Omar Rodríguez-López

What picks and strings do you use?

Omar: I like the orange Dunlop Tortex picks and I use Ernie Ball strings gauged .013 to .056 with a wound third.

Wow, is that why you don’t use a lot of vibrato?

Omar: Maybe. I never realized my strings were so heavy until other guitar players were like, “What the f**k are you doing?” When John Frusciante realized I had them he was amazed and kept asking me if I was really doing all those bends using those strings. But if I use lighter strings I really pull them out of tune, because as I said I don’t have a gentle touch— and that also affects my vibrato. Someone like John plays with a lot of finesse, so you can hear all those little things that he does with the vibrato and everything, whereas my playing is sort of bulldozer-esque.