Ed O’Brien Gear Guide
Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien’s guitars, amplifiers, sustain, delay, reverb and pedal-driven ambient textures.
A period-by-period quick reference to guitars, amplification, effects and songs. Specific gear may vary by recording, tour and year.
Guitars
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| Fender EOB Stratocaster | Signature Strat with Sustainer pickup, enabling long-held notes and feedback-like sustain. | Radiohead / solo |
| Fender Stratocaster | O’Brien has used multiple Stratocasters for clean and processed parts. | Career-wide |
| The Plank | Custom guitar built by his technician Peter Clements; used as a flexible stage instrument. | Radiohead touring |
| Gibson ES-355 | Semi-hollow guitar in his collection and earlier band gear. | 1990s |
| Rickenbacker 360/12 | Twelve-string electric used for chiming layers. | Selected recordings |
| Acoustic guitars | Acoustic parts are sometimes fed into effects for transformed textures. | Studio |
Amplifiers
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| Fender Vibro-King | Used on tour for clean headroom, though its volume motivated a search for alternatives. | 2011 onward |
| Audio Kitchen Little Chopper | Compact British amplifier used in studio and on the road. | Later touring |
| Audio Kitchen Big Chopper | Higher-output companion amp for different clean and driven responses. | Later touring |
| Audio Kitchen Base Chopper | Additional amp option for studio and touring tones. | Later touring |
| Fender Deluxe / Vox AC15 | Smaller valve-amp alternatives in later rigs. | Selected tours |
| Direct and stereo routing | Effects and amp choices change by song; stereo processing supports layered parts. | Live |
Effects
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| Electro-Harmonix Freeze | Captures and sustains a slice of sound for evolving pads. | Solo and Radiohead rigs |
| Sustainiac / Sustainer pickup | Provides controllable sustain on the EOB Strat. | Signature Strat |
| Delay and echo | Rhythmic repeats build interlocking patterns and ambient beds. | Song dependent |
| Reverb | Adds depth to clean and processed guitar layers. | Song dependent |
| Compression | Controls dynamics before or after time-based effects. | Selected rigs |
| Pitch shifting / Whammy | Moves the guitar into unusual registers and textures. | Radiohead live |
| Dream Sequence | Expression-controlled pitch and modulation effects for moving, layered sounds. | Later pedalboard |
| TheGigRig switching | Custom switching system supports complex pedal routing and song changes. | Touring |
Song and era references
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| Street Spirit (Fade Out) | Repeated clean arpeggios and carefully layered ambience. | The Bends |
| Let Down | Interlocking guitar parts and delay create the suspended rhythmic shimmer. | OK Computer |
| Treefingers | Processed guitar textures become ambient sound material. | Kid A |
| Where I End and You Begin | Sustained and modulated parts contribute to the shifting arrangement. | Hail to the Thief |
| Ed O’Brien solo work | EOB Strat and modern pedals expand the ambient, sustained palette. | Earth era |