Tommy Thayer is an American musician and the current lead guitarist of the rock group Kiss. Tommy also has played with other bands such as Black N' Blue.
Let's take a look at some of the gear and equipment that has been seen in Tommy's guitar rig.
Click the gear images for more info and specs at Guitar Center and Amazon
Tommy Thayer's Guitars
- Gibson Les Paul Sunburst 1960 Re-issue (2003)
- Gibson Les Paul Silver Sparkle (2006. Built by Gibson custom-shop)
- Gibson Les Paul 1958 Re-issue (Honeyburst. 2000)
- Gibson Les Paul Black 1960 Re-issue (2003)
- Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (1972. Seymour Duncan JB pickups)
- Gibson Les Paul Custom (1976. Black. Seymour Duncan JB pickups)
- Gibson Les Paul Standard (1975. Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups)
- Gibson 1961 Reissue SG (used on Sonic Boom album)
- Gibson and Epiphone custom Explorer model guitars - part of "White Lightning" series of models
Tommy Thayer's Amps
- Hughes & Kettner Tommy Thayer Signature Duotone amplifiers
- Hughes & Kettner Cabs
- Hughes & Kettner Statesman combo (one of the amps used on Sonic Boom)
- Marshall Master Volume from the late 70's (additionally used on Sonic Boom)
- Battery powered Orange practice amp (used in tandem with some other sounds for solos on Sonic Boom)
Tommy Thayer's Guitar Effects
- Tommy has stated in a Q&A on his site he has never been a big effects pedal user, however in more recent years rig interviews have showed a variety of pedals being used in his rig. He's said that about 95% of the songs he plays live are straight guitar into the amp, and 5% are with some guitar effect in use.
- vintage Ibanez Tube Screamer (for solos on Sonic Boom)
- Dunlop Crybaby Rack Wah
- Radial JX44 Air Control 4-channel Active Re-Amp / Distro Device
- Two white Boss pedals, with tape over them - one says "short" and the other "long" which leads us to believe they are Boss Delay guitar pedals.
- There's a purple Boss pedal in his rack which we believe is the Boss Flanger guitar pedal
- There's also a light blue Boss guitar pedal in his rack which looks like a Boss Chorus guitar effects pedal
- Boss Octave guitar effect pedal
Here's a really fun guitar gear walk through that Hughes and Kettner did with Tommy Thayer's guitar tech. Tommy Thatyer's guitar tech Mark, shows off the amplifiers, effects pedals and more from Tommy's guitar rig. Mark talks about controlling the pedals of Tommy's rig for Tommy since it would be hard for Tommy to control the guitar effects pedals with his large stage boots on. You'll notice multiple Boss pedals in the rack - we believe we have identified them above.
Here's another rig walkthrough video where Tommy Thayer tells you about the gear he was using in his 2019 guitar rig. This video is cool because around 11:30 in the video, Tommy shows off his guitar rack. He said "I don't use too much so don't let all this throw you". He then showed his wireless transmitters, which are made by Shure - he uses four channels of them. He shows off a Boss delay and a Boss flanger pedal and says he uses the effects in two songs. He also has a Boss octave guitar pedal that you can catch a glimpse of there next to the other boss guitar effects pedals.
