Pete Townshend

When The Who made an appearance on the Smother's Brothers Comedy Hour television show in 1967, Pete Townshend used a Sunburst Vox Cheetah to mime two pre-recorded tracks for the performance: I Can See For Miles, and My Generation. Although he did end up smashing the guitar, the one that was sold on Christie's Auctions was NOT PETE'S GUITAR!!! A guitar labelled as Pete's was displayed for (estimate: £6,000–8,000), but, as a matter of fact, this guitar is actually a pre-smashed Sunburst Vox V268 Ultrasonic, easily identifiable by the palm-wah mechanism positioned behind the bridge NOT FOUND on the Cheetah! You can watch the video to see for yourself, just look behind the bridge on the one he is using. There is clearly no metal gadget directly behind the bridge other than the vibrato tailpiece, which is partially composed of wood anyway. If you are wondering what "gadget" I am talking about, I am pointing out the little metal triangle on a piece of the "remnants" of "Pete's" guitar. That is the palm-wah that goes on the Vox Ultrasonic, NOT the Cheetah, used by Pete. See the performance here, and note that the palm-wah is not there.

Pete played Hiwatt cabs for years during the early days of The Who.

Used for vocals on Deep End Live!, as can be seen throughout the concert footage.

Developed in collaboration with Townsend.

Known for smashing guitars, the Who’s Pete Townshend won’t be smashing this one—Gibson’s beautiful Pete Townshend J-200 Signature Artist Series acoustic guitar. “The guitar is perfect—a labor of love. I would no more smash this than smash my own right hand,” Townshend said when the guitar was first introduced in 2004. Gibson’s Pete Townshend J-200 Signature Artist Series guitar is a painstaking recreation of the 1960s acoustic he used to compose such classic hits as “Pinball Wizard” from the legendary 1969 rock opera Tommy, and the Who concert staple “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” This new version—which Townshend uses regularly on stage—has many of the same features as his vintage J-200, but with several modern appointments.

In this photo, one can see Pete Townshend playing Rickenbacker 345.

Townshend used this guitar around 1963. Here, he is seen playing the guitar with an acoustic pickup.

In a 2005 live performance, Pete Townshend is seen using a Takamine G-Series Acoustic Electric guitar.

In this photo the head of this amp can be seen used in a pair of 4x12 marshall cabinets.

In a user-uploaded photo from Thewho, Pete Townshend is seen using custom Marshall 4x12 cabinets with V30 speakers, paired with a Fender Bassman head.

In this photo, Pete is using 8x12 Marshall cabinets powered by two Marshall JTM45 100 Tremolo, the main stuff were that these cabinets had an “THE WHO” shield badges .

Pete uses a Shubb Capo in this picture.

In this photo froma Who performance in 1967 Pete can clearly be seen windmilling in front of a pair of Sound City One Hundreds (AKA L100, designed and built under contract by Dave Reeves of future Hiwatt fame, get the connection?). Starting around this time Pete started stacking his heads and spring reverb unit on a chair next to his 4x12 cabinets.

In this photo Pete can be seen playing through two Sunn 100s amplifiers driving a pair of matching 100s 2x15" cabinets.

According to thewho.net, Pete used Wurlitzer 200A back in 1970.

According to thewho.net, this synthesizer was used on "Won't Get Fooled Again", and it was called "The Putney".

In this 1969 photo of his Twickenham home studio, a Vox Continental organ is visible to the left. A full studio gear breakdown can be found here.

According to thewho.net, Townshend used Danelectro Longhorn Bass guitar.

"Pete Townshend used a D’Angelico New Yorker archtop guitar on Rough Mix in 1976/77 and Who Are You tracks Music Must Change and Who Are You (middle break only) in 1978. The guitar also appears in the 1982 Chinese Eyes photo sessions. In 1989, he sold this guitar (along with the 1958 Gibson Flying V, among others) to buy a boat."

"Pete Townshend used a Fylde Ariel model small-bodied acoustic guitar in the studio and for solo performances. He began using this guitar in 1979 as his “on the road” guitar in place of his 1968 Gibson J-200. In the studio, he used it likely on Empty Glass, as well as Iron Man and Psychoderelict. He also used it on Driftin’ Blues in 1981, which appears on Another Scoop. In 2006 he used this guitar on Endless Wire. For 1996-era solo shows, he used this for solo acoustic numbers, such as I Am An Animal and A Friend is A Friend, fitted with a Fishman Acoustic Matrix pickup system. He continued to use it for solo appearances in 2006 with Rachel Fuller.

Pete Townshend acquired a small-bodied Martin acoustic, possibly as early as 1979 or 1980, and used it on 1989’s Iron Man and subsequent recordings. He purchased this guitar from Frank Lucido, California Guitar in Los Angeles.

A Martin D-35 acoustic guitar, serial no. 281698. Purchased from Manny’s on 31 July or 1 August 1971. Sold by Wiggy Wolff, the Who’s production manager, in October 1996 to a private collector.

According to vintageinstrumentcenter.com/martin-guitar-serial, the serial number 281698 was made in 1971, which tallies with the account given by John “Wiggy” Wolfe, production manager for The Who.

According to Wiggy Wolff, this guitar was used to write some songs during the 1971 tour. From the letter by Wiggy included with the instrument:

"...we both returned to Manny’s to stock up for the rest of the current tour, it was on this visit that Henry Manny himself, knowing of our love of the Martin sound, showed us a D35 which he said was better than all of the others that he had had recently, and easily comparable to the more expensive D45 that he had in stock.... Pete used it to write some some songs during the tour, but don’t ask me which ones."

Used during the composition of Who Are You, as mentioned by producer Jon Astley in this Sound on Sound "Classic Tracks" interview about the song "Who Are You".

"Pete would come in with a new song, which would serve as the backing track for The Who to perform on, and John [Entwistle] would do the same," says Astley. "Pete had a Polymoog that was programmed to play his backing tracks, and then the other guys would overdub their parts."

Pete Townshend uses the Bricasti Design M7 effects processor for his outboard monitor mix, as noted in MMR Magazine.

Pete Townshend uses the Summit Audio TLA-100 as part of his monitor mix outboard effects, as reported by MMR Magazine.

Pete Townshend utilizes the Waves SOUNDGRID PACKAGE for monitor effects, as noted in MMR Magazine.

Used from 1967-1968 on stage. Before he changed to the Uni Vox

Townshend can be seen playing a Fender Telecaster Bass in this studio photo.

Pete Townshend’s use of blackface Fender Showman amplifiers and Fender 2x15 cabinets on the American tour in August–September 1967.

Beginning with the 30 March 2010 Royal Albert Hall gig, Pete has used a Lazy J Model 20 amplifier and matching extension cab alongside the Fender Vibro-King amplifiers. (Vibro-Kings appear to also be on line, but shielded behind plexiglass.)

The amplifier is a copy of a tweed Fender Deluxe, and are made to order by Lazy J Projects in the UK. The amp is 18 watts, two channels, with one 12? Celestion Blue Alnico speaker.

According to thewho.net website, Townshend used Harmony Sovereign H1270 12-string acoustic.