Guitar legend Nuno Bettencourt crashes his own Rundown to showcase the “Bumblebee” guitar he cooked up to honor Eddie Van Halen, while bassist Pat Badger shares two killer stories about basses that once belonged to members of Van Halen and Aerosmith.
Nearly 40 years ago, Nuno Bettencourt walked into Mouradian Guitar Co. in Boston, where Pat Badger was working. They formed a bond that would change their worlds—and ours—with the multi-platinum band Extreme. In March of 2024, Badger, Bettencourt, and their tech John Thayer invited PG’s John Bohlinger to talk through their current rig.
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Washburn Wrecking Crew
This Washburn N4 was developed in collaboration with Nuno Bettencourt, Washburn, and Seattle-based luthier Stephen Davies. The guitar was introduced in the mid-to-late 1990s and became Bettencourt's primary guitar. The 4N features a balanced alder body with a Seymour Duncan ’59 in the neck and a Bill Lawrence L-500 in the bridge, plus an ebony fretboard and a Kahler whammy that was featured on the earliest iterations. Later production models included a Schaller tremolo before landing on the current Floyd Rose dive bomber for off-the-rack N4s. Nuno’s strings are a custom set of GHS Boomers (.009–.052) and his custom-made picks come from Grover Allman in Australia.
Sweet As Honey
This is “Bumble Bee,” a custom-painted N4 tribute to King Edward that was done by the luthier Craig Stofko behind CHS Custom Guitars, based out of Carmel, New York. It’s a standard Nuno Washburn signature, but with a maple fretboard (a first for Nuno and the N4 series).
Softer Sounds
This Washburn Festival EA20S-Nuno Bettencourt is in the video for Extreme’s song “More Than Words,” which was filmed over 30 years ago.
This custom-painted Washburn 12-string acoustic is heard on “Hole Hearted.”
Triple Duals
Nuno tours with three Marshall JCM 2000 Dual Super Leads. Usually, he only runs one through a Marshall 4x12 cab. (There are six total onstage but only one is hot and mic'd.) All the cabs are loaded with Celestion G12T-75s that combine a huge, tightly controlled low-end and aggressive mid-range with a softened top-end.
Nuno runs few effects. In front of the amp, there’s a battery powered Pro Co RAT (which stays on all the time), a Boss OC-5 Octave (plugged in and connected for just two solos), and a script logo MXR Phase 90 without a light. There’s also a Boss GT-8 that runs through the effects loop of the Marshall for delays.
Kingly Gifts
This Mouradian CS-74 bass is Pat Badger’s number-one. The alder-bodied bass, fitted with an EMG pickup, was built for Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith. About two years ago, Tom gave the bass to Pat. This and all of Badger’s basses are strung with Rotosound Ultramag Strings (.045–.105).
This Mouradian one-pickup bass was built for Michael Anthony from Van Halen. Michael passed it along to Pat a few years ago.
This classic ’80s Hamer Blitz bass is a recent Reverb purchase.
Badger's Den
Badger tours with two Ampeg amps: a SVT-4 Pro and a SVT Classic. There’s a wall of 4x10 cabs underneath them, but only one is used.
Pat runs his bass into a Boss TU-3 tuner, Boss GE-7 EQ, EHX Micro POG, Pro Co Rat, Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, and EBS Billy Sheehan Signature Drive.
Shop Nuno Bettencourt & Pat Badger's Gear
Washburn N4-Nuno Vintage USA Electric Guitar
Washburn Nuno Bettencourt N4 Authentic Signature - Natural Matte
Seymour Duncan SH-1n '59 Model Neck 4-conductor Humbucker Pickup - Black
MXR CSP026 '74 Vintage Phase 90 Pedal
Pro Co RAT 2 Distortion / Fuzz / Overdrive Pedal
Boss OC-5
EMG 35DC Active Ceramic Modern Humbucker Bass Pickups
Rotosound UM45 UltraMag Type 52 Alloy Bass Guitar Strings - .045-.105 Standard 4-String
Ampeg SVT-CL 300
Ampeg SVT-810AV 8x10"
Ampeg SVT-4PRO 1200-watt Tube Preamp Bass Head
EBS Billy Sheehan Ultimate Signature Drive Pedal
Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI V2 Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG Polyphonic Octave Generator Pedal
Boss GE-7 7-band EQ Pedal
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner Pedal with Bypass
Top techs share their tips, tweaks, and onstage product development for brand-spankin’-new guitars.
