He is left-handed. He plays left-handed. He collects left-handed vintage guitars in a world where left-handed vintage guitars are extraordinarily rare. The most incredible find of his guitar-buying life — his answer to Guitar World’s “Bought and Sold” question — was a 1964 left-handed Fender Stratocaster in Burgundy Mist, acquired for $2,800 at a vintage dealer when The Cars first started making money. He estimated its current value at six figures.
“Going back to the ’70s, when The Cars first started making money, I could buy guitars and the prices weren’t what they are now,” he told Guitar World. “The most amazing one — and this was part of a Guitar World centrefold — was a 1964 left-handed Stratocaster, which was Burgundy Mist-coloured.”
Elliot Easton is one of the most melodically gifted guitarists of the new wave era — which is itself a category that undervalues him, because “new wave guitarist” suggests something less technically demanding than what Easton actually was. His solos on The Cars’ classic records are composed with the precision of a trained musician and the feeling of a blues player: each note earns its place, each phrase develops logically, and the whole thing is over before you realise you’ve been holding your breath. Slash has cited him as an influence. MusicPlayers.com named him one of the top 40 under-appreciated guitarists of the 1980s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 as a member of The Cars.
He also once played “Touch and Go”‘s famous slow solo on a left-handed Precision Bass flipped upside down and plugged into a Fender Twin with tremolo. But we’ll get to that.
Background: Brewer, Maine, Juilliard-Trained Mother, and the Guitar Solo as Pop Hook
Elliot Easton — born Elliot Steinberg on December 18, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Brewer, Maine — had a musical upbringing that combined formal and informal elements in a characteristically American way. His mother was a Juilliard-trained singer who had her own radio show as a teenager in New York; she introduced him to Gershwin and classical music as a small child. He started on ukulele at three. By the time he encountered rock and roll, he had already absorbed harmonic sophistication from a source that most rock guitarists never access.
His early musical heroes were the standard for his generation — the British Invasion, specifically the Shadows (the British instrumental group that produced some of the most melodic and inventive guitar playing in early rock) and later Jimi Hendrix. But the formal musical sensibility his mother provided gave him the ability to hear what more conventional rock guitar training would have hidden: the underlying harmonic logic of great pop solos, the way a well-placed note in the right rhythmic position does more than a dozen notes in the wrong place.
He moved to Boston in the early 1970s, where the music scene was producing bands that combined the formal musical education of Boston’s conservatories with the energy of post-British Invasion rock. He joined The Cars when the band formed in 1976 around Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, with Greg Hawkes on keyboards and David Robinson on drums. The Cars were signed to Elektra Records in 1978, and their self-titled debut was a genuine revelation: new wave hooks, Ocasek’s deadpan vocal delivery, Hawkes’s synth textures, and Easton’s guitar solos — brief, melodically complete, perfectly placed.
The Cars’ run from their 1978 debut through Heartbeat City (1984) produced a catalog of songs that have become permanent parts of American radio: “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Let’s Go,” “Touch and Go,” “Shake It Up,” “You Might Think,” “Drive,” “Hello Again.” In every one of these songs, Easton’s guitar contribution is indispensable — not because it’s virtuosic in the shredder sense, but because it is exactly right for the song.
Benjamin Orr died of pancreatic cancer in 2000. Ric Ocasek died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in 2019. The Cars as an entity is now a memory rather than a going concern, though the surviving members recorded Move Like This in 2011. Easton continues to perform with The Immediate Family, the Empty Hearts, and various other projects.
Tone note: “All gear is just tools to get what’s inside your head out. And the guitar is like a paintbrush, so that’s where it’s at.” That’s Easton’s gear philosophy in two sentences. Everything else in this article is the specific paintbrushes he chose.
The Rig: Elliot Easton’s Guitars, Amps & Gear — Complete Era-by-Era Breakdown
Easton’s gear story is one of the most specifically documented in new wave/pop rock, thanks to multiple detailed interviews across Vintage Guitar, Guitar World, and The Gear Page. He has been consistently forthcoming about what he used on specific songs and sessions — the kind of gear documentation that makes gear historians very happy.
Guitars: Left-Handed Vintage Gold and a Life of Careful Hunting
Gibson SG Special — The Very Beginning
Easton’s early career guitar was a Gibson SG Special — the P-90-equipped entry model of the SG line. As he told Guitar World: “In the earliest days I was playing a Gibson SG Special, and I was using an Ampeg VT-40 that I got a deal on. I could really only afford one guitar.” This is the guitar of the pre-Cars period, when money was extremely limited and getting the best possible instrument for the available funds was the only option.
