Shiflett can be seen playing a Gibson Custom 1957 Les Paul Goldtop (it's unclear whether it is the reissue model or not). 0:34 into the video provides a good look at the guitar, although glimpses of it can be seen throughout.

Chris Shiflett is seen holding a Gibson Les Paul Custom in a live performance. He has used this guitar in Drop D with the Foo Fighters since 2007.

Chris Shiflett owns a Vox Phantom Special VI, as noted on Reverb. This distinctive Italian-made guitar, known for its unique style, has had its pickups replaced by Shiflett. It's perfect for capturing an early Tom Petty sound.

In this picture of Chris, you can see him playing his Flying V

In this Wasting Light studio 606 live video, at 1:11, one can see that Chris is playing a Les Paul Traditional, on the song Bridge Burning

At 0:52, Shiflett can be seen playing a Black Falcon

Chris Shiflett, known for his work with the Foo Fighters, owns a Duesenberg Starplayer TV Electric Guitar, as listed on Reverb. Despite typically favoring brands like Fender, Gretsch, and Gibson, Shiflett appreciates the craftsmanship of Duesenberg guitars.

In the first two minutes of this Premier Guitar video interview from Nov 2012, Chris Shiflett talks about his 1962 Fender Telecaster Custom electric guitar, with surf green finish and a rosewood fingerboard:

“Well, this guitar here is my newest Tele. I just got this recently from Fender, and as you can see it's a beautiful surf green color. It’s got the white binding which is kind of unusual for a Tele, and it's got the rosewood fretboard. And I love a rosewood fretboard, it's the greatest thing in the world.

I saw this guitar out in New York recently when we were out there, and I was walking around going to guitar stores and stuff and I took a picture of it and texted it to my friend Nate who works over at Fender, and I said dude, do you guys still make this? Can I still get one of these? And he was like yes, and I got it the next week and I've been playing it ever since, this is my favorite guitar right now. And every time you play this guitar people are drawn to it, people love it, I get a lot of compliments on it. Because it's just so pretty.”

The interviewer then asks if Chris Shiflett has made any modifications to the guitar, to which he replies, “I have not changed one thing and I don't plan to. I don't know what kind of pickup this is [pointing to the bridge pickup], I think Nate told me but I forgot. And it sounds great. And I don’t wanna f*ck with it at all. It’s a 1962 Tele Custom. It's perfect. Beautiful.

Theoretically I could use this in the studio to Foo Fighters and there's a few Foo Fighters songs here and there that I could probably get away with using a single coil pickup on. The problem is that - I don’t know if you’ve ever seen us play but we go through from song to song like that, so there's not a lot of time to switch guitars. I have to kinda sneak in guitar switches where I can. And mostly with Foo Fighters I’ve always played guitars with humbuckers in them…”

Chris Shiflett is seen with the Gibson ES-335 Dot Plain-Top, and his use of this guitar is confirmed on Gibson's website in a feature on Chris.

Another one of those was the 2000s white custom-shop Gibson ES-335 he sold on the official Reverb shop.

I bought this guitar sometime around the “One By One” tour. Can’t remember exactly. Actually this is a replacement because the first one Gibson sent me had a faulty neck and wouldn’t stay in tune. My good buddy Luke Tierney bought a white 335 from Voltage Guitars when we were in high school and I was always a little jealous of it. Plus I was trying to channel some Alex Lifeson vibes.

Chris Shiflett is pictured with a Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard) in a user-uploaded photo titled "ShiflettGrammy.jpg," showcasing his use of this instrument.

at 1:34, he can be seen playing a white explorer during the song, "learn to fly"

Shiflett can be seen playing a Natural Finish Custom Shop Strat (you have see the neck plate C.Shop Logo in a different shot) at 6:41

Chris Shiflett owned a Gibson ES-135 Black Custom, as noted on Reverb.com. In his comments, Shiflett mentions his admiration for the guitar's P90 pickups and recalls considering Izzy Stradlin's use of similar guitars when purchasing it. Despite his appreciation, he notes that it wasn't frequently incorporated into his regular lineup.

