“And I became very identified with the 335.”

Photo: Eckhard Henkel · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
What guitar does Robben Ford play?
Robben Ford uses a 1960 Fender Telecaster, which he calls the best guitar he has owned, and a Dumble Overdrive Special he calls half of his voice. He played a Stratocaster through Little Walter amps and a 1952 Les Paul on Two Shades of Blue, with a GigRig pedalboard.
Where to start with Robben Ford's gear.
What guitar gear Robben Ford uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Guitars
“My 1960 Telecaster. It’s the best guitar I’ve ever owned.”
“I played the Strat for all those sessions.”
“And then I overdubbed a ’52 Les Paul that I fairly recently acquired.”
Amps
“The Dumble amp has been half of my voice for most of my career.”
“Then in the US, with the Stratocaster, I was playing through my Little Walter amps.”
Pedals
Recording
“But playing through that little Deluxe with the Dumble mod, it just really is a cool and slightly different sound than I normally have.”
Guitars over the years
“Fender approached me about making something, so we did, and I used that guitar a ton.”
“And I became very identified with the 335.”
“So I played the ’58 Strat with Miles.”
“I picked one, an Orpheus acoustic. It had this big old baseball-bat neck”
Records that shaped me
“My brother Patrick gave me the Beatles’ Day Tripper single for Christmas, so that was the first thing I learned how to play”
About Robben Ford's gear.
What guitar does Robben Ford play?
He tours with his 1960 Fender Telecaster and told Guitar World it is the best guitar he has ever owned. For Two Shades of Blue he also played a Stratocaster and a 1952 Gibson Les Paul.
What amp does Robben Ford use?
A Dumble Overdrive Special, serial 102, with a 2x12 cabinet. He told Guitar World it has been half of his voice for most of his career. He also played through his Little Walter amps on recent sessions.
What pedals does Robben Ford use?
Guitar World reported that Daniel Steinhardt of The GigRig built him a new pedalboard for Two Shades of Blue, echoing some of Jeff Beck's textures.
Did Robben Ford have a signature Fender guitar?
Yes. He helped design the Esprit Ultra, which Fender turned into a Robben Ford custom model. He said he used it a ton, including on Talk to Your Daughter in 1988.
What was Robben Ford's first guitar?
An Orpheus acoustic his father bought for $60 when he was 13. His first really good electric was a Guild Starfire III, followed by a Gibson L-5, a Super 400 and the ES-335 he became known for.
Robben Ford is the blues and jazz guitarist known for Talk to Your Daughter, the Blue Line and his work with Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis and George Harrison. This guide covers the guitars, Dumble and Little Walter amps and pedals he plays now, plus the instruments that shaped his sound.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Robben Ford didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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