Maximum Energy
THE GEAR OF THE ORIGINAL PUNKS
bass at a show at the New York Palladium
in September 1979. This moment of anger
and energy was captured by photographer
Pennie Smith and became the iconic cover
shot of the London Calling album. And the
smashed Precision eventually found its way
to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unlike
Vicious and Ramone, Simonon became quite
proficient on his bass, mastering funk and
reggae styles and following the creative path
of the Clash all the way up the river to its
ultimate breakup.
The Clash put the “rock” in punk rock. Unlike
the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, the Clash
successfully broke past the strictures of early
punk to move into new genres and eventually
create a signature sound. The gear the Clash
used was key to this success.
pUnk 2.0 And BEyond
Since his band changed the world with a
stage full of cranked gear, Johnny Ramone
has sold his Mosrite and Marshalls on eBay.
Dee Dee’s basses and amps are long gone,
sold to finance a lifestyle that eventually
killed him. Jones of the Pistols still has his
Les Paul, although he has a dubious history of selling and re-purchasing the storied
instrument. Likewise, Strummer’s Telecaster
has done time in the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame, and Mick Jones has his old axes either
stashed away or in his library in London. All
these instruments that played songs of rebellion and anarchy, all these amps that were run
at top volume to decimate so many hearts
and minds, all of it now silent.
Bloody Good Show: Sid Vicious spatters his Fender Precision with nastiness, circa 1978.
closest thing to that sound I’ve found…that
plastic motif on the front is repulsive. Those
little guys in bellbottoms. Ugh!.” Strummer
found the Music Man to be durable enough
to withstand the Clash’s rigorous touring,
and powerful enough to provide loads of
clean volume, even when driving a 2x12
extension cab. His clean tone was a singular
contrast to Jones’ saturated, effects-laden
onslaught. Strummer’s Music Man came up
for sale a few years ago and was purchased
by Strummer fan and friend, Eddie Vedder.
He wanted to use the amp onstage but, alas,
found it too loud and too clean. Some horses
can only be ridden by one rider.
For his part, bassist Simonon paid his gear
dues early in the band’s history, working a
string of no-name copy instruments. As the
band got more attention, Simonon acquired
a Rickenbacker 4001, which he disliked. He
wanted a bass that was substantial in both
weight and tone. In the end, he gravitated
to the same camp as Dee Dee Ramone and
Sid Vicious: a white Fender Precision and an
Ampeg SVT. Simonon famously smashed this
Many generations of punk have come and
gone since that first wave. Late-’70s bands,
American hardcore bands, Oi! and thrash
bands. The genre and all its offshoots have
had innumerable adherents through the
years and on down to today. As always, the
punks are the ones who step out front first to
rebel against the status quo. Afterward, oth-
ers come through the broken window. But it’s
those first pioneers, the rebels so often cast
as misfits or threats to society—the punks—
who are the first in.