Gibson Les Paul Standard (Red Refinish) — The Cars Debut
Easton’s primary guitar for The Cars’ self-titled debut album (1978) was a Gibson Les Paul Standard that he described in detail to Guitar World: “I used that on the first Cars record. I had the guitar refinished to red with a black back. But it was originally a Tobacco Sunburst; just a regular Les Paul Standard.”
The modification: “It had DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups in it because that was the hot thing at the time.” The DiMarzio Super Distortion’s high ceramic-magnet output was the hot rod upgrade of the late 1970s metal and hard rock world; Easton’s application of it to a new wave pop record confirms that the pickup’s actual value was its output and sustain rather than its genre specificity.
Effects on the debut were minimal by Easton’s own account: “There was virtually nothing in the way of effects for the whole first album. I had the first Boss Chorus [CE-1] and a Moorley Echo Volume [EVO-1], which was like a magnetic disk that made echo delay.”
The Boss CE-1 — the original Boss chorus, using the MN3002 BBD chip for analog bucket-brigade modulation — is the earliest and, by many accounts, the best-sounding of the Boss chorus units. Its use on The Cars debut is barely audible in the way great effects work is barely audible: it adds shimmer without announcing itself.
Tone note: Red refinish on a Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul. DiMarzio Super Distortions. Boss CE-1. Moorley echo. That’s the entire signal chain for one of the great guitar records of 1978. Simple, functional, specific.
Gibson Les Paul Standard and Fender Telecaster — Candy-O
For Candy-O (1979) — and recounting to Vintage Guitar his setup for the band’s early period — Easton described: “His setup for The Cars was simple – a Les Paul Standard, Telecaster, and a D-35. He plugged the Les Paul and Tele into a Fender Twin and one of three Ampegs – a VT-22, V2, and V4.”
His Telecaster was specifically noted: “My Tele was a new ’77, but I changed the neck pickup to Hi-A Bartolini Firebird mini humbucker.” The Bartolini Firebird mini-humbucker is a specific after-market pickup with a warm, slightly compressed character — replacing the Telecaster’s standard neck single coil for more output and warmth in the position. A ’77 Telecaster with a Bartolini mini-humbucker in the neck provides different tonal options from either a stock Tele or his Les Paul, covering more of the tonal range he needed for the diverse Cars arrangements.
The Dean ML arrived during the Candy-O sessions: “Dean brought me an ML during the Candy-O sessions and I put it right to work. The first song I used it on was ‘Since I Held You,’ and I liked it a lot. Now, people kind of laugh about the pointy headstocks and funny-shaped bodies, but the Dean was a really good guitar, and I really enjoyed playing them.” The Dean ML’s mahogany body and set neck give a warm, sustained character; Easton’s appreciation of it beyond its aesthetics (“a really good guitar”) reflects the professional musician’s priority of feel and tone over appearance.
1961 Fender Stratocaster — Candy-O Solos
One of Easton’s most celebrated vintage instruments in his early career: a 1961 Fender Stratocaster used for specific Candy-O solos. He confirmed this in the Vintage Guitar interview: “One of Easton’s main guitars from that era was a ’61 Strat. I used it quite a bit; it’s on the solo for ‘Dangerous Type’ and ‘It’s All I Can Do’ (from Candy-O). I think I used it on ‘Panorama.'”
A 1961 Stratocaster would be a slab rosewood fingerboard period instrument — the early Fender transition from maple to rosewood fretboards. The slab boards of 1959–1962 have a specific feel and tonal character; their replacement with the curved veneer rosewood boards of mid-1962 onward is one of the more debated points of Strat collecting history. Easton, as a left-handed guitarist with a particular challenge in finding quality vintage instruments, was acquiring these during the period when their current extraordinary values hadn’t yet been established.
Fender Lead I and Lead II — Panorama and Touch and Go
For the Panorama album (1980) and the “Touch and Go” solo specifically, Easton used the Fender Lead I and Lead II — new Fender models introduced around 1979–1980 that he was involved with developing. As he described: “During the Panorama period, I started working with Fender. They had just come out with the new Lead I and Lead II series, and they made me a couple of those and put me in their catalog. The Lead I is what I used for the solo in ‘Touch and Go.'”
The Fender Lead I featured a single Seth Lover-designed humbucker in the bridge position — the same Seth Lover who invented the PAF humbucker at Gibson — with a unique switching system. This humbucker is the pickup on “Touch and Go”‘s famous solo. As Guitar World’s tone breakdown confirmed: “Easton recorded the solo using a Fender Lead I plugged into a Mesa Boogie Mark II head with a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. ‘The guitar was full up with the Lead I humbucker in series and the Boogie set on stun.'”
