John Flansburgh

In this photo, John Flansburgh can be seen playing a Fender Telecaster.

John can be seen playing a black Danelectro U-2 while preforming "Tender Is The Mind"

Behind Flansburgh in this video, we can see a Matchless Chieftain, most notably at :48s.

John Flansburgh can be seen with a red Fender Jazzmaster in this photo.

I have a small set of pedals that I leave on all the time, set to extremely low settings just to sweeten things. A Strymon Flint reverb and tremolo, a Walrus Audio Julia chorus, and a ZVex Effects Box of Rock as a boost. I happily endorse all of them as reliable, even on stages with the dirtiest power.

Flansburgh’s footpedal gear includes the Radial SGI TX and SGI RX, Boss Noise Suppressor NS-2, Electro-Harmonix micro POG, MXR micro flanger and Semaphore tremolo.

Mr. Flansburgh can be seem playing the guitar here.

In this video, at 0:43, Flansburgh can be seen playing a Gibson ES-335.

Flansburgh also owned a right-handed model restrung for left-handed players, but it was stolen from his apartment early in the band's career.

In this photo, Flansburgh is seen with Gretsch G6118T Anniversary model.

In a user-uploaded photo, John Flansburgh is pictured with a Danelectro Coral Longhorn, which appears to have had a pickguard added. This is a rare sighting, as he has been seen with this guitar only once. The guitar might be a Thinline model, though no additional photos are available to confirm this detail.

This guitar was custom-built by Chris Cush of the now-defunct Mojo Guitar Shop in New York at the request of John Flansburgh. Its first public appearance was in the music video for "The Statue Got Me High" and was used in many recordings since then. It is painted in a golden color on the front and a black color on the back, has a rosewood Telecaster-like neck as well as a vintage Telecaster bridge, a Gretsch Filtertron pickup near the neck, and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup on the bridge. An unusual feature of the guitar is that it has a working VU meter near the control knobs. One promotional photo suggests that it had a black pickguard at one point. It was built for left-handed players.

I recently got the Boss VB-2W Vibrato Waza Craft which I am in love with. I had one through the 90s but lost it when our whole truck of gear was stolen. The pedal had been discontinued so quickly, I never could find a replacement. On its own, it’s really a dumb pitch wiggling “gawah-ah-wah-ah” sound, but when everything is really cranked up it adds a certain kind of mania that I really love. It’s like driving a car, smashing into one side of the guard rails, and then crossing the road to hit the other side of guard rails.

In this image taken around 1990, you can see Flansburgh holding a Fender MIJ '62 reissue telecaster, in a left-handed orientation. Some key aspects of this guitar are the white binding around the body and the softer 'woodgrain' effect due to the sunburst finish used. The video reveals another aspect of recognition at 0:55, being the slightly more orange headstock due to the lacquer used.

In this video, at 3:33, one can see Flansburgh playing Fender American Deluxe Tele.

JF (shortened for John Flansburgh) wrote this on TMBG's Facebook profile.

"JF: celebrating with my new Airline bighorn guitar--just in time for International Left-Handed Day! Sinistrophobes take cover, lefties unite and take over!"

Flansburgh posted a photo of his Casio MT-65 on Instagram with the caption "When it really comes down to it, this is where I'm always at."

Flansburgh posted a photo of his Danelectro on Instagram with the caption "When it really comes down to it, this is where I'm always at."

In the 33 1/3 publication They Might Be Giants' Flood, on page 74, John Linnell reports that he and Flansburgh each acquired a Casio FZ-1 for the writing and recording sessions for that album.

John Flansburgh is seen using a Fender Vibrolux Reverb amplifier (blackface version) during a recording session for their lead single "Can't Keep Johnny Down" off of their 2007 album "Join Us."

I have a small set of pedals that I leave on all the time, set to extremely low settings just to sweeten things. A Strymon Flint reverb and tremolo, a Walrus Audio Julia chorus, and a ZVex Effects Box of Rock as a boost.

Flansburgh’s footpedal gear includes the Radial SGI TX and SGI RX, Boss Noise Suppressor NS-2, Electro-Harmonix micro POG, MXR micro flanger and Semaphore tremolo.

In ‘88 I also got another Fernandes but this was a metallic purple Strat (!) which is any whammy bars you hear on Lincoln (Purple Toupee) It’s on a lot of Lincoln actually-but came and went as things did. - John Flansburgh (source: https://tmbgareok.tumblr.com/post/182271580271/over-the-years-ive-noticed-you-played-various)

Flansburgh claims to have bought this guitar in 1988 but this concert footage is from 1987. It's possible that Flansburgh misremembered the year he bought this guitar. The tone knob for the middle pickup appears to have been missing/replaced.

At 2:03 in this video of They Might Be Giants covering Chumbawamba, one can see John Flansburgh singing into a Sehnheiser E945.

In this fantastic cover, at 1:30, we can see Flansburgh singing into Shure SM57.

I have a small set of pedals that I leave on all the time, set to extremely low settings just to sweeten things. A Strymon Flint reverb and tremolo, a Walrus Audio Julia chorus, and a ZVex Effects Box of Rock as a boost.

Flansburgh’s footpedal gear includes the Radial SGI TX and SGI RX, Boss Noise Suppressor NS-2, Electro-Harmonix micro POG, MXR micro flanger and Semaphore tremolo.

Flansburgh’s footpedal gear includes the Radial SGI TX and SGI RX, Boss Noise Suppressor NS-2, Electro-Harmonix micro POG, MXR micro flanger and Semaphore tremolo.

Flansburgh’s footpedal gear includes the Radial SGI TX and SGI RX, Boss Noise Suppressor NS-2, Electro-Harmonix micro POG, MXR micro flanger and Semaphore tremolo.

In this letter, John Flansburgh responds to a fan inquiring about how to play Ana Ng by They Might Be Giants. In the response, John Flansburgh recommends the Chandler Tube Driver Overdrive as an excellent pedal.

If you are looking for a fuzz box, let me recommend the Chandler Tube Driver. It is Excellent

Throughout the video, Flansburgh is seen with a FG-160-BK