Originally published on dolphinmusic.co.uk Wed January 21, 2009
We show you how to sound like Coldplay with our complete gear guide
Finally, here's our Coldplay Gear Guide, with pretty much all you need to know about the gear used by guitarist Jon Buckland - an essential part of what makes Coldplay one of the most popular bands in the world today.
Jon Buckland Gear Guide
Although far from being a celebrity or a well-known face as his bandmate
Chris Martin, guitarist Jon Buckland is just as important a member of Coldplay, and without his magical touch, Coldplay songs wouldn't be as good.
The guitarist has a growing number of admirers, and more websites focusing on his gear are starting to appear. So, to satiate the curiosity of Coldplay fans looking to know more about his equipment, here's our Coldplay gear guide!
About Jonny Buckland:
It was Jon's older brother, a fan of My Bloody Valentine, that encouraged him to take up music. Jon began playing guitar at the age of eleven, due to The Stone Roses, being taught by a mysterious music teacher known to the locals as Madigan.
Jon studied astronomy and mathematics at University College London, where he met Guy Berryman, William Champion, and Chris Martin, his future bandmates of Coldplay. Jon also worked as a school janitor.
Some of Jon's musical influences include acts such as Ride, George Harrison, and Jimi Hendrix.
Apart from Coldplay, Jon has also guested on Ian McCulloch's solo album, and made a cameo appearance with Coldplay bandmate Chris Martin in the film Shaun of the Dead.
Like so many successful guitarists, most of his gear is not particularly expensive or hard to find, and are easily available in the shops.
Jonny Buckland's amps, pedals and Telecaster
Jon's Guitars:
The ultimate "Coldplay Guitar" is without any doubt the
Fender Telecaster Thinline a semi hollow electric guitar. Jon uses several models of this guitar, which is really cool: basically, a semi-hollow
Telecaster with f-holes and humbuckers. Telecasters are arguably the most popular electric guitars amongst indie-rock bands right now, but not that many people seem to play the Thinline Telecaster, which has a fuller sound than the usual models. A great guitar, and an essential part of the Coldplay sound.
Jon also used a
Fender Jaguar, on songs such as Yellow and Shiver, though as of lately, he's been spotted using the Tele Thinline on those songs as well. Another guitar that Jon has been using since the early days of the band is a
Fender Jazzmaster. He uses it on tracks like We Never Change, Sparks, Murder and How You See The World.
Other guitars he's used include a
Gibson ES335 and a
Fender Telecaster Jerry Donahue.
Jon's FX Pedals:
Like so many guitarists, Jon Buckland has experimented with different pedals over the years, and his pedalboard, as well as the sound of Coldplay has changed a bit since 2000. Here's a photograph from when Coldplay was promoting first album Parachutes:
Jon Buckland's pedalboard, 2000
Jon's setup consisted of:
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner (now a
TU-3), Boss RV-3 Reverb/ Delay (discontinued, now available as the
RV-6), Boss DD5 Delay (discontinued, now
DD7),
Dunlop Cry baby Chrome Wah,
Boss TR-2 Tremolo, ProCo Classic Rat (discontinued, now Rat 2), and
MXR Micro Amp, plus a boss and a Morley footswitch.
By X&Y, Jon's pedalboard was slightly different, with most of the old pedals still there:
Jonny Buckland's X&Y-era pedalboard
According to some reports, he was still using the Dunlop Wah, but it can't be seen on the pic above. All other Parachutes-era pedals are there, except for the TR-2 tremolo. In are a
MXR Phase 90 and a Colorsound Tonebender fuzz (not to mention some nice red ropelight!) Also, note that now he was using two Line 6 DL4 pedals, as well as a Mike Hill MIDI pedalboard to control all his effects. He had some rack units, too: TC Electronic 2290 Delay, Lexicon MPX G2 and Korg DTR1.
By latest album, Viva La Vida, his pedalboard once again has undergone some changes. No sign of Dunlop Wah, TR-2 Tremolo, Tonebender or MXR Micro Amp. But still there: One Line 6 DL4 Delay, Boss DD-5, MXR Phase 90, ProCo Rat, TU-2 tuner and the RV-3. Latest new gear: Fulltone OCD distortion,
Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer,
Electro Harmonix Micro POG, HBE Power Screamer, and, according to some sources, an Ernie Ball Volume pedal. He also uses a 4-knob yellow Boss pedal, which seem to be the
AC-3 Acoustic Simulator.
As for his rack fx, he now uses: TC Electronic 2290 Delay (x2), Line 6 Echo Pro (x2), Eventide H7600.
Buckland also uses an Ebow, on songs like Spies and Amsterdam.
Jon's Amps:
Buckland is a
Fender man. His setup includes two
Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410 amps and one
Fender Twin Reverb for Parachutes essential amplifiers if you want to get the sound of Coldplay nailed down!
Sources:
https://www.thebucklandreligion.tk/
https://www.uberproaudio.com/content/view/403/38/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Buckland
View a complete range of
guitars, amps and fx pedals over at PMT Online.