Ultimate Guitar: Story of Cheap Guitar That Launched Green Day Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's Career

[Rumpelstiltskin2000]

Ultimate Guitar article here:

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/story_of_cheap_guitar_that_launched_green_day_frontman_billie_joe_armstrongs_career-102803

Story of Cheap Guitar That Launched Green Day Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's Career

How a relatively obscure Strat copy came to define the sound of a generation.

This week, Green Day prepares to unleash its 13th studio album [February 7, 2020]. Green Day has always held onto that youthful glow that was a cornerstone of the pop punk movement. The innocence and juvenile angst that is evident in their records often brings us back to a simpler time, when songs consisted of three chords and a fair amount of yelling. Perhaps simplicity is part of why Green Day were at the forefront of a genre that inspired so many kids to pick up a guitar and make original music. Simple or not, the power and influence of those songs are unquestionable. This week, we will take a closer look at the guitar that churned out so many of the riffs that defined the 1990s punk rock sound.

Billie’s most iconic instrument is undoubtedly his sticker-covered Strat he affectionately refers to as, “Blue”. Incidentally, this was also Billie’s first electric guitar, which he got from his mother on his 11th birthday. His mother bought the guitar from a local guitar instructor, George Cole, who was Billie’s guitar instructor in his formative years. Allegedly, George got the guitar from David Margen, who was a bass player Santana’s band from 1977 until 1982. Contrary to popular belief, “Blue” is not a Fender Stratocaster. It is a 1970s Fernandes Strat copy. While some sources date “Blue” as a “1987 or 1988” model - they are wrong. He got it on his 11th birthday – he was born in 1972. So he got the guitar in 1983 and it had already passed through a few hands before it got to him. So it stands to reason that his Strat was from pre-1983, but most likely, it was from the mid to late 70s.

Fernandes is a brand created by Saito Musical Instruments - a Japanese company that began making replicas in the early 70s under a couple different brands. Fernandes was registered in 1972 and was the brand used to make Fender replicas. Burny was the other name, which makes Gibson replicas. They are actually relatively good replicas but the early models were, oftentimes, extremely heavy due to the wood that was used. The early Fernandes (and some Burny) guitars were made of a wood called Silver Heart (some used mahogany and hard maple as well). It’s not a very popular wood, especially in guitar building. It comes from middle Africa. It is a very hard wood used to make furniture, but more commonly, it was used, as thin planks, on the floor of bowling alleys.

Bowling was a big deal in Japan in the early 1970s and there was a big boom and bust of bowling alleys being built. Many of the alleys went bankrupt soon after they were built. For a new upstart guitar company, looking to keep costs down, this presented a great opportunity. Satio bought up the planks used on the lanes for relatively cheap, then laminated (or “pancaked”) the thin planks, and cut bodies out of them. The result was a heavy guitar with a surprisingly good tone. You might recall that Kirk Hammett [of Metallica] used a Fernandes Stratocaster copy (with a Floyd Rose) during the Ride The Lightning tour. Tobias Forge [of Ghost] also used one in his formative years. They came stock with alnico single-coil pickups and that is most likely what is still in “Blue” although Billie never uses anything but the humbucker in the bridge – the selector is locked in the bridge position and the other two pickups have been disconnected.

The bridge humbucker is currently a Seymour Duncan SH-4. Based on the picture on the back of the guitar of a young Billie holding the guitar (as seen on Premier Guitar’s 2013 Rig Rundown), we can tell that it had three single-coils when he got it. When George Cole sold the guitar to Billie’s mother, it allegedly came with a Bill Lawrence humbucker – I’m told it was an L-500XL model, which has rails (or “blades” as some call them) instead of the pole pieces. The Bill Lawrence L-500XL was the weapon of choice for Dimebag Darrell and was featured in the bridge of his most iconic guitar, the Dean From Hell. It is also featured in most of the subsequent Dime signature models. It was known for its aggressive and edgy tone.

