John Linnell

In this photo, which comes from TMBG's 2013 concert, Linnell can be seen playing the Roland Fantom X6.

John plays a Fender Mustang bass for the entirety of this video. At 0:10 in the video, the logo is clearly shown.

"The Main Squeeze Model 911 is the most solid accordion I've ever played. It should meet the demands of any serious musician, whether they play professionally or just for the love of it."-John Linnell

In the Official They Might Be Giants (TMBG) Wiki you can see John Linnell playing the Accordion.

John Linnell played a red Farfisa Compact in the early days of They Might Be Giants, as well as in his previous band, the Mundanes. It was used on many very early demos and some studio recordings, most notably "Twisting". There are no known usages of this organ by John Linnell beyond 1990, although it's possible it might've seen use on Apollo 18.

John Linnell used a micromoog early in his career, in They Might Be Giants and in his band before that, the Mundanes (as seen in the video). It was used to provide synth leads and synthesize drum tracks on early demos. It was beginning to break down in 1990 and is possibly now out of service.

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

"We recently moved over to a lot of software — samplers and synths — from unreliable hardware. We have [Mac] G5s."

"Around the time we were making our second album, Lincoln, I bought a used Mac Plus. It probably had about one meg of memory. I had that little TV set-shaped thing on my desk for a number of years. We used that and some really simple keyboards for sequencing."

"I told you I just upgraded to Digital Performer version 7. Well, the previous version I had was 5. I worked with 5 for — I don’t know — years, actually, because it was fine. It did everything I needed. And then finally I got curious, and I had already gone through two different versions."

"Lincoln to me doesn’t seem like that big of leap from the first album. When we had to write another album, we obviously didn’t have, like, five years to write Lincoln. So it seems we were really quick in writing songs back then. We had more of a plan. We bought the Alesis HR-16 —"

"I found out installing third-party chips in the [E-mu] Proteus 2000 does something completely weird to them that more or less makes them unreliable onstage after a couple of years. As soon as they started to warm up, the pitch would get crazy."

John Flansburgh explains on Tumblr that a Fairlight CMI unit was used during the production of their first album.

Mr. Linnell can be seen playing this Tenor Saxophone live here.

Mr. Linnell can be seen playing the Bari Sax.

In this article Linnel has a tower of rackmount gear Including the u-220

The vintage keys synth module is included in the stack of rackmount equipment

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

The heart of Linnell’s system is an Apple Macintosh IIci (1) running MOTU’s Performer sequencer and Mosaic notator (for horn arrangements), connected to an Opcode Studio Plus Two MIDI interface (2) and Timecode Machine sync box (3). A Cutting Edge hard disk (4) alongside Linnell’s Music Mart accordion (5) doubles as a pedestal for a Bundy bass clarinet (6) — which is not to ignore his prized Buescher bass sax (7). A Yamaha MJC8 (8) distributes MIDI to his E-mu Proteus FX (9) (“this is what I’m using live now”) and Vintage Keys (10), Roland R-8M percussion module (11) and U-220 (12), plus a Casio VZ-10M (13) bought in a closeout sale. “It’s the end of the legendary CZ line,” he laments. “It’s got some weird, cheap sounds you can’t get any other way.” An Akai S1000KB sampler (14) also serves as a master MIDI keyboard. When he’s in a picking mood, Linnell picks up a Gibson SG from the early ‘60s (15). A Boss TU-12H (16) helps keep it in tune.

The instruments, plus a Sennheiser 421 mike (17), feed a Tascam 688 eight-track cassette deck (18). “It has all these line inputs,” Linnell points out. “I can mix all my sequenced tracks and still have seven tape tracks for bass clarinet.” For effects, he uses a Urei 7110 compressor/limiter, Lexicon PCM42 delay (19). Yamaha SPX90II multieffect unit (20) and Korg DRV-1000 reverb (21). He mixes to a Sony TC-WR690 cassette deck (22) and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (23), amplified by a Hafler PRO2400 (24) and Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers (25).

Photo of John Linnell playing an Arturia Keylab 88 MkII.

John Linnell plays a Roland Fantom X8 with a Radial JD6 6-channel rackmount direct box underneath. He also plays a bass clarinet miked with a Sennheiser 908 and G3 wireless system.