Fletcher Dragge

Fletcher Dragge, guitarist for Pennywise, uses an Ibanez GRG120BDX Solid Body Electric Guitar, known for its distinctive sticker-covered, black appearance. This information is confirmed by Ibanez.

Interview: And what do you use live?

I have a Dual Rectifier and a VHT Pitbull. That’s in my rack, and when I’m travelling with my rack I do a left and right split on stage and in the PA, so it’s true stereo. A lot of guitar players never get that. I always tell them, first piece of advice, get two heads and a splitter. And I’ve even used a delay between the two in the past, and it really opens up the whole of the middle for the vocals and the kick and snare and bass. If you sit out front and listen to a true stereo guitar with two stereo heads, it’s huge. It’s way bigger than one mic. But a lot of the times when I’m on the road I’ll just use two Dual Rectifiers split, two full stacks. And it’s a lot of work to lug that stuff around, but either way, the Dual Rectifier, I would say, is my signature sound. I’ve been playing Boogies since our first recording on Epitaph, and that’s just the old school Dual Rectifier, one of the best amps I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s a very versatile amp, and durable. Y’know, it’s funny. I saved up and thought “I want to sound like Metallica,” so I went out and got a Mesa Boogie Studio 22 preamp and the Strategy 400 watt all tube stereo power amp, which was just insane. It cost me a lot of money. It cost $3500 bucks or something. I saved up all summer. And not to say that I’m that guy, but I’m pretty sure I turned the whole punk scene onto those Boogies. NOFX used it on their album, Bad Religion used it on their album, Down By Law used it on their album. After I recorded with it, Brett [Gurewitz, Bad Religion guitarist & Epitaph founder] was like, “Can I borrow it?” Then Eric Melvin from NOFX came down and he was really into it and he would up buying a Mark III. In the meantime I was trying to get sponsored by Boogie. I was like, “Hey look, you’ve got to hook up some punk bands.” And they were like, “Punk bands can’t afford our stuff. It’s too high end.” And I was like, “No, I’ve already got three bands that have bought it from you. Why don’t you give us some free stuff?” And they don’t give anybody free stuff. Maybe Metallica, I don’t know. But they’re one of those amp companies that really keeps it tight. And it’s hilarious because I look back on it and there was an article in a magazine entitled Boogie Man, and I just want to call them up and tell the old guy, “You know how many punk guys are using Rectifiers now? You owe me steak dinners for life!”

And what do you use live?

I have a Dual Rectifier and a VHT Pitbull. That’s in my rack, and when I’m travelling with my rack I do a left and right split on stage and in the PA, so it’s true stereo. A lot of guitar players never get that. I always tell them, first piece of advice, get two heads and a splitter. And I’ve even used a delay between the two in the past, and it really opens up the whole of the middle for the vocals and the kick and snare and bass. If you sit out front and listen to a true stereo guitar with two stereo heads, it’s huge. It’s way bigger than one mic. But a lot of the times when I’m on the road I’ll just use two Dual Rectifiers split, two full stacks. And it’s a lot of work to lug that stuff around, but either way, the Dual Rectifier, I would say, is my signature sound. I’ve been playing Boogies since our first recording on Epitaph, and that’s just the old school Dual Rectifier, one of the best amps I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s a very versatile amp, and durable. Y’know, it’s funny. I saved up and thought “I want to sound like Metallica,” so I went out and got a Mesa Boogie Studio 22 preamp and the Strategy 400 watt all tube stereo power amp, which was just insane. It cost me a lot of money. It cost $3500 bucks or something. I saved up all summer. And not to say that I’m that guy, but I’m pretty sure I turned the whole punk scene onto those Boogies. NOFX used it on their album, Bad Religion used it on their album, Down By Law used it on their album. After I recorded with it, Brett [Gurewitz, Bad Religion guitarist & Epitaph founder] was like, “Can I borrow it?” Then Eric Melvin from NOFX came down and he was really into it and he would up buying a Mark III. In the meantime I was trying to get sponsored by Boogie. I was like, “Hey look, you’ve got to hook up some punk bands.” And they were like, “Punk bands can’t afford our stuff. It’s too high end.” And I was like, “No, I’ve already got three bands that have bought it from you. Why don’t you give us some free stuff?” And they don’t give anybody free stuff. Maybe Metallica, I don’t know. But they’re one of those amp companies that really keeps it tight. And it’s hilarious because I look back on it and there was an article in a magazine entitled Boogie Man, and I just want to call them up and tell the old guy, “You know how many punk guys are using Rectifiers now? You owe me steak dinners for life!”

Dragge use this Gibson in the recording of the album "All or Nothing" by Pennywise, especially in the treble efects and solos.

And what do you use live?

