Daniel Johns

Nicknamed “Liberation” due to Dan’s righteous sticker decor This PRS Custom 24 is actually a one of a kind originally made for Helmet’s Page Hamilton as part of an endorsement/signature deal with PRS, the prototypes for Page were built but were never sent to production and eventually went back to the PRS HQ Enter Daniel Johns getting his own Deal in 1995 and found Hamilton’s former guitar. Being a massive Helmet fan John’s chose this guitar over new PRS’ and has since been used extensively throughout his career. From 1995-2003 it was Daniels main guitar and has since used it for Silverchair Drop D songs almost exclusively at almost every show. The following songs have been played with this guitar: Freak, Slave, Tomorrow , Pure Massacre, Anthem for the Year 2000, The Door, Freak, Faultline, Abuse me, Leave me out, No Association

Johns has gone on record saying it’s his favourite guitar. Hear it on this live version of “Slave” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BEkFbuMMDwY

Daniel can be seen using a Jackson Roswell Rhoads guitar in this video.

I found out what kind of guitar it was a few guitars down on this page: http://www.jedistar.com/aircraft_guitar.htm

Daniel Johns bought this Gibson Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar (ebony finish) in late 1997, and it was used for some Freak Show shows in Drop-D tuning and most notably the 1997 Recovery TV show (clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPfu9IeJlvw). Now tuned in Open Db: (Db-Ab-Db-Ab-Db-Db) and used for Emotion Sickness, Without You, Paint Pastel Princess, and Spawn Again since Neon Ballroom tours. Anti Duck Hunting sticker added during Neon Ballroom. Original source: http://bit.ly/1tJMaBA

He occasionally used his black and white gibson firebird from 1994 to 1996. During the pre and early Frogstomp era whilst he didn't use it very commonly. There are old photos with it and it does feature heavily in the music video for Israel’s Son https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k2d6iwOSAfQ&feature=youtu.be

Daniel Johns was first seen using the Rickenbacker 330/12 12-String Guitar at the Big Day Out festival in 2002. Some sources suggest he purchased it in Sydney in 2000. The guitar was last used live in 2010. Notably, Daniel plays this guitar on songs like "The Greatest View" and "World Upon Your Shoulders." The proof photo is user-uploaded.

Seen using an Ibanez Jem Floral in the original video clip of the Tomorrow EP Version.

Seen during the mistakes and outtakes video during the song Abuse Me.

Daniel used his red Gibson SG throughout his career acquiring many modifications and stickers over the years Whilst using it occasionally on early tours it became his main E standard guitar during The Neon Ballroom and Diorama era particularly songs like Ana’s Song, Steam Will Rise and Black Tangled Heart. There are photos of Daniel playing this guitar in the Frogstomp era but very few.

Daniel Johns has utilized his Fender Telecaster Deluxe '75 in natural finish with a black pickguard and numerous stickers throughout his career. An image circa 1995/96 shows him playing this guitar during the Frogstomp era. He increased its use during his time with The Dissociatives, particularly for songs requiring a capo like "Forever and a Day." He also employed a black version of the same model for songs not needing a capo. Starting with the Wave Aid show in 2005, his black Telecaster replaced his '61 reissue SG for songs in E standard. The natural Telecaster was used for capo songs such as "If You Keep Losing Sleep" and "Those Thieving Birds," while the black Telecaster was used for E standard songs like "Ana's Song" and "Reflections of a Sound." Post-Silverchair, the black Telecaster is the only guitar from that era he has used live during shows promoting his solo album "Talk." Daniel has stated that his Telecasters are some of his favorite guitars.

he did occasionally use his tobacco sunburst gibson les paul standard in 1995/1996. he didn't use it very often. there is a few pictures of it on the internet. probably it's most popular use was the whole concert at the big day out in 1995.

Used during the recording of Diorama. Not reported that he actually used it on the album but he was pictured with it.

