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Pixies, Photo: Gunnar Klack (Wikimedia Commons)

Photo: Gunnar Klack (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Pixies. Every item links to its public source.
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What gear does Pixies use?

In Premier Guitar's Pixies Rig Rundown, Black Francis (Charles Thompson) was seen with two vintage Telecasters and a Martin D-28 through Vox AC30 heads and a Klon Centaur. Joey Santiago was seen with a Marshall JCM800 and a Fender Vibrolux Reverb, plus Moogerfooger delay and filter pedals.

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What gear Pixies uses: a sourced gear guide

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

Black Francis's rig

6 items

Joey Santiago's rig

9 items
Questions

About Pixies's gear.

What guitar does Black Francis play?

Premier Guitar's 2014 Rig Rundown shows Charles Thompson with two stock vintage Telecasters, two 1950s Martin acoustics (a D-28 and a D-18) and a cherry 1963 Gibson SG Jr. for a rougher tone.

What amps do the Pixies use?

Black Francis ran his Telecasters and Martins through vintage Vox AC30 heads with Vox extension cabs. Joey Santiago has used a Marshall JCM800 50-watt on every album and tour, plus a vintage Fender Vibrolux Reverb for clean tones.

What pedals does Joey Santiago use?

Premier Guitar listed Moogerfooger MF-104M and MF-108M Cluster Flux pedals, an Empress Tremolo, an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano, a Fulltone OCD, a Maxon AD9Pro delay and a TC Electronic PolyTune, switched with a Lehle Dual SGoS.

What pedals does Black Francis use?

His board included a Klon Centaur for overdrive, a Boss TU-2 tuner and a one-knob Duh fuzz built by Premier Guitar's Joe Gore, powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.

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Pixies
About this guide · Last checked

Pixies are the Boston band behind Doolittle and Surfer Rosa: Black Francis (Charles Thompson), Joey Santiago, Paz Lenchantin and David Lovering. This guide covers the guitars, amps and pedals Premier Guitar documented in its Pixies Rig Rundown.

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

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truerecs gear guides are independent research from public sources, not made or approved by the artist. Store buttons on this page may be affiliate links: truerecs may earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Pixies isn't paid for them. Report an error or ask for removal. Full disclosure.