The Grammy-award winning Foo Fighters were first formed as a one-man solo act by Dave Grohl in Seattle, Washington in 1994, following the death of Kurt Cobain. Slowly, Grohl recruited other members, and their present lineup includes Dave Grohl on lead vocals and guitar, Nate Mendel on bass guitar, Taylor Hawkins on drums, Chris Shiflett on lead and rhythm guitar, and Pat Smear on rhythm guitar. The Foo Fighters’ sound has often been compared to Grohl’s original band, Nirvana, although the Foo Fighters have a heavier and more melodic sound.
Guitarist and lead vocalist Dave Grohl plays two Gibson DG335s in concert, one being tuned to standard, and the other tuned in drop D. Grohl typically plays Gibson guitars at all times, but has played a Fender Telecaster. For live amplification, Dave uses a Fender Tonemaster and Mesa Boogie Road King, with Tonemaster and Road King cabinets. Grohl uses a variety of effects, such as Boss DD3 Delay, Voodoo Labs PedalPower, and ProCo Rat Distortion. Distortion will definitely be needed to replicate most, if not all, Foo Fighters songs. Dave Grohl is a tenor with a powerful and strong voice, shown on such songs like Everlong, but he can tone it down a bit, as in their song Big Me. A strong male tenor voice will be needed with a wide range.
Bassist Nate Mendel plays Fender Precision Basses, however he uses the Lakland Bob Glaub Signature Precision Bass while touring. For amplification, he uses Ashdown Classic-Series Bass Amplifiers. Mendel uses few effects; however, some of them include a Boss GEB-7 Graphic Equalizer and a Boss TU-2 Tuner.
Guitarist Chris Shiflett typically plays Fender Telecasters, Telecaster Deluxes, and Telecaster Thinlines. For live amplification, he uses a handwired Vox AC30, Mesa Boogie Road King, and a Fender Super Reverb. He uses a variety of effects, such as an EHX Micro POG, Boss DS-2 distortion, and the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Pedal. Rhythm guitarist Pat Smear uses only Hagstrom guitars, and for amplification, he uses Peavey 5150 and 6505 heads.
Drummer Taylor Hawkins is a powerful drummer with a punchy style. His current tour kit includes Gretsch drums and Zildjian cymbals.
To sound like the Foo Fighters, knowledge of hard rock, punk, and grunge are a must. Many songs are also played in drop D. To achieve the full sound, a 5-piece band will be needed. An intermediate guitar player could play many of the parts, provided he or she has a good knowledge of distortion effects and power chords. Also, a powerful vocalist will be needed.
Keep rockin’!!!
Foo Fighters by NRK P3 taken on March 11, 2008
Gibson Guitar by Vitor Bellote taken on February 13, 2012
fender-limited-closet-classic-1958-precision-bass-530-85 by Beefy Basses taken on April 16, 2011
Fender Telecaster by groovysuvi taken on December 26, 2009
Taylo Hawkins – Dave Grohl by The Sunset is Upon Us taken on April 1, 2012
