STAGE-PLAYED
THE RICHARD FORTUS COLLECTION
FORTUS' FAVORITE GEAR FOR OVER 30 YEARS OF TOURING!
Believe the hype! The Richard Fortus Collection is here, and it's every bit as impressive as you thought it would be—especially his stage-played gear!
Culled from over 30 years touring the world with Guns N' Roses, Thin Lizzy, The Psychedelic Furs, Rihanna, *NSYNC, The Dead Daisies, and more, these stage-played amps, acoustics, and electric guitars bear the telltale wear of the rock and roll life, the proof of years on the road rolling from town to town and even across oceans to entertain legions of loyal fans every night.
Each stage-played piece in the Richard Fortus Collection comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, as well as a brief description or anecdote written by Richard Fortus himself.
We all want to feel those bright lights, but only a select few get to see the show the way Richard Fortus has. Browse stage-played gear from the Richard Fortus Collection and take home more than just a setlist.
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"IT'S BEEN PLAYED TO DEATH"
"The Patience Guitar"
"Leo is a Mad Scientist..."
SHOP RICHARD FORTUS STAGE-PLAYED COLLECTION
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QUOTES FROM THE MAN HIMSELF
2002 Gibson ES-345
- "Everything about this guitar is great. I've had so many different pickups in this guitar. I believe these are Cream T-pickups. This is a piece that I will miss. I've spent so many years on stage with this one. It's on the inside cover of 'Chinese Democracy'"
2006 James Trussart Cream Deluxe Steelcaster
- "This is one of the best sounding Teles I've heard. All steel and so unique sounding. Very bell like type of compression and tone. The left handed bridge provides warmer top notes and 'thump-ier' and more percussion on the low strings. Also the left handed headstock gives more tension on the low strings, making it great for drop tunings and the higher strings have reduced tension, making them easier to bend. I played this guitar on many albums including 'Chinese Democracy' and it was on the road with me for years."
1966 Gretsch Tennessean
- "I bought this from legendary guitarist, Bobby Caldwell when I was about 18. I have used it on many albums. I used it on "Am I Wrong" by Love Spit Love and played it on tour and on television performances of that song."
MORE ABOUT THIS GEAR
2000 Gibson Les Paul Custom '68 Authentic Stage Mods
"This guitar was with me on almost every stage I've played on since around 2000. I loved the look of these '68 RI's with the nickel hardware. I went through over a dozen of these before I was able to find this one at the Gibson factory. It's a very, very special guitar. I used it on tours with Enrique Iglesias, Rhianna, Thin Lizzy, BT, Crystal Method, Nena and many Gn'R tours. I eventually found another one I liked, but still wasn't as good as this one."
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Scala S-Style Copper
"Leo built this for me to use with the Dead Daisies. I needed a humbucker in the bridge for some songs, but still wanted it to be a strat style. I absolutely love the copper finish that he does. As with all the guitars he's made me, it has many little personal details. The neck is held on with a compression joint with no bolts and is incredibly solid. It is a true work of art."
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G-Sharp Fortus Signature Baritone
"I designed this guitar with G-Sharp and have used this for all of the 'Not In This Lifetime' tour. We experimented quite a bit with different woods and pickups and ended up with Lollar gold foils. Sounds massive through a big amp."
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1966 Gibson Firebird III
Artic Blue Refin
"I have this wired so the middle pickup has it's own volume so it can be blended in to whichever combination is selected with the 3 way. 3 volumes and 2 tones"
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Cornford Custom MK100H
"Paul Cornford made this for me. It was never put in to production, but is basically a 100 watt version of their popular MK50 head. I used this on tour with Gn'R"
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1958 Gibson Les Paul Jr. TV Yellow
"I bought this from a friend of mine. One of the better Junior's I've owned. He told me that it used to belong to Steve Marriot."
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Marsha 100w HBE
"I don't know if there is another of these. Dave made this for me and has tweaked on it over the years. All hand wired, point to point. I used this with Gn'R. I've seen single channel 50's but I've never seen another single channel 100. It cleans up really really well and isn't as compressed sounding as the Friedman amps. Bigger and more open. "
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2003 Gibson Firebird VII
"Gibson made this for me and it's the prototype for the copper finish. I believe it became a production color, but this was the first. I used this with Enrique Iglesias and on tour with Gn'R."
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1990s Gibson Les Paul Baritone
"I had asked Gibson for a baritone Les Paul but they had stopped making them. They found one but it was red and I wanted a black one. So they finished over it and then called my tech at the time and said they wanted to do something in honor of my second daughter being born. My tech called me and I told him that I wanted very subtle markers in the shape of clovers and paisley's (my daughters names). This is what they did instead. When the guitar showed up, I was wondering if they had stripped the guitar, or just finished over the red. When I figured out that there was red underneath, we drug it around the parking lot for a while to expose some of the red! I used this on stage for years with Gn'R. Went through many different pickups to find the right fit."
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Marshall EL34
"This was modded by Voodoo Amps. The bass is tighter and thicker and the top end is much smoother. I used this with Gn'R along with a Randall modular preamp and also an Egnater modular preamp. "
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James Trussart Steelmaster
"A great sounding jazzmaster type guitar with a Mastery bridge and Arcane pickups. The Trussart driftwood guitars are so resonate and light. I used this on tour with Saivu."
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Echopark Korina V Natural
"Probably the best looking V I've come across. Bonamassa gave them his Amos V to have Echopark make a replica. This is the same specs."
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Fractal Audio Systems Axe-FX II
"This was on tour with me with Gn'R as the "wet" side of my rig."
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Godin Multiac Nylon Duet
"I used this with Enrique Iglesias. I tried many electric nylons and this was by far the best. Bumblefoot used this live on 'If The World.'"
READ MORE"It's Been Played To Death"
"The Trussarts
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