The Mesa Boogie Mark II’s amp settings for “Touch and Go” were documented in extraordinary detail by Guitar World: Volume 1: 8, Treble: 5/Pull Shift, Bass: 3, Middle: 10, Master 1: Pull Gain Boost, Lead Drive: 9/Pull Lead, Lead Master: 7/Pull Bright, Presence: 5. The Graphic EQ: 80Hz: -4dB, 240Hz: +4dB, 750Hz: +11dB, 2200Hz: +9dB, 6600Hz: +8dB, EQ In. This is the precise, specific, historically documented amp setup for one of the most celebrated guitar solos in new wave history.
Tone note: Middle at 10. The midrange slider on the Mesa Boogie Mark II set to maximum, alongside the graphic EQ boosting the 750Hz and 2200Hz bands strongly. The “Touch and Go” solo tone is an exercise in midrange emphasis — precisely the opposite of the scooped-mid approach common in heavy metal, producing a horn-like vocal quality that suits the song’s emotional content.
Rickenbacker 12-String — Panorama
“On ‘Touch and Go’ and a B-side called ‘Don’t Go to Pieces’ there’s a lot of Rickenbacker 12-string.” The Rickenbacker 12-string’s distinctive jangle — with its reversed string order and close-interval chord voicings — adds the ringing, chiming character that suits The Cars’ new wave aesthetic: modern and electronic on the surface, with an undertow of classic British Invasion guitar sound from the Beatles and Byrds tradition.
Pink Paisley Fender Telecaster — The Heartbeat City Tour
Documented by Easton himself on social media: “#TBT 1984 Heartbeat City Tour. Pink paisley Telecaster. Blue taffeta Antony Price suit. #ElliotEaston #TheCars Wahoo!” The pink paisley Telecaster is one of Fender’s most visually distinctive production finishes — the fabric-transfer paisley pattern applied to the body that was introduced in the late 1960s and reissued in limited quantities since. Its appearance on the Heartbeat City tour reflects both Easton’s vintage Telecaster affection and the era’s willingness to embrace visual extravagance.
Gibson Flying V (1958 Reissue) — US Festival 1982
At the US Festival in 1982 — a landmark outdoor rock festival held in San Bernardino, California — Easton played a Gibson 1958 Flying V reissue during the performance of “Good Times Roll.” The Flying V’s angular shape and strong visual impact suited the festival’s scale; its specific use for “Good Times Roll” was documented in performance footage.
Gretsch Elliot Easton “Tiki-Bird” Signature — The 2005 Endorsement
In 2005, Gretsch launched the Elliot Easton Signature guitar — a distinctive instrument nicknamed the “Tiki-Bird” for its combination of Gretsch aesthetic and Easton’s personal interest in Tiki culture. Key specifications:
- 1950s-style narrow headstock with Sperzel locking tuners and small vintage-style keys
- Graphite nut for improved tuning stability
- 25-inch scale length — half an inch longer than the standard Duo Jet’s 24.5 inches, giving slightly more string tension and a brighter, tighter response
- Special Gretsch Tone Switch with a new sound position for a distinctive mid-range lead voice — three-way switching with the new middle position providing a specific voicing not available from either pickup alone
- Master volume control maintaining consistent tonality at all levels — Easton specifically noted this as a design requirement so he wouldn’t lose the highs when turning down
The Gretsch relationship acknowledged Easton’s longstanding appreciation for Gretsch’s specific tonal character — the Filter’Tron pickups and semi-hollow construction producing a complex, chimey response that sits between a fully hollow archtop and a solid body.
Gibson “Tikibird” Firebird — 2013 Gibson Collaboration
In 2013, Gibson launched the Elliot Easton “Tikibird” Firebird — a modified version of their Firebird model built to Easton’s specifications by Gibson’s Custom Shop, with Gibson’s Tim Shaw involved in the construction. The Firebird’s neck-through construction, banjo-style tuners, and reverse body design produce a very different character from the standard Les Paul or ES-335; its warm, slightly compressed midrange with strong sustain suited the specific melodic lead playing Easton developed through the Cars period. (A note on the Gibson collaboration: Gibson apparently misspelled his name as “Elliot” rather than “Elliot” — which is either an irony or a consistency issue depending on spelling conventions.)
The 1964 Left-Handed Burgundy Mist Stratocaster — The Greatest Find
The centerpiece of Easton’s vintage collection: a 1964 left-handed Fender Stratocaster in Burgundy Mist finish, purchased for $2,800 from a vintage dealer when The Cars first started making money. Current estimated value: six figures. This guitar — part of a Guitar World centrefold feature on his collection — represents the specific challenge and specific reward of being a left-handed collector in a right-handed market: rare instruments were sometimes available at prices that reflected their limited audience, producing the kind of discovery that later generations of collectors can only regret missing.
