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Beastie Boys, Photo: Maddy Julien (Wikimedia Commons)

Photo: Maddy Julien (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 2.0

Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Beastie Boys. Every item links to its public source.
16 items · Last checked

What gear does Beastie Boys use?

Ad-Rock was seen with a Gibson The Paul in the studio and a Fender Deluxe and Marshall amps, while Adam Yauch played a Fender Jazz Bass through an Acoustic head with a Super-Fuzz. Mike D has said they used a Moog Prodigy and built beats in Reason into Pro Tools.

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AllTop 5Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz): guitarMCA (Adam Yauch): bassStudio
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What gear Beastie Boys uses: a sourced gear guide

Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.

Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz): guitar

4 items

MCA (Adam Yauch): bass

3 items

Studio

9 items
Questions

About Beastie Boys's gear.

What guitar did Ad-Rock play?

Engineer Mario Caldato Jr told Sound On Sound that Ad-Rock's main studio groove guitar was a Gibson The Paul, while on stage he liked cheap guitars such as a Hondo, through a Fender Deluxe or a Marshall.

What bass did Adam Yauch play?

A Fender Jazz Bass through an Acoustic 270 or 370 head, and he wrote the 'Sabotage' riff while working on his bass sound with a Super-Fuzz pedal he loved.

What DAW did the Beastie Boys use?

For Hot Sauce Committee Part Two they mostly used Reason for sampling and drum programming, rewired into Pro Tools, per Sound On Sound in 2011.

What synth did the Beastie Boys use on Make Some Noise?

Mike D said the keyboard bass on 'Make Some Noise' was a Moog Prodigy, recorded through a pedal and an amp.

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Beastie Boys
About this guide · Last checked

Beastie Boys were the New York trio of Mike D, Ad-Rock and the late Adam Yauch (MCA). This guide covers Ad-Rock's guitars and amps, Yauch's bass rig and the band's studio tools, from Sound On Sound features on 'Sabotage' and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two.

truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Beastie Boys didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.

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