Tom Johnston

"I've tried a lot of other models but those were the main guitars until I picked up my first PRS 24 Custom in 1985. I was immediately impressed with the design, tone, neck, and weight. I sat down and played one and loved it! I bought it that day and have been playing them ever since."

"Fresh out of the factory and onto the road for backup duties is this PRS McCarty SC 594."

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"This 1970 Deluxe has been Johnston’s primary Les Paul for 40 years."

"I ended up using them in my live rig predominantly for soloing and have just recently moved up to the 100 watt Archon and absolutely love it! They both have a sound combination I would characterize as a cross between Marshall and a Mesa. Big bottom end but cuts with a nice edge. Any guitar or amp is only as good as the guy playing it, but these amps have a great clean sound and can rip when you turn ‘em loose on a solo."

In a Rig Rundown interview with Premier Guitar, Tom Johnston of The Doobie Brothers discusses using the Boss RT-20 Rotary Ensemble for his guitar effects setup.

"A single drawer in his rack houses all his stomps, which includes a MXR Carbon Copy for added depth/vibe on most parts, while the Boss DD-20 is set for “China Grove.” On most of the time—especially for the clean parts—is the JHS Pulp ‘N’ Peel compressor, crunch and boost tones are bumped up by the Xotic AC Booster, and the raunchiest distortion comes from the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver. A Boss RV-6 Digital Reverb is in the effects loop of the Archon that’s dialed for rhythm duties. All switching is handled by either Tom or his tech Chris Ledbetter who have their own Custom Audio Electronics RS-T 16 controller. Also, the “solo” Archon is routed through a Two Notes Audio Engineering Torpedo Studio Digital Loadbox/Speaker Simulator."

The photo from Sugareelicks shows Tom Johnston's pedalboard, featuring the MXR M195 Noise Clamp.

"Johnston’s mid-’50s Fender Stratocaster has been in his collection since the ’70s."

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"The heads feed a pair of PRS 2x12 cabinets onstage."

"A single drawer in his rack houses all his stomps, which includes a MXR Carbon Copy for added depth/vibe on most parts, while the Boss DD-20 is set for “China Grove.” On most of the time—especially for the clean parts—is the JHS Pulp ‘N’ Peel compressor, crunch and boost tones are bumped up by the Xotic AC Booster, and the raunchiest distortion comes from the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver. A Boss RV-6 Digital Reverb is in the effects loop of the Archon that’s dialed for rhythm duties. All switching is handled by either Tom or his tech Chris Ledbetter who have their own Custom Audio Electronics RS-T 16 controller. Also, the “solo” Archon is routed through a Two Notes Audio Engineering Torpedo Studio Digital Loadbox/Speaker Simulator."

Tom mentions he uses GHS 9s around the 4:30 mark.

Tom says he has used Herco 50s since 1972 around the 4:50 mark. because he likes the grip on them.

A vintage Phase 90 can be seen in his pedal drawer.

In this July 19, 2017 Premier Guitar article titled "Rig Rundown: The Doobie Brothers", a photo of Tom's pedalboard revealing an SCF chorus flanger can be seen.

A photo from the PRS website shows Tom Johnston playing a PRS SE T40E Tonare at the factory.

In a Rig Rundown interview with Premier Guitar, Tom Johnston mentions around the 12:50 mark that he used to play a Martin Standard Series D-17.

Tom Johnston mentions at around 12:55 in the Premier Guitar "Rig Rundown - The Doobie Brothers" video on YouTube that he used to play Martin D-28 guitars.