John Flansburgh

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.

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 an Instagram post by John Flansburgh, he showcases his pedalboard for the late-2025 TMBG shows, featuring a Radial SGI-RX.

John Flansburgh, in a Tumblr post, confirmed the use of the Roland R8 drum machine, stating, "...using the Roland R8 drum machine which was kind of the last of the big drum machine libraries (some very very familiar sounds from big budget dance tracks–anything new jack swing styled tracks of the moment C+C Music Factory, etc.) The sound was much crisper while still often realistic."

John Flansburgh mentions using the Otari 5050MKIII-8 tape machine during the Flood tour in 1990, as detailed in a Tumblr post.

John Flansburgh confirms in a Tumblr post that he uses the Mattel Synsonics drum machine for the backing track of the live-exclusive song "Happy."

In this Dec 15, 2009 article for Magnet Magazine, John Flansburg, as co-guest editor for the month, details his use of the Boss DR-110:

The DR-110 was an early tool for TMBG. There is nothing real about the sounds that came out of this early “pro-sumer” drum machine, but more singular to the DR-110, there was nothing particularly big sounding about it, either. The graphic display can be tapped into, which put it well past the pre-programmed “accompanist” rhythm boxes that were created for console organ players, and hearing the results of an entirely hypothetical graphical idea turned into a rhythm wasn’t usually successful but was still fascinating.

Additionally, in this 2025 Tumblr post, John confirms that the band used the Boss DR-110 Dr. Rhythm Graphic for early Dial-A-Song recordings around 1984. This includes its use on the song "1999", the first demo of "Don't Let's Start", and tracks on the 1984 Promotional Demo Tape.