Joe Duplantier Gear Guide
Gojira guitarist Joe Duplantier’s Charvel signature guitars, custom pickups, heavy rhythm tone and evolving live setup.
A period-by-period quick reference to guitars, amplification, effects and songs. Equipment can vary between recordings, tours and years.
Guitars
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| Charvel Joe Duplantier San Dimas Style 2 | Signature model with mahogany body, bolt-on mahogany neck and compound fingerboard radius. | Signature era |
| Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 2 | More affordable production counterpart to the USA signature model. | Selected touring |
| Custom MF pickups | Custom humbuckers in the signature Charvel design, voiced for the band’s aggressive sound. | Charvel signature |
| DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary and Fortitude | Pickup combination cited in later signature-guitar discussion and configurations. | Later models |
| Gibson / other solidbodies | Earlier records and touring used varied hard-tail guitars depending on session and year. | Early Gojira |
Amplifiers
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| High-gain amplifier heads | Gojira’s heavy tone has often been generated primarily from amp gain rather than a large pedalboard. | Career-wide |
| Marshall amplifiers | Associated with selected earlier studio/live configurations. | Earlier periods |
| Mesa/Boogie amplifiers | Used in some early configurations by the band’s guitarists. | Earlier periods |
| Direct/modeling rigs | Modern touring systems may use modeled amp tones for consistency. | Recent touring |
Effects and signal chain
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| Noise gate | Controls low-tuned, high-gain guitar noise between tightly stopped riffs. | Live/studio |
| Reverb | Used selectively for ambience rather than as a dominant wash. | Song dependent |
| Whammy/pitch effects | Pitch-shift textures feature in selected Gojira passages and software models. | Selected parts |
| Minimal pedal approach | Tone foundation comes from guitar, tuning, amplifier and forceful picking. | Core approach |
| Palm muting and downpicking | Tightly controlled attack gives low-register riffs their percussive definition. | Core technique |
Song and era references
| Gear / reference | Details | Era / use |
|---|---|---|
| Stranded | Low-tuned, precise rhythm guitar and compact high-gain sound. | Magma |
| Silvera | Aggressive riff articulation with abrupt stops and dynamic contrast. | Magma |
| Flying Whales | Clean-to-heavy transitions and layered guitar sections. | From Mars to Sirius |
| The Heaviest Matter of the Universe | Rapid palm-muted riffs with high-gain amplifier tone. | From Mars to Sirius |