Complete Guitar List
- Gibson SG Special — Pre-Cars early career; sold to fund Les Paul
- Gibson Les Paul Standard (Tobacco Sunburst refinished red/black) — The Cars debut; DiMarzio Super Distortions
- Fender Telecaster (1977, Bartolini Firebird mini-humbucker neck) — Candy-O and early Heartbeat City era
- Martin D-35 acoustic — Confirmed as part of his early setup
- Dean ML — Used from Candy-O sessions onward; “a really good guitar”
- 1961 Fender Stratocaster (left-handed) — “Dangerous Type,” “It’s All I Can Do,” and possibly Panorama
- Fender Lead I — “Touch and Go” solo through Mesa Boogie Mark II; developed with Fender
- Fender Lead II — Panorama era; Easton confirmed Fender made him models of both
- 1965 Fender Jazzmaster (left-handed) — Documented in Easton’s collection
- Rickenbacker 12-string — Panorama era; “Touch and Go” and B-sides
- Pink Paisley Fender Telecaster — Heartbeat City Tour 1984; confirmed by Easton on social media
- Gibson Flying V (1958 Reissue) — US Festival 1982; “Good Times Roll”
- Gretsch Elliot Easton Signature “Tiki-Bird” — 2005 endorsement; 25″ scale; distinctive Tone Switch
- Gibson Elliot Easton “Tikibird” Firebird (Custom Shop) — 2013; Tim Shaw build; neck-through; reverse body
- 1964 Fender Stratocaster (left-handed, Burgundy Mist) — Greatest find; bought for $2,800, now worth six figures
- Various left-handed vintage Stratocasters and Telecasters — Collected across decades; the rare left-handed specimens that his market position allowed him to find
- Ben Orr’s Precision Bass (flipped) — Not his own instrument: used upside-down for the “Touch and Go” first solo attempt (see below)
- Paoletti and other boutique instruments — Used in later career sessions
Amps & Cabinets: Ampegs, Fenders, and the Mesa Boogie That Made History
Ampeg VT-22, V2, V4 — The Cars Debut Sound
Easton’s earliest significant amplifiers in the Cars context were Ampeg solid-state combo amps: the VT-22, V2, and V4. The Ampeg V-series of the 1970s used a solid-state power section with a tube preamp in certain models, producing a specific character different from the all-tube alternatives. As Easton described to Vintage Guitar: “He plugged the Les Paul and Tele into a Fender Twin and one of three Ampegs – a VT-22, V2, and V4.”
The Fender Twin Reverb alongside the Ampegs gave him two contrasting tonal references: the Fender’s clean headroom and spring reverb against the Ampeg’s warmer, slightly compressed character. Running both or switching between them gave him a wider tonal range than either alone could provide.
His earliest amp in the pre-Cars days was an Ampeg VT-40: “I was using an Ampeg VT-40 that I got a deal on.” The VT-40 is a solid-state Ampeg combo from the 1970s; acquiring it “at a deal” reflects the budget constraints of his early career — getting the best available amplifier for the money, regardless of whether it was the most prestigious option.
Mesa Boogie Mark II — The “Touch and Go” Amp
For the Panorama sessions and specifically for the “Touch and Go” solo, Easton used a 1979 Mesa Boogie Mark II — the second generation of Mesa Boogie’s flagship amplifier, which had already established itself as the go-to studio amp for players who needed tonal precision and flexibility beyond what conventional Marshall or Fender circuits offered.
The Mark II’s graphic EQ was essential to the “Touch and Go” solo tone — as Guitar World documented, the 750Hz slider at +11dB was the primary tonal ingredient that gave the solo its vocal, horn-like quality. The midrange emphasis — the Lead Drive at 9, the Middle at 10 on the amp, plus the graphic EQ boosting 750Hz strongly — is the defining characteristic of the “Touch and Go” guitar tone.
He confirmed his approach: “The guitar was full up with the Lead I humbucker in series and the Boogie set on stun.” “Set on stun” is vivid but accurate — the Lead Drive at 9 with the gain boost pulled is an extremely saturated setting for a Mark II, producing maximum sustain and compression.
Marshall JCM800 — Heartbeat City Era
Easton described his setup for the Heartbeat City period in a MusicPlayers interview: “I’ve been playing through a Marshall JCM 800 half-stack, plugged into the low-sensitivity input and with the tone set up to be big, fat, clean and twangy.” The “low-sensitivity input” is the -6dB input on the JCM800 (as opposed to the high-sensitivity input), which gives cleaner headroom and a slightly different breakup character — suited to his preference for “big, fat, clean and twangy” rather than heavy gain saturation.
