Rivers Cuomo

Rivers Cuomo can be seen playing his famous blue Warmoth Fender Stratocaster in this photo.

He also is seen here using a Warmoth Custom Stratocaster in Seafoam Green, as captured in a Brewpublic photo from the Project Pabst event. He ordered this guitar after moving on from his previous black and blonde Stratocaster.

Used during pre-production for the first sessions for what would become the Make Believe album. Much of the equipment used during pre-production would also be used for the first sessions.

This pedal stayed with him for over 20 years. This is the only pedal he used during many albums. It can also be seen here, at 0:22 minute mark, showing the Boss compact pedal look, along with Dunlop wah and Voodoo Lab Pedal Power.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in mid 2014 Cuomo described himself as, "The biggest Nirvana fan ever." And so it was no surprise to any keen Weez fan in the same year when a picture of the 2011 Fender Kurt Cobain tribute Jaguar showed up in the album on an entertainment weekly column website titled "in the studio". From this it can be taken that the high output DiMarzio Super distortion pickups came in handy when recording the recent weezer album "Everthing will be alright in the end" as well as the yet more recent 2016 release "Weezer" or the White album.

Used on The Blue Album and Pinkerton, according to the following sources. The version is not specified in either.

Guitar World, March 1997, "Schoolhouse Rock" (as transcribed on Weezerpedia)

GW: Pinkerton, however, is gimmick-free.

Rivers: Yeah, we trimmed that part of ourselves—it was the natural thing to do. So I think we're also going to trim some of our audience, which is unfortunate. We were never one of the top bands like Green Day or Offspring anyway; we were always a notch below. Maybe now even two notches below. Yeah it's a bummer, but I don't really feel like I have a choice in the matter. I've got to do what I've got to do, and right now that means not making the gimmicky video and not using language that's quirky. It means speaking more directly. Maybe the audience will be smaller, but at least they'll be liking us for the right reasons.

GW: What guitars and amps did you use in making the record?

Rivers: I think I used Gibson Les Pauls. I don't remember whose they were, where they came from, what kind of specifications they had—but I know they were Gibsons. For amps I used Marshalls. I also used a Big Muff quite a bit. It was about as standard a setup as you could have.

Chris Shaw, Gearslutz, "Weezer Say It Aint So Chorus Vocal Sound", Comment #34

Ummm, Some corrections re: the Blue Album:

• Vocals were done with a U67 at Electric Lady and a U87 at Rics house (surf wax, and some bgvs)
• There were NO REVERBS OR DELAYS at all on the record (The sole exception being a long delay used to extend one of the feedback parts on Only in Dreams). Ocasionally I used a stereo delay from the Lexicon 300 to delay the room mics slightly to get a little more slap. The band used to come into the control room at the start of the day and turn off all of the delay / reverb based outboard gear.
• When we did the recall for the Say it In't So single the assistant on the session called me while he was recalling the mix because he thought we were missing a few pages of notes. The only piece outboard was an 1176 on the ld vocal. That's all I used. Everything else was just the SSL E.
• All BGVs were doubled or tripled - no obvious artificial chorus was used at all. The only effect I might have used would be an Eventide 910 set to 15ms on the left and 7.5 ms on the right. (harmonize ratio set to 1.00 (that thing always drifted slightly anyway). This was only used to widen the lead vocal in a very, very, very subtle way.
• The album was tracked on Electric Lady's Focurite Forte console in Studio A with the remote pres (the pres were in the live room and ran at line level to the console)(I posted some pics around here of it.). Some overdubs were done on the SSL G in studio C (I distinctly remember cutting the gtrs for in the Garage up there. I believe we used a Tele through a Big Muff using E. Lady's Fender Twin for that tone. We also cut the clean rhythm for Say it Ain't So up there on Ric's Jaguar using E. Lady's Fender Twin
• The bass break for In the Garage was my Electro Harmonix Graphic Fuzz (original, circa 1980) across the insert on the SSL.

"While on Weezer's Northern California tour in August '92, Rivers bought a curious Mesa/Boogie amplifier (pictured inside the Blue album cover on the left side) at the Berkeley Guitar Center. I have never ever seen an amp exactly like this one since. It was a very early issue Mesa/Boogie, from approximately 1977 or 1978, and its face plate said "Mesa Engineering", which predates the addition of "Boogie" to Mesa/Boogie's name. It was a 60-watt head which apparently didn't even have a model number (I remember looking for one several times).