I have a Dual Rectifier and a VHT Pitbull. That’s in my rack, and when I’m travelling with my rack I do a left and right split on stage and in the PA, so it’s true stereo. A lot of guitar players never get that. I always tell them, first piece of advice, get two heads and a splitter. And I’ve even used a delay between the two in the past, and it really opens up the whole of the middle for the vocals and the kick and snare and bass. If you sit out front and listen to a true stereo guitar with two stereo heads, it’s huge. It’s way bigger than one mic. But a lot of the times when I’m on the road I’ll just use two Dual Rectifiers split, two full stacks. And it’s a lot of work to lug that stuff around, but either way, the Dual Rectifier, I would say, is my signature sound. I’ve been playing Boogies since our first recording on Epitaph, and that’s just the old school Dual Rectifier, one of the best amps I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s a very versatile amp, and durable. Y’know, it’s funny. I saved up and thought “I want to sound like Metallica,” so I went out and got a Mesa Boogie Studio 22 preamp and the Strategy 400 watt all tube stereo power amp, which was just insane. It cost me a lot of money. It cost $3500 bucks or something. I saved up all summer. And not to say that I’m that guy, but I’m pretty sure I turned the whole punk scene onto those Boogies. NOFX used it on their album, Bad Religion used it on their album, Down By Law used it on their album. After I recorded with it, Brett [Gurewitz, Bad Religion guitarist & Epitaph founder] was like, “Can I borrow it?” Then Eric Melvin from NOFX came down and he was really into it and he would up buying a Mark III. In the meantime I was trying to get sponsored by Boogie. I was like, “Hey look, you’ve got to hook up some punk bands.” And they were like, “Punk bands can’t afford our stuff. It’s too high end.” And I was like, “No, I’ve already got three bands that have bought it from you. Why don’t you give us some free stuff?” And they don’t give anybody free stuff. Maybe Metallica, I don’t know. But they’re one of those amp companies that really keeps it tight. And it’s hilarious because I look back on it and there was an article in a magazine entitled Boogie Man, and I just want to call them up and tell the old guy, “You know how many punk guys are using Rectifiers now? You owe me steak dinners for life!”

Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise used the Mesa/Boogie Mark IV Amp Head during the late 1990s and early 2000s, as documented on Angelfire.

Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise used the Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp during the late '90s and early 2000s, as noted on Angelfire.

In an interview with Revv Amps, it is confirmed that Fletcher Dragge uses the Revv Generator 120 MKIII. For live performances, he employs two separate heads and four cabinets to achieve a fuller sound, as his band Pennywise features only one guitarist. Additionally, he has the band's sound engineer run a delay from the front of house to mimic a double-tracked studio sound. This information is provided by Revv Amps on their YouTube channel.

In an interview with Revv Amps, Fletcher Dragge discusses his Ibanez Custom RG guitar. He mentions that although he always liked Ibanez guitars, he found the body too small. To address this, his girlfriend had a custom body made for him. The body was an oversized RG shape comparable in size to a Fender Strat. Fletcher reassembled the guitar using Ibanez parts and the new body. He later approached Ibanez for sponsorship, initially facing rejection with the statement, "we don’t sponsor punk bands." However, after showcasing the custom guitar he built, Ibanez decided to sponsor him and has since been making this body shape for him.

Fletcher Dragge uses the EMG 81 Active Ceramic Humbucker in his custom Ibanez guitars. According to the source, while he has two pickups installed, the neck pickup is a dummy and not wired. Dragge explains that he keeps the neck pickup in place to serve as a ramp to aid his picking technique, stating, "If I don’t have the neck pickup, I am more likely to break strings." This information was confirmed in an interview with Revv Amps on YouTube.

In an interview with Revv Amps, Fletcher Dragge confirms his use of the Sennheiser EW-D Wireless Guitar System. He mentions that he and his band's sound engineer incorporate the wireless system into the gain structure of his tone. the engineer noted that it adds a bit of saturation. Fletcher also states that the gain structure may vary depending on the day and their personal preferences.

Fletcher Dragge is confirmed to use the Marshall Valvestate 8100, as evidenced by his statement: "In the studio I used the Mesa Boogie with 30-watt Celestions and blended the tone with a Marshall Valvestate." Additionally, a Marshall 8100 head is available for use in the Pennywise jam room at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas.

At 2:03 on the DVD included with the Pennywise album "From The Ashes," a Peavey 5150 120-Watt Head can be seen sitting on top of his Mesa Rectifier inside the makeshift rehearsal studio, which was also used to record demos for the album, confirming that Fletcher Dragge uses this gear.

In an interview with I Heart Guitar, Fletcher Dragge mentions using a VHT Pitbull amp along with a Dual Rectifier, although the exact model of the VHT is not specified.