East Bay Ray

I use the same thing as in Dead Kennedys. Right now, I’m putting together a Stratocaster-style guitar, although there’s not many Fender parts left on it. I like Seymour Duncan pickups and I’ve been using a Schecter S-1, Marshall 2000 DSL amp, Echoplex tape unit and Line 6 DL4. I don’t use a lot of pedals and I don’t use channel switching in Dead Kennedys, but sometimes in Killer Smiles.

The guitar was also featured in 2022 Premier Guitar rig rundown

However, for this headlining run through the U.S., Ray brought a single Schecter S-1. He mentions in the Rundown that he still owns all his old Fenders and Japanese knockoffs but doesn’t want anything to happen to them. To soup up the doublecut, he typically swaps in a Seymour Duncan SH-1 ’59 (neck) and Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB (bridge) for the model’s standard Schecter Diamond Plus humbuckers. (Although the S-1 on this tour still has stock pickups.)

I use the same thing as in Dead Kennedys. Right now, I’m putting together a Stratocaster-style guitar, although there’s not many Fender parts left on it. I like Seymour Duncan pickups and I’ve been using a Schecter S-1, Marshall 2000 DSL amp, Echoplex tape unit and Line 6 DL4. I don’t use a lot of pedals and I don’t use channel switching in Dead Kennedys, but sometimes in Killer Smiles.

According to 2022 Premier Guitar rig rundown, Ray uses Marshall JCM 2000 as the main amplifiers:

Now when on tour, he hauls a Marshall JCM 2000 because it has “a versatile sound with a good midrange, and it doesn’t have too many knobs like the TSLs [laughs]. That thing is annoying to look at.”

I use the same thing as in Dead Kennedys. Right now, I’m putting together a Stratocaster-style guitar, although there’s not many Fender parts left on it. I like Seymour Duncan pickups and I’ve been using a Schecter S-1, Marshall 2000 DSL amp, Echoplex tape unit and Line 6 DL4. I don’t use a lot of pedals and I don’t use channel switching in Dead Kennedys, but sometimes in Killer Smiles.

In this picture you can see East Bay Ray playing a Fender Stratocaster on stage

The amp, though modified, was used on songs like "Holiday in Cambodia". A 2022 Premier Guitar rig rundown explains the process of Ray's Super Reverb conversion:

Ray’s guitar for the DK’s first singles, “Holiday in Cambodia” and “California Über Alles,” was recorded through a Fender Super Reverb (with an Electro-Harmonix LPB-1 Linear Power Booster in front of it). Shortly after those recordings, the self-admitted “science geek” tracked down schematics for Marshalls and Boogie amps and hot-rodded his Fender Super Reverb to have an extra tube channel, overhauling it to, essentially, a master-volume Marshall.

East Bay Ray's Echoplex is one of the key components of the sound. He comments:

If you look there is an Echoplex tape echo and it’s usually sitting on top of the amp. It had a foot pedal—just an on/off switch—which would be out onstage where I would be. As I remember, I found this foot pedal that was die-cast iron. It was very heavy, but it was easy to pull out of the way. Actually, sometimes somebody landed on it and broke it, but not very often. It was too small.

The Echoplex was once again mentioned in the 2022 Premier Guitar rig rundown:

In the band’s heyday, Ray traveled everywhere with his beloved Maestro Echoplex. He comments in the Rundown that while it was a key component to his sound, it was a pain to maintain with its tape cartridges and the need for a bottle of tape cleaner. Plus, in Europe power runs at 50 Hz so the unit would run slower. (The U.S. standard power is 60 Hz.)

in this photo from his Myspace account you can see a Bos DS-1

Uses It to boost the volume.

Roland Space Echo RE-201 can be seen on top of his amp in this video.

When he was asked if he has a preferred mic in the studio he answered with "The Sennheiser 421 and the classic is the Shure 57."

2022 Premier Guitar rig rundown mentions the CS-3:

As for the Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer, he uses it more as a boost than squeezebox. He maxes the level, eases back the tone, dimes the attack, and pushes the sustain, resulting in a mild volume jump for solos and single-note ditties. It’s in the chain after the DL4 and ahead of the amp so it can boost the repeats when the CS-3 is engaged along with the green machine.

In the JCM 2000 part of the interview, East Ray Bay says in the 80s he used a JMP 2203.

In the recording secessions for “In God We Trust Inc”, East Ray Bay can be seen using a Fender Stratocaster modified to have two Humbuckers in the bridge and neck positions and no single coil in the middle. This is a different Fender than his other blue one and the HH Standard is the closest I can classify it as.

In the Rig Rundown, East Ray Bay says in the recording for Holiday in Cambodia he used a Japan Knockoff Telecaster that he put a Humbucker in the bridge and a Stratocaster Single Coil in the neck

Quoting the article. “Interviewer: And you have that gray Strat. ERB: Yeah, that’s a Frankenstein Strat.

Interviewer:Was that also a Japanese knockoff? ESB: I would not spray paint a real Stratocaster [laughs]. At the time I had a sunburst Stratocaster, but that [gray guitar] was basically Frankenstein parts. I bought the body, neck, and pickguard, and put it together. I may have taken the neck and the parts off the real Strat and put them on that guitar.” Was used on most of the albums and the Hoilday In Cambodia Music Video and according to East Ray Bay Rig Rundown, he still owns it.

You can see him using it in the studio around 2:58

1:39 there's a 57 on both speakers

Seen in this Live Photo from 1981.

In the YouTube video titled "DKS - I Fought The Law - Live Olympic Auditorium 1984," East Bay Ray is seen playing a Micro-Frets Spacetone guitar, most clearly visible at the 2:20 mark. The guitar appears to be either black or dark red. This video was uploaded by jerryguzmanvideos.

In the video titled "Bleed For Me - Dead Kennedys - Urgh! A Music War - 1980 - DKs - Best Quality Live Performance" on YouTube, East Bay Ray is seen playing a Supro Martinique Electric Guitar. The video is provided by MJmcnult and features a live performance by the Dead Kennedys in Los Angeles in 1980.

"Originally I had those LPB-1 Power Boosters in front of the amp. But I’m also a science geek, so I got schematics for Marshalls and Boogie amps and rewired my Fender Super Reverb to have an extra tube channel in it so it would be like a master volume Marshall."