It sounded incredible, and its real bonus was still sounding rich and thick even at low volume, making it ideal for recording demos late at night in the Garage. Sadly, while on tour in '96 (by this time as a backup amp), the Boogie suffered a near fatal blow from an unknown source during shipping. At some point during the tour, the amp was fired up to check it, and it sounded terrible. It was supposed to have been taken in for repairs, but apparently was lost somewhere, either at Weezer's storage facility in Los Angeles or later, when Rivers was living in Boston. No one seems to remember where they saw it last, and it is gone. Several fans have written in with info on this amp, but most identify it from the reissues. I have checked the reissues but none are exactly the same. However, several people wrote in with the explanation that this was the 60-watt version of the Mark I head. The reason that the amp had no name on it is that it was not named until Mesa/Boogie issued their next amp, the Mark II. A reissue version of the Mark I is available right now from Mesa/Boogie in a 100 watt head or combo form with a switch to reduce the power to 60 watts, and it is that edition that some people were confusing the "vintage" amp with. Patrick Wilson today owns a Mark I reissue in fact, and can confirm that the old one had some pull out knobs that produced amazing sounds that the current reissues do not produce. It's entirely possible that the pull-out knobs were a custom job..." - Karl Koch, weezer.com

Rivers Cuomo has used the Gibson Lightning Bolt 2" Nylon Strap throughout his career. The strap is also mentioned in his song "Back to the Shack." A user-uploaded photo on Contentstack shows him with the strap.

Cuomo played this sunburst Stratocaster for music video "Buddy Holly". I believe this is Strat's only appearance, and it might be vintage, considering all this fret wear.

Rivers can be seen playing a Flying V in this image

Mentioned in this article under the "After Blue" section.

Rivers used a Jaguar to record during the Blue Album sessions on songs like Say It Ain't So.

In the video below you can see Rivers using this guitar in the Lightning Crackle finish throughout Weezer’s performance at Globe Life Field in Dallas on July 24, 2021. Rivers likely used this to play the Van Weezer songs that have dive bombs and Van-Halen-esque playing.

Rivers plays a Diesel head that has been modified to say "Weezer" on the front.

Rivers on the Kemper Profiler: “I just profiled the setup I was using before. It was the Diezel VH4 - I did all my main crunchy rhythm sounds, plus my crazy sustain lead. I got everything I need and then over time I started adding things into my lead channel, like an octave lower or a crazy chorus or a little flange. I built all these different sounds, it was really a lot of fun. And all I use beyond that is my Boss tuner!”

This one can be heard on intro to "Jonas" and "In the garage", according to Weezerpedia. Used around "Blue" era.

A Gibson Explorer was used on "Maladroit", according to Cuomo's interview with Guitar World in 2002.

In this video, where Weezer performed "Say It Ain't So", you can see in a couple of shots Dunlop Tortex .50 picks attached to the pickguard.

In this article from Guitar.com, Rivers mentions he uses a standard Gibson SG guitar. When asked if he's done anything special with the guitar he responds "No, the guitar is standard, but we invented a box called the "De-Bigulator" which is just a little switch that turns down the volume - or the current, I don't even know what it is - going to the amp. So it's like I'm quickly turning down my volume knob, but all I have to do is step on this switch. That's how I go from dirty to clean."

As seen in Ernie Ball's Instagram account.

Taken in 2001. this photo shows Cuomo playing Gibson Les Paul Custom in alpine white. It is possible that Brian and him shared that guitar because Brian is noted to play the exact one!

He uses those picks in most of live shows, as you can see in this photo, when zoomed, it says "Jim Dunlop" and "Nylon", and the colour of the nylon matches the .60mm pick colour.

In Weezer's "High As A Kite" official video, Rivers Cuomo is seen playing a Fender Custom Shop Telecaster George Harrison Tribute, identifiable by its all-rosewood construction.

In the photo provided by Nme, Rivers Cuomo is seen playing an Epiphone Hummingbird, suggesting it is part of his gear collection.

Rivers used an AC30 to record the rhythm clean tracks on "Island In The Sun."

Rivers Cuomo utilized a Gibson Les Paul Junior while recording the Blue Album in New York, as seen in a user-uploaded photo on Blogger.

In the Music Video for Beginning of The End (Wyld Stallyns Edit) we can see Rivers playing this Purple Kramer Barreta Special at 1:52, the guitar is used to play the main solo and the following verse.

In the "We Are All On Drugs" music video, Rivers can be seen performing with a cherry red SG.

Rivers is using it in this performance.

Rivers used this guitar (Black version) during the Green Album era and was even on the album cover. Also covered in stickers given to him by fans.

At 1:46 minute mark, Heil PR35 is visible, which is the microphone Cuomo sings into. (At least in this performance.)

Under the section "Green Album" you can see that he used a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and a 100 watt Marshall head to record his rhythm guitar tracks.