Based on the looks of it, I would venture to guess that Billie cut out the pickguard and installed the humbucker himself when he was a kid, either that, or a very sloppy tech did it – no offense either way, clearly, it works. You can also see that the single coils have been adjusted down to almost being flush with the pickguard so as not to interfere with anything. Because those pickups still have magnets with pole pieces, in theory, if they were closer to the strings, they could cut down on sustain by magnetically pulling the string into alignment directly over the pole pieces. Again, this is something that is more theoretical than practical, and the average listener probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Given Billie Joe’s aggressive strumming style, I would venture to guess that the single coils were flushed to keep the pick from bouncing off the coils before hitting the strings.

The humbucker was installed at an angle, just like Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstrat. Because it was originally had a rail instead of pole pieces, string spacing was not the reason for Billie Joe angling the humbucker [this was largely considered to be the reason for Eddie angling his - to make up for the difference between Gibson and Fender string spacing]. The reason might have been to give a little more bite to the higher strings. Or it may have just been more convenient to do it that way. I have done a few of these mods through the years and I find it easier to install the humbucker at the same angle as the single-coil because you can use the same holes for the adjustment screws. You can read more about slanted pickups in an article I wrote a few months ago where I performed this mod on one of my own Strats, here.

The Bill Lawrence pickup was used up until the band’s infamous performance at Woodstock on August 14, 1994, which has since, been referred to as Mudfest. The pickup fell victim to mudslinging and rain and was soon replaced with a Seymour Duncan JB, which was a mainstay for many years. It was swapped out for a Gibson in 2011 for a period of time but switched back to a JB SH-4, which is the weapon of choice for a massive list of artists from Joe Perry, to Tom Morello, to Warren Haynes.

The neck is said to be stock, although it has undergone a re-fret and the headstock has been refinished without logos. A headstock logo would have helped to give a more definitive date to the guitar because Fernandes changed their logo a few times within the first decade or so. But I have been unable to find any photos depicting the guitar sporting any sort of logo, indicating that the logos were removed early on. Fender has, since, made him several replicas in their Custom Shop for him to use but, he still has not retired old “Blue”. The Fender Custom Shop guitars were, ironically, copies of a copy – much like Slash’s “AFD” Les Paul, or Tony Iommi’s “Old Boy” SG. however Blue has never been turned into a production model. According to a forum entry by the band’s one-time tech, manager, and Pinhead Gunpowder bandmate, Bill Schneider, the replicas were all smashed and/or given away.

Billie Joe Armstrong currently has a signature guitar made by Gibson after his current number one guitar, a 1955 Les Paul Junior, single-cutaway with an Antiquity P-90 pickup that he affectionately calls, “Floyd”. Still, one cannot deny the influence and impact that “Blue” has had on Billie Joe’s life and career, particularly through the 1990s. Another part of his signature 90s sound are his modded Marshalls, Pete & Meat, which are another story for another time.

Most of us started out on our musical journey playing a cheap guitar. Some of us may, very well, still play cheap guitars. “Blue” shows us that creating great music isn’t about the instrument, so much as it is about our connection to that instrument. Clearly, Billie Joe and “Blue” have a special connection as, even after the replicas were created, he still brings the original out on the road with him. I would imagine Billie Joe looks at that guitar the way one might look at a lovable mutt. “Blue” may look like something you might find at a pawn shop, overpriced at $80, but to Billie Joe Armstrong, that guitar means everything.

[PursuitOfEpicness]

This was a very cool read thanks!

it shows you don’t need the most expensive instruments to be a great musician.

[The Grohl]

Cool history about Blue! 

[Lenny]

On 2/8/2020 at 6:25 AM, PursuitOfEpicness said:

This was a very cool read thanks!

it shows you don’t need the most expensive instruments to be a great musician.

mind you Japanese manufacturing is still great quality. Fender in the 80's eventually stopped producing in the US for a while and Japan took over those ops. 

[PursuitOfEpicness]

29 minutes ago, Sheenius said:

mind you Japanese manufacturing is still great quality. Fender in the 80's eventually stopped producing in the US for a while and Japan took over those ops. 

oh interesting, there's such a narrative that anything made overseas is garbage - i guess i fell into it!

[Lenny]

3 hours ago, PursuitOfEpicness said:

oh interesting, there's such a narrative that anything made overseas is garbage - i guess i fell into it!

It really depends on where. Japan is quality manufacturing for guitars. 

The cost is typically lower because of efficiencies.