
Photo: Bill Ebbesen (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 3.0
What gear does Foals use?
Yannis Philippakis has said he plays Travis Bean guitars through Hiwatt amps, with an Audio Kitchen Big Trees for overdrive. Jimmy Smith has said he plays Fender Jazzmasters and a 1965 Jaguar through a Fender Twin, with Boss DD-3 and RV-5 pedals, a Line 6 DL4 and an EarthQuaker Rainbow Machine.
Shop Foals's setup.
Where to start with Foals's gear.
What gear Foals uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Jimmy Smith's guitars
Jimmy Smith's amps
Jimmy Smith's pedals and keys
“I put my old DD-3 back on the pedalboard because it’s so much easier to manipulate.”
“I use the Boss RV-5 on the modulate setting for Spanish Sahara”
“I use the Rainbow Machine pedal a lot live”
“for the last two albums we’ve used the Strymon TimeLine”
“the fuzz pedals that we use are by Fuzzrocious and there’s the POG”
“And Space Echoes are invaluable to us”
Walter Gervers's bass rig (early years)
Records Yannis Philippakis loves
“I picked Steve Reich because I think it changed the parameters of how I thought about music.”
“I love all of his records.”
“I just became obsessed with that record.”
“I think it’s one of my favourite records of the last 20 years.”
“I feel like I’m going to love his music forever.”
Records Edwin Congreave loves
“I now prefer Kid A.”
About Foals's gear.
What guitar does Yannis Philippakis play?
Yannis Philippakis has played aluminium-necked Travis Bean guitars throughout Foals' career and told Guitar.com he mainly used a 1000 Artist on Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, alongside a 1967 Gretsch Country Gentleman.
What guitars does Jimmy Smith play in Foals?
Jimmy Smith has played Fender Jazzmasters supplied by Fender for years. For Life Is Yours he told Guitar World he did almost everything on a 1965 Jaguar, and he also had a 1971 Gibson Les Paul Custom.
What pedals does Jimmy Smith use?
He has named the Boss DD-3 and RV-5, a Line 6 DL4, the EarthQuaker Rainbow Machine, a Strymon TimeLine, an Electro-Harmonix POG and Fuzzrocious fuzz pedals, plus Roland Space Echoes and an Echosex delay.
What amps do Foals use?
Yannis Philippakis plays through Hiwatt heads live and has an old Selmer amp in the studio. Jimmy Smith has used a Fender Twin, Fender Princetons, an Orange Rockerverb head and a Roland Jazz Chorus.
What albums does Yannis Philippakis love?
In a Quietus Baker's Dozen he named Steve Reich's Music For 18 Musicians, Arthur Russell's Calling Out Of Context, Pixies' Surfer Rosa, TV On The Radio's Return To Cookie Mountain and Howlin' Wolf's The Definitive Collection.
Foals are the Oxford band of Yannis Philippakis, Jimmy Smith and Jack Bevan, with former members Edwin Congreave and Walter Gervers, behind Antidotes, Total Life Forever, Holy Fire, What Went Down and Life Is Yours. This guide covers the guitars, amps, pedals and drums the members have talked about, plus the records they have named.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Foals didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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