Robert Hecker

I received an Ibanez sponsorship in 1990. Chris Kelly signed me up, and Mace Bailey built me the first ever 24 fret Saber guitar. This was a prototype that they sent me out on the road with. It was originally an unfinished walnut body. It is equipped with Evans pickups (the single coils, anyway). I play with the guitar up pretty high, so I asked them to remove the lower horn, because otherwise my left hand always collides with it. The guitar was painted orange in 2006. Ugly as all get out, I am the first to concede, but still my live default, go-to guitar, because it plays so fast & easy, and just simply will not go out of tune.

Gibson 'The SG'. Bought brand-new when I was in 9th grade in October 1979 from Guitar Center (back when there was only one!) in Hollywood for $400. Replaced the bridge pickup with a Bill Lawrence L500 dual blade humbucker, bought and installed at Gene Leis (Manhattan Beach) in 1984. My main guitar from 1979-1985, with Psychotrunks, Pancake, and Redd Kross. Would not stay in tune to save my life. Still a regular choice for recording. The stock Gibson neck pickup is very, very warm, has a fantastic warmth, thing is like a lion purring. Deep, lovely growl. Could use a fret job after 40 years, but that is a pretty easy play-around in controlled recording environments.

We had a Carvin sponsorship for a number of years. My first Carvin was a red single pickup DC127; that guitar was inducted into the Hard Rock Cafe at the Beverly Center in 1987, and being their first guitar to ever to grace the Hard Rock walls, the folk at Carvin graciously offered me whatever I wanted. So I ordered this nice iridescent green DC127. I had the lower horn cut off later by Mace Bailey when he was working at John Carruthers in Venice. I still use it for recording different colors. It is the main guitar on the title track of Cubed, the third album from It's OK!

ZT Lunchbox (x2) + ZT Lunchbox Cab (x2). I had read about the ZTs in some guitar magazine reviews. It seemed way too good to be true. They are the real deal. I bought one, and was blown away. However, one Lunchbox alone is very directional , so I picked up another, to get a nice stereo spread. Live, the set-up still seemed a little thin, so I added two of the extension cabs, and there you have it: 400 watts (200x2) driving four 6.5" speakers. Insane. Every show I play, people are incredulous at the amount of tone & volume that eminates from these little amps. The amps are 9 pounds each, the extension cabinets are 7 pounds each. Our drummer plays a Bonham kit, 26" kick, the whole nine yards, ridiculously loud; no challenge or problem keeping up. Back is spared, ears are blessed. I am now an official ZT artist, and absolutely swear by them. Used live exclusively since 2015.

Mesa/Boogie Triaxis Preamp, 20/20 power amp, Thiele 1x12 (x2). Tone for days, extreme headroom. Fantastic stereo Boogie rig, all midi, ran in conjunction with a Marshall JMP-1 midi preamp into two 1912 1x12 cabinets. Some Alesis and Digitech midi units, as well, all operated with a Midi Mouse pedal. Went this route sometime in the '90s, subsequently used for most It's OK! and Redd Kross gigs up until 2015. A bit more manageable in the size and weight category. My last run with a live tube rig; the gradual degradation of tone, and the cost and time of maintenance, led me to retire all of my tube amps from the stage, and just keep them for the recording milieu.