Ted Nugent

One of a kind custome Rotor. Ted used it live once and auctioned it off for charity. "Killer feel and completely Ted Nugent" Ted said of the axe.

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown video, Ted Nugent reminisces about his Gibson Byrdland. According to Nugent, he first remembers the guitar being played by Jimmy McCarty in the early 1960’s. “When Jimmy McCarty played that Byrdland,” Nugent says at (3:20), “it wanted to feedback and make scary noises that made the notes have a new dimension of sound and I was too young to really understand what was going on but Iimprinted that someday I’d have to have me a Gibson Byrdland.” Nugent has used the guitar for years to help him achieve his signature tone. “Well you listen to the intro of Strangehold or Cat Scratch Fever…there’s a snarl that’s unique to that arch top, a hand carved arch top spruce wood. The spruce speaks differently than any other wood,” he says at (4:22). Nugent continues to sing the Byrdland’s praises at (5:14) saying, “the Gibson Byrdland has an identity, a statement, a soul, a tone of its own…it makes you play differently.”

Nugent also plays a few custom made Paul Reed Smith guitars. “It’s like a custom rifle or a custom target handgun that is made to fit you… “ the Nuge says in this Premiere Guitar Rig Rundown at (11:40). “There’s something about a guitar that should fit you. You shouldn’t adapt to the guitar. Ultimately, you should get the neck that feels good immediately and go for the instrument that feels the best. It’s like guns, guitars and women, you want to get the right damn one, and sometimes you have to shop around often.”

Good ‘Ol Boy that he is, Ted Nugent plays a Gibson Stars and Stripes Custom Les Paul. “My American Flag Les Paul is one of my favorite guitars in the world to play,” Nugent says at (13:30). “In fact, I play it more on stage than even my Byrdlands or my PRS’s. All my Les Pauls are killers. I got a ‘58 and ‘59 to die for and if you touch them, you will.”

Ted Nugent discusses his Fender Duo-Sonic in this interview for VH1:

"'What was the first good guitar you got?'

'A Fender Duo Sonic. Praise the lord. This was around ‘59 or ‘60....We got it from Joe Podorsek at the Capitol School of Music on Grand River Avenue in Detroit and at least it looked like a Ventures model and I was picking up on Dick Dale, not just the sound, I could see pictures of them and what they were playing. So I had that guitar and played it through an old cream-colored Fender Bassman. Talk about a magical gear moment. '"

In this interview, Ted Nugent talks about the guitars he's owned. He says, "Now I wanted what The Beatles which so I traded my Duo Sonic in for a brief stint with an Epiphone Casino"

Ted Nugent used a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion 3 in the 1980s. There are a number of videos on youtube with him using that guitar.

Today, Ted Nugent uses Peavey 6505 heads onstage. According to Nugent at (15:40), he experimented with Peavy 5150s while playing with his band the Damn Yankees, “just as an experiment…It sounded awesome. And so I stuck with it and today I’m using 6505s.”

Nugent also uses a Kustom Quad 100 DFX combo amp, spotted in this Premiere Guitar Rig Rundown video at (15:56)

In the past, Ted Nugent used “as many as eight Fender Twins,” he says in this Premier Guitar video at (15:00). “Are you kidding me?!” he says. “What the hell was I thinking? It was just adorable. Birds would fly by 100 yards and turn into poof, nothing but shrapnel, flesh and feathers flying everywhere. It was just too damn loud.”

Ted switched to Blackstars in 2016 for his Sonic Baptizm Tour.

Nugent’s pedal board has a Boss Super Chorus, spotted in this Premier Guitar video at (16:18).

Though he rarely uses it, Nugent has a Boss DD-3 Digital Dealy on his pedal board. It can be spotted in this Premiere Guitar video at (16:18).

Nugent’s uses a MXR Phase, spotted in this Premier Guitar video at (16:18). “I got a phase that I punch once and a while for kicks and giggles,” he says.