This Rare 22 fret PRS in silver was used by Daniel often in the Freak Show era. Mostly for Drop D and DADGAD tuning. This guitar suffered a headstock break when Daniel climbed a Tower of Speakers near him at the end of Isreal's Son At Pinkpop 1997 and then had no choice but to drop the guitar to get down & broke the headstock in the moment, Here's The Footage: https://youtu.be/MIPg4SdtuYU?si=ai6y9MOPUsbRWCKz&t=2983 . Check this concert at 11:17, 14:45 & 18:55 for it being used on the songs “The Door”, “Abuse Me” and “Pure Massacre” respectively https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GySpjdIZyfc&feature=youtu.be
You can see the guitar in it's current damaged state here at 23:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCkOX3CNuvM

In 1996, Daniel acquired this a PRS McCarty model in black. He didn't use it much at first, only for a couple songs in drop D a night, often Israel's Son. By 1999 this guitar was completely covered in stickers and used on most songs in drop D. There were no set songs he would use this guitar on. He would pick, seemingly at random, whether to use this guitar or his green PRS on a song as they were both in Drop D.

By 2000, the guitar had been re-tuned to drop B for the songs ''One Way Mule'' and ''The Lever''. It is likely this guitar was going to be used heavily on Daniel Johns' scrapped Kyuss inspired album as both ''One Way Mule'' and ''The Lever'' were taken from that album.

This guitar was used frequently until a live performance in Perth on September 24th 2007 when this guitar was used live on stage for the last time in a performance of ''The Lever''.

Due to ''One Way Mule'' and ''The Lever'' being taken off the set-list after that show the guitar disappeared into Daniel Johns' guitar collection. That was until July 14th 2022 where a post was made to Daniel's Instagram page showing Daniel recording guitar for the song ''Where Do We Go?'' The guitar was tuned to drop B implying that the guitar had been kept in that tuning since it was last seen in 2007.

The guitar was then seen again on the 4th of October 2023 when the trailer for ''The Musical Mind: A Portrait In Progress'' was released to youtube and Daniel was seen playing the guitar. The guitar ended up being featured heavily in the film.

Daniel Johns uses the MJ Mirage Custom guitar, as seen in his Instagram Q&A and the video for "Rain."

Daniel used the heritage H-157 as a back up to his black Gibson Les Paul custom, The Heritage was only a backup in the Young Modern era. Daniel rarely used this guitar and when he did it would be in a C# G# C# G# C# C# tuning. This guitar was used at Live at Pukkelpop 2007 where Daniel played the H-157 on the song Freak. You can see this guitar at 49:23

Skip: What guitars are you using now? What do you consider to be your main axe, and why – what do you like about it?

Daniel Johns: I don’t really know that much about my equipment. But I know what my two favorite guitars are. I’ve got a ’75 and a ’76 Fender Telecaster. I don’t even really know what model. It’s the one with the double humbuckers in the neck and the bridge, but they’re my two favorite guitars. On the record, I was pretty much using Telecasters and Les Paul Juniors, and yeah, for a couple of, like the small tin-pot guitar tones, I was using an old, battered, ’50s Telecaster, just an on-the-bridge single coil pickup…something that sounds nice and clean and fragile.

In this video you can see a guitar stand in a room with this Danelectro 3923 on it.

In this photo you can see Daniel holding a 1960s sunburst Fender Maverick with a white Black Flag sticker on it.

In this pic from Uncut 1996, you can see a 1960s sunburst Gibson Melody Maker D behind Daniel

In this pic, Daniel is holding a black Gretsch Jim Dandy acoustic guitar

Daniel Johns is known to use a Black 1976 Fender Telecaster Deluxe extensively for standard-tuned songs with Silverchair and other projects since the mid-2000s. An image of him performing with this guitar can be seen in the provided source. Additionally, Johns has expressed that this is one of his favorite guitars.

In the video titled "Silverchair - Across The Night | Rock Im Park 2003" by 43Kouta on YouTube, Daniel Johns is seen using a Maton EM325c acoustic guitar. This guitar is prominently featured during the "Across the Night" tour, specifically on acoustic songs such as "Tuna In The Brine," "Luv Your Life," and "Across The Night." It is tuned to FCGDGd.