Music styles have changed over the decades, and have generally intensified to a point where the rigors of performing live have become a contact sport. The hallmark of rock music has always been its over-the-top, live-presentation muscle, but as concert and club shows gained theatric power, sometimes the instruments weren’t up to the task. So, I decided to ask a couple high-profile techs about the state of the guitar on the road.
Mike Hickey is a veteran of decades of rock ’n’ roll, both as a performer and a technician. Most recently, he’s been Joe Bonamassa’s right-hand man onstage. Known for keeping Bonamassa’s arsenal of vintage guitars in shape, I asked him about his experience with newer guitars on the road. Hickey said, “I find they often need more truss-rod adjustments on a regular basis. This is most likely due to the newer wood used, which hasn’t had the last 50-plus-years to stabilize like the old-growth wood of the vintage guitars.” This is an interesting point that doesn’t get discussed much, as the emphasis on “old wood” is its supposedly superior tone qualities. When pushed about the quality of modern hardware, Hickey pointed out that vintage instruments are worn in and less likely to have problems. “Another generalized repair that comes up with new instruments is needing to file the bridge saddles to prevent string breakage,” he said.
Tuning stability is always important, both live and in the studio. In fact, it might be the tech’s most important job. So how does Hickey make certain his boss gets a guitar that’s in tune when he hands it off? “Lately, I have noticed with split-shaft posts on Fender-type instruments that I am getting some slipping on the 2nd and 1st strings,” he said. “This happens when I do the traditional loading of the strings into the center hole of the split shaft. To combat this, I thread the 2nd and 1st strings around the post as if it was a standard-style non-split shaft.” In the same way that new tuners and bridges might present problems with sharp edges, Hickey reasons that new nut slots need filing and smoothing since they’re not always fully tested at the factory. “We also lubricate the passage of the strings at that point,” he says.
When I asked if there’s a weak link on guitars in general, Hickey pointed to the break angle of strings on wraparound bridges and tailpieces. “I add an additional ball end on the strings to keep the main part of the string at the break point on the back of the tailpiece,” he revealed.
According to Hickey, the control pots are one place where new guitars can outshine an old one. “Sometimes we need to spray some cleaner into the potentiometers if we have a vintage guitar that has been sitting for a while. Not much can be done except to soldier on and get through the song with a bit of crackle! Sometimes you may see Joe whacking the knobs on his ES-335 while looking over to me laughing during a show!”
Drew Foppe’s resume is as varied as they come. He’s provided his services for artists as diverse as the Smashing Pumpkins, the Deftones, and Shakira. I posed the same question about new guitars to him, and he revealed similar thoughts to Hickey’s. “I usually end up improving on guitars right off the store wall or shipped out directly from a factory,” he says. “Most of the time, all that is required is a simple truss-rod and intonation adjustment.”
Although frets are one of the most important contributions to a guitar’s feel, Foppe isn’t always impressed. “I’ve been finding more and more guitars needing fretwork right out of the box.” Tuning issues are also a point of contention for Foppe. “First thing is you need a guitar that stays in tune. There are some companies that use garbage hardware that makes it hard to keep their guitars in tune, but it also helps keep their price point down. So, I get it, but some of it just isn’t made to last more than a couple shows.”
Like Hickey, Foppe isn’t a fan of factory spec nuts. “Second thing I check is the nut,” he says. “If a guitar ships with a plastic nut, I like to replace it immediately with a bone nut.” One bonus about a new factory-made guitar is that modifications aren’t going to necessarily devalue it. “Of course, you are never going to get a Les Paul to sound like a Strat, and vice-versa,” Foppe concludes, “but people still try. If you are limited to only having one or two guitars on stage, you can coil-tap humbuckers, wire pickups in series/parallel, or even create different pickup combinations.” In the end, Foppe concedes that the boss is always right. “Either way, you have to make any and all necessary adjustments to every instrument to the exact specs of what the artist wants.”
