Robben Ford

Here Robben is playing his signature Fender guitar.

Robben Ford is seen playing the Sakashta Noupaul with J.M. Rolph Humbuckers (24 3/4" Scale) during a live performance with Larry Carlton in Switzerland, 2007, as captured in a YouTube video by muzone.

Got from interview of Phil Bradbury from Little Walter Tube Amps: "Phil: I was hanging at a popular music store in Nashville with Vince Gill and Paul Franklin where we ran into Robben Ford. Robben mentioned to Vince about something he had learned about amp tone stacks and he flagged me over and introduced me. Robben and I had a very interesting discussion on passive tone stacks and ended up exchanging contact info. I was holding a private amp showing in Nashville about a month later and invited Robben to come by and try out a couple models. Robben showed up with a 1959 Les Paul Gold Top with P-90’s and a trapeze tailpiece. After trying all the amps that I had set up on stage It was quickly obvious that the 59’ with the TS310 speaker cabinet seemed to speak to him. The 59’ is my Series 9 (9 pin preamp tube), 50-watt model. I had it hooked to my TS310 cabinet which had a trio of Eminence Legend 1028 10” 35-watt 8-ohm speakers. It was obvious that Robben was very pleased with the tone of the 59’ and he especially liked the characteristics of the TS310 cabinet. He wanted to play this amp at our first meeting. The only thing left to do was pick a color and build it."

“The Hermida Audio Zendrive immediately appealed to me. The Zendrive has found a way to reduce the compression I hear in a lot of other pedals, creating a more natural sound. I use the Zendrive for overdrive, a TC Electronic Hall of Fame reverb pedal, the Strymon TimeLine delay, and the Vertex Boost.”

Since 1983, Ford’s main amp has been a Dumble Overdrive Special, serial number 002, which Alexander Dumble made for him that year. (Serial 001 is Dumble’s personal amp.) Ford keeps this sweet baby safe by plugging it into a variable voltage regulator. He runs this Overdrive Special through a Dumble 2x12 cabinet that was actually made for his second Dumble head. The cabinet houses a pair of Celestion G12-65 8-ohm speakers.

Robben Ford using a Fender Bassman amp in Vision Musica 2016

While playing in the Yellowjackets in the late 70's to early 80's, as well as before and after this time period, Robben played a sunburst 1959 dot neck Gibson ES-335. He also used a later period sunburst block neck ES-335 occasionally.

In this photo, Robben Ford can be seen playing through two red-knobbed the twins.

Interface (passive input), TC Electronic Polytune Mini, OD (prototype shown, however Zendrive is in its place now), Vertex Boost, Strymon Timeline, TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Mini, Interface (buffer/splitter out to two amps)

Interface (passive input), TC Electronic Polytune Mini, OD (prototype shown, however Zendrive is in its place now), Vertex Boost, Strymon Timeline, TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Mini, Interface (buffer/splitter out to two amps)

Robben Ford is using this overdrive pedal at 2'36".

Interface (passive input), TC Electronic Polytune Mini, OD (prototype shown, however Zendrive is in its place now), Vertex Boost, Strymon Timeline, TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Mini, Interface (buffer/splitter out to two amps)

Robben Ford includes the TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb on his travel pedalboard, as detailed on Vertexeffects.

Robben Ford is featured on Seymour Duncan's website as an artist who uses the Palladium Gain Stage overdrive pedal.

Wikipedia: "While playing with Jimmy Witherspoon, Ford traded the L-5, plus $200, for a Super 400." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robben_Ford#Guitars

Michael Ross, Getting Great Guitar Sounds 2nd edition, page 73: "As a teen playing with blues giant Jimmy Whiterspoon, Robben helped originate what became that smooth, singing L.A. guitar tone by playing a Gibson Super 400 big bodied, archtop, through a Fender Bassman." https://books.google.cz/books?id=CddgbKkAoxYC&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=robben+ford+live+with+jimmy+witherspoon+instruments&source=bl&ots=Xw6bchC9tu&sig=QVZZexgfDwM29eqhyM5zU7iL8jw&hl=cs&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_w9zN4ejWAhWDzxQKHQgTBGsQ6AEIajAN#v=onepage&q=robben%20ford%20live%20with%20jimmy%20witherspoon%20instruments&f=false

Robben Ford's pedalboard at 2'36".

You can see Robben Ford playing his 1964 Gibson SG... Here is a short video from robben ford himself showing his Guitar on his official FB page : https://www.facebook.com/RobbenFordOfficial/posts/3312698022099272

Robben Ford uses the TC Electronic Flashback Delay as part of his travel pedalboard, as detailed on vertexeffects.com.

Robbe Ford is using this chorus pedal at 2'36".

in this still image you can see Robben Ford using his Epiphone 1966 Riviera.

Seen on Ford's pedalboard in this September 4, 2021 Facebook post by Brian Wampler.

I did sneak a little look at Robben’s pedalboard of course…

Interface (passive input), TC Electronic Polytune Mini, OD (prototype shown, however Zendrive is in its place now), Vertex Boost, Strymon Timeline, TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Mini, Interface (buffer/splitter out to two amps)

Robben Ford's Rig on his most recent album "Into the Sun"

Robben Ford's pedalboard includes the TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini, as detailed in the Vertex Effects blog post about his travel setup.

Guitar, T.C. Electronic Polytune Mini Tuner, Hermida Audio Zendrive, Vertex Boost, T.C. Electronic Flashback Delay, T.C. Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb, Amp

POWER

Voodoo Lab Pedal Power Digital

Robben Ford is an educator on the online guitar lesson website TrueFire. Some of his courses include:

• Trading Solos: Moody Blues
• Trading Solos: Uptempo Blues
• Blues Chord Evolution
• Urban Blues Revolution

The full list of Robben Ford's courses can be found here.

Seen on Ford's pedalboard in this September 4, 2021 Facebook post by Brian Wampler.

I did sneak a little look at Robben’s pedalboard of course…

Seen on Ford's pedalboard in this September 4, 2021 Facebook post by Brian Wampler.

I did sneak a little look at Robben’s pedalboard of course…

In this Vintage Guitar Magazine article, Robben Ford says this about his Blonde 1960 Fender Telecaster: "But the Tele has also become very important. It’s a 1960. I’m not very familiar with the world of the Tele – this is the only one I’ve ever owned. I think I probably picked it up because it’s the same model that Bloomfield played on the first Butterfield Blues Band record. Once I checked it out, I had to buy it, and it’s become big for me. I got it when I was with the Blue Line and used it for the first time on the Mystic Mile record."

In this Vintage Guitar Magazine article, Robben Ford answers the following question about his about his Fender Duo-Sonic. Q: "It seems odd that you’d own a Fender Duo-Sonic." A:"There were times when I felt like having something kind of small would make it easier to play in a certain way, particularly in a jazz context. Also, John McLaughlin used one of those guitars on [Miles Davis’] In A Silent Way and when he was with Tony Williams Lifetime. And they have wonderful pickups in them; they sound really good. But ultimately, the bridge leaves a lot to be desired, and makes the guitar pretty unplayable."