I used my Fender signature model, the Masterbuilt gold one. I go to the studio with a few things, but honestly, I always wind up using a lot of Dave Cobb’s stuff. He has a 1957 gold-top that I played quite a bit. There were some other Teles, but I’m not sure about the dates.

Chris Shiflett is pictured with a Warmoth Tele Deluxe on the Foo Fighters Wiki, demonstrating his use of this guitar model.

Chris Shiflett is associated with a Gibson Firebird Vintage, as detailed on Reverb.com. Originally, the guitar was white, and his guitar tech installed a humbucker in the bridge. This modified version is visible in the "Stacked Actors" live performance at Wembley. Eventually, Shiflett restored the original Firebird pickup, repainted it Pelham Blue, similar to Dave Grohl's Trini Lopez and DG-335 models, and later sold it on Reverb.

Chris used Blacktop Telecaster at Lollapalooza Brazil in 2012 and many other concerts before he had got his signature Telecaster

Shiflett can be seen played a blue strat

In 1:29 you can see Shifflet playing a ES-175 Natural finish

Shiflett can be seen playing a G6129TAU Sparkle Jet, at 0:41, in his other band, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

At the end of this video, Chris can be seen playing a Firebird Non Reverse.

CS: With Foo Fighters, I pretty much just play my signature model now because I designed that guitar to be exactly what I needed.

For Chevy Metal (Shiflett's side project with fellow Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins), I got an EVH 5150 combo, one of the small ones. And I have a Strat with a humbucker in it and a Floyd Rose. You kind of don't want anybody to see you playing it [laughter], but it's perfect for that. Because we were doing all these Van Halen songs, I had to get something with a Floyd Rose. But I could not figure out how to work that thing for so long. [laughs] I couldn't even figure out how to tune it. I had to watch somebody on YouTube explain it.

This guitar can be seen at 05:02-06:02 in the accompanying YouTube link.

Chris Shiflett is using this guitar in the Foo Fighters: Live at Wembley Stadium DVD in 2008. He is using this guitar in the song "Long Road to Ruin". You can see him using it at around the 2:42 mark.

Another one of those (if not, perhaps the same one) went for sale on Chris' official Reverb shop.

Do you love Johnny Thunders? Do you love Mick Jones from The Clash??? Then you need this guitar!! Again, I wound up with two of these (my other one only has one pickup) so I’m letting this one go. This is a simple straight forward rock’n’roll guitar.

This is Chris Shiflett's custom shop guitar, He plays it a lot at Foo Fighters shows. "Night after night the Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett puts his Telecaster through its paces, carving his way through a full brigade of guitar tones on the biggest, loudest stages you can find anywhere. This tour-tested son-of-a-gun is named “The Cleaver” for a reason''

This guitar has had an interesting journey!! Started out white when I bought it around the making of “One By One.” As a matter of fact it’s the guitar I’m playing in the “All My Life” video. I hated the banjo tuners so my tech, Sean Cox, switched ‘em out for regulars tuners and put ‘em on each side of the headstock. People used to trip out on that. Somewhere along the line I had it painted Pelham Blue and put back to it’s original style. Switched the pickups out for better, hotter mini-humbuckers so this thing really wails. I’m sad to say I’m just not big enough to play a Firebird. Too neck heavy and the neck is too wide for my lil’ hands. That’s why I play non-reverse Firebirds now. Super cool guitar anyway. Channel your inner Andy McCoy!!

And I bought an Esquire and an old Sixties Tele from him. If I’m looking at a vintage guitar, I’ll usually take a picture of it, text it to him, and go, 'Should I get this thing?' He knows so much more about guitars than I do.

Chris Shiflett uses a Fender Classic Series '72 Telecaster Deluxe in his side project "Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants." You can see him use this Telecaster throughout the source video, with a better view of it at around 02:25.

you can watch chris playing a Gretsch silver jet on the video