For starters, says Hamer Guitars cofounder Jol Dantzig, avoid stock typeface at all costs.
There was a time when the shape of an electric guitar was all you needed to see to know who made it. That seems quaint now, right? There are so many builders, and so many guitars that lean heavily on previous designs. I’m as guilty as anyone of synthesizing styles, but the sheer volume of entries into the marketplace can cloud your vision. This is nothing new for orchestral instruments whose forms have been practically identical for centuries. Usually, you’ve got to look at the logo to be sure if it’s a Yamaha or a Conn. (I have to do this with cars nowadays.) As the guitar industry gets increasingly crowded with “tribute” instruments, it becomes difficult to know exactly what you are looking at. Because of this, the brand logo becomes more important than ever.
In simple terms, a logo is a graphic design element that represents a product, brand, or organization. It can be a symbol, words, or a combination of both. Designers will tell you that a typeface is not a logo unless it is so specialized as to not be mistaken for anything else. Coca-Cola, Gibson, and Fender spring to mind. Over time, and with lots of advertising, typeface logos can become embedded in the public consciousness. Studies have shown that children recognize and associate symbol logos before they can read—think Pepsi or Apple—so those designs really hit us at a deep level. Logos are also a point of pride for customers of each product tribe, and it seems everyone is searching for that.
Other aspects a good designer will take into consideration is if a logo will readily adapt to different mediums. A full-color logo might not translate when cut out of steel in reverse, whereas a properly constructed symbol will. If you’re going to produce guitar logos of mother of pearl to be inlaid into a headstock, you have to be cognizant of the limits of your routing capabilities, as well as whether or not the logo will be a single or multiple-piece part. Just because you can draw it doesn’t mean it can be made easily. More parts equal more cost and effort. However, there are lots of companies that supply finished shell-inlay parts for big manufacturers and small shops, too. They can guide you with their decades of experience when refining your logo for production use.
Besides inlay, there are quite a few ways to apply a logo to an instrument. Centuries ago, instruments might have been signed in ink, or have a paper label decorated with the builder’s name. Eventually, names migrated to the headstock, where potential buyers could see them from a distance, such as in a shop window. This also allowed performing musicians to promote individual makers by merely appearing in public. As instruments moved towards being a commodity, the burden of identification fell more and more to the brand logo.
In the 20th century, factories started to build ever larger quantities of guitars, and handlettering became inefficient, and lacked consistency. The job was replaced by industrial processes, including cloisonné or printed metal tags which were glued, nailed, or screwed to the peghead. Another popular method was silkscreen. Like T-shirt screening, an operator placed the headstock into a fixture with a hinged-screen frame. The frame closed down on the headstock and the operator swiped screen ink with a squeegee. Gibson still uses this technique to replicate their golden age instruments. For costlier guitars, mechanical routers and pantographs were able to accomplish pearl inlay logos at a fraction of the cost of handwork. Today, computer automated routers do this work in even small shops.
The most ubiquitous method today is the waterslide decal. Invented in France in the 1700s, the printed decal—or décalcomanie—consisted of a printed image suspended in a thin film on a piece of paper. The image is released onto an object with water. Those who grew up building model airplanes will instantly recognize the process. These decal logos are inexpensive to make and can be applied quickly, making them perfect for mass production. Used by many guitar makers including Gibson, Fender, and Martin, they can be added over the finish or topcoated after application. You can even make them on a computer printer using decal paper.
When designing a logo for your band or brand of gear, you might want to avoid that stock typeface no matter what type of process you use. When we founded Hamer in 1973, graphic designer Max LeSueur chose a stock font (bookman bold italic) for our brand. I liked it because it was the font that Italian frame builder Colnago used on their world-beating racing bicycles, but now it looks like dozens of other dated 1970s examples. So, whether your logo is a painstakingly executed inlay, silkscreen, or decal, it is your call to action, your personal identity, and your tribal flag all rolled into one. Choose wisely.