Jose Rios

Used on Free Nationals, as mentioned in this December 23, 2019 Guitar.com interview.

I wasn’t really thinking about making it sound a certain way. I used Fender American Pro series Tele that was gifted to me by Fender. I used a Vox amp on some of it, some of it I plugged directly in. I used an American Pro series Stratocaster and there was some acoustic guitar in one of the tracks, that acoustic guitar was a Martin guitar that our producer had. Really, it was just using the instruments I had around me.

A reissue goldtop is visible in both NPR Tiny Desk Concerts for The Free Nationals (view the second here). It is also visible in this October 1, 2020 Instagram post.

Used on Free Nationals, as mentioned in this December 23, 2019 Guitar.com interview.

I wasn’t really thinking about making it sound a certain way. I used Fender American Pro series Tele that was gifted to me by Fender. I used a Vox amp on some of it, some of it I plugged directly in. I used an American Pro series Stratocaster and there was some acoustic guitar in one of the tracks, that acoustic guitar was a Martin guitar that our producer had. Really, it was just using the instruments I had around me.

Mentioned in this August 26, 2019 Orange Amps interview.

Right now i’m actually using a Mexican Jag, that I put the same humbuckers into that were in my strat. The humbucker sound with that amp combined is like heavy duty man, it’s really powerful. My distortion pedal its a really creamy tone, cut through solo nastiness!

Used for this October 2, 2020 Guitar.com Live livestream.

Used in the live music video for "Angeles".

Rios used at least two stratocasters with Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals before he acquired his American Professional strat. Pictured is a black one, but Rios has also used a white one.

The white Strat (with painted headstock)

• Panorama Music Festival, taken by Leslie Edwards on July 23, 2016 (note that the headstock is not yet painted)
• House of Vans (July 25, 2019), one taken by Bobby Talamine and another form the House of Vans Tumblr
• Openair Gampel 2019, broadcast live on SR3 on August 16, 2019

Tuned to Drop D and used live as a backup guitar, as mentioned in this November 24, 2020 MONO Blog interview.

What was your setup like for the Fortnite show?

I had an Orange Rockerverb MKIII, a 4×12 cabinet and a Fender American Professional Stratocaster.

I also had a PRS Custom 24 as a backup in Drop D and some pedals. I play stuff from Jam Pedals, to EarthQuaker Devices, MXR and BOSS.

In this video from Fender, Jose Rios plays an Acoustasonic Stratocaster.