Melissa Etheridge

"Acoustic rock legend Melissa Etheridge collaborated with the Ovation/Adamas R&D team to design this extraordinary 6-stringed signature instrument. Representing the ultimate craftsmanship from Ovation’s flagship workshop in New Hartford, Connecticut, the Melissa Etheridge Signature 6-string features a solid spruce top soundboard with X-bracing and a contoured composite body. Other features include an ebony fretboard and bridge, bass-side sound ports with white pearloid epaulets, and a custom “ME” mother-of-pearl symbol on the peg head face. The Melissa Etheridge Signature model comes with Ovation’s original high-output pickup, and its OP-Pro Studio preamp connects to virtually any sound system, stage amp, or recording console."

The Koko boost is one of her favourite pedals that she uses. She uses it as a clean boost to make parts jump out more and to even out the other guitars with different pick ups.

Melissa Etheridge uses the Badger 35 so that she is able to replicate sounds that she is able to do on stage at home without it having to be as loud. Melissa Etheridge used to put her amps off stage but now thanks to this Badger 35 Guitar amp head she is able to control the scaling better so has it on stage

So I have about… [laughs] 10 guitars out on the road. I’ve got a ‘79 Gibson 347, a ‘79 Jaguar, an early ’80s Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, and then I’ve got a Jerry Jones 12-string from the mid-’90s that he made for me.

Melissa can be seen holding a Gibson L-5 throughout this video of Norman's Rare Guitars.

Pete Thorn says that Melissa Etheridge uses a suhr shiva drive. She uses this as a rhythm drive.

"Acoustic rock legend Melissa Etheridge collaborated with the Ovation/Adamas R&D team to design this extraordinary 6-stringed signature instrument. Representing the ultimate craftsmanship from Ovation’s flagship workshop in New Hartford, Connecticut, the Melissa Etheridge Signature 6-string features a solid spruce top soundboard with X-bracing and a contoured composite body. Other features include an ebony fretboard and bridge, bass-side sound ports with white pearloid epaulets, and a custom “ME” mother-of-pearl symbol on the peg head face. The Melissa Etheridge Signature model comes with Ovation’s original high-output pickup, and its OP-Pro Studio preamp connects to virtually any sound system, stage amp, or recording console."

In this photo, which shows Etheridge performing at the 2013 Opera House concert, she can be seen playing the black Gibson Les Paul Custom.

So I have about… [laughs] 10 guitars out on the road. I’ve got a ‘79 Gibson 347, a ‘79 Jaguar, an early ’80s Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, and then I’ve got a Jerry Jones 12-string from the mid-’90s that he made for me.

I went down that hole, and I have some amazing guitars that I really, really, really love. I’ve got a ‘75 blonde Fender Starcaster, and it’s just one of my favorites. I keep it at home, I don’t really tour with it, because it’s a little fragile.

I have a ‘64 J45 that has a deep sound that I love writing with. Sometimes I’ll pick out an old guitar just to shake up the inspiration. And sometimes I’ll buy a guitar and say, “Ah, there’s a couple of songs in there.”

[Fractal Audio] digitizes every single amplifier, and also pedals sounds, but instead of just making it digital with no dynamics to it, it’s live. [The Axe-Fx III] is a pedalboard, it’s a rack, it’s a computer, and there’s no amplifiers or pedals—it’s all in the board. I’ve dialed in pedals to how I want them to sound, I have a different amplifier for every guitar. To the purest, it’s like, “Nooo!” But I’m like, “Yes.” In the studio, no—but on the road, night after night, it has made such a difference, and we’re able to really dial it in. It solved so many problems.

In this photo, Etheridge can be seen with the Gibson B-25.

Melissa Etheridge uses DR Strings Veritas 10-52, as noted in a Guitar Center listing for these strings.

On this YouTube video Melissa states she uses Dr Strings Dragon Skin strings

Melissa Etheridge has been using the Red Monkey Classic 3" Guitar strap. The use of these straps is confirmed by visual evidence available through Equipboard.