Even during the era of pointed headstocks, Richie played a Tele and just recently his signature model became available in the U.S. It features a contoured ash body, maple top and neck, and sports a pair of DiMarzio pickups—the Twang King in the neck and Chopper T in the bridge. Kotzen also expanded the traditional 3-way Tele wiring to include a rotary series/parallel knob. Plus, the small switch between the two knobs activates a tuner that lives around his volume knob. Finally, there’s a Hipshot GT2 Electric Xtender that allows Kotzen to quickly move to drop D. He strings up his Tele with D’Addario .011–.049 strings.