The Move Like This Sessions — Small Amps and Vintage Tone
For the recording of Move Like This (2011), Easton described an extensive amps situation in a Guitar World interview: “We used a lot of smaller amps this time, interestingly. I used a Deluxe Reverb, a Princeton and a hand-wired Vox AC15, a white one with the TV front and the Pentode/Triode switch. It’s a great-sounding amp.”
At Paul Orofino’s Millbrook Sound Studios: “He had everything – a collection of just about every small Fender, Ampeg or Vox amp you could ever want to play through, plus heads and cabinets. It’s funny, though, because with all the vintage stuff that he had, we ended up mainly using the Fender Blues Jr. It’s like a tiny version of a Hot Rod Deluxe. Just a stock Blues Jr.? Yeah. For some reason, the Blues Jr. sounded amazing and we used that a lot, especially for the clean stuff. I also used a vintage Fender Vibrolux and an Ampeg Gemini.”
He also brought personally: “I also brought a reissue Princeton Reverb, a reissue Deluxe Reverb, and my Peavey Penta — that’s a wild amp.”
The Peavey Penta (actually “Penta-X” or related) is an unusual choice that reflects his openness to non-obvious equipment when the sound is right. The comment “that’s a wild amp” coming from someone surrounded by vintage Fenders and Vox gear suggests the Peavey offered a specific character he found interesting.
| Amp | Era / Context | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ampeg VT-40 | Pre-Cars (earliest) | “Got a deal on” — budget-limited early career choice |
| Ampeg VT-22, V2, V4 + Fender Twin Reverb | Cars debut / early period | Three Ampegs plus Fender Twin for tonal range; debut album sound |
| 1979 Mesa Boogie Mark II → Marshall 1960A 4×12 (Celestion G12M) | Panorama / “Touch and Go” (1980) | The documented “Touch and Go” amp setup; Middle at 10, graphic EQ boosted at 750Hz +11dB; “set on stun” |
| Marshall JCM800 (low-sensitivity input) | Heartbeat City era (1984) | “Big, fat, clean and twangy”; low input for more headroom; JCM800 half-stack |
| Marshall JCM2000 TSL | Post-reunion era | Confirmed in MusicPlayers documentation |
| Fender Blues Junior | Move Like This (2011) — primary studio clean | “For some reason, the Blues Jr. sounded amazing and we used that a lot, especially for the clean stuff” |
| Fender Deluxe Reverb, Princeton, Vibrolux; Vox AC15 hand-wired, AC30; Ampeg Gemini | Move Like This sessions | All used at Millbrook Sound Studios; classic vintage American and British character |
| Peavey Penta | Move Like This sessions | “That’s a wild amp” — unusual choice among the vintage alternatives; specifically mentioned as notable |
| Line 6 Spider IV 75 | Demonstration / clinic | Used to demonstrate signature tones at Line 6 promotional event; his solos from “Best Friend’s Girl,” “Just What I Needed,” “Touch and Go,” and others |
Pedals & Signal Chain: Minimal and Purposeful
Easton’s effects philosophy mirrors his playing philosophy: purposeful over excessive. As he told Guitar World: “All gear is just tools to get what’s inside your head out.” The corollary is that you don’t need tools you’re not going to use.
Core Effects Used Across The Cars Era
- Boss CE-1 Chorus — “The first Boss Chorus” as Easton described it; used on The Cars debut; analog bucket-brigade chorus that adds shimmer without the “sloshing” quality of later Boss units. The CE-1 is now considered one of the finest Boss chorus circuits ever produced.
- Moorley Echo Volume EVO-1 — “Like a magnetic disk that made echo delay”; the Morley EVO-1 is a vintage echo/delay/volume pedal that combines a rotating magnetic disk echo (a mechanical delay system) with volume control. His use of it on the debut is one of the more unusual effects units documented in any new wave guitarist’s rig of the period.
- Boss Chorus (various) — The chorus character was consistent across Cars records; the specific chorus unit evolved but the effect remained present
- Delay (various) — Present in various forms across the catalog; the spatial character of Cars guitar lines often includes subtle delay
The “Touch and Go” Story — When the Perfect Solo Was Rejected
The most revealing gear story in Easton’s documented career involves the “Touch and Go” solo and the instrument it was almost played on. He described it to Guitar World:
“I wrote a solo that was a really crafted, jazz/bop, Steely Dan-style thing where I played through the chord changes. I was really excited to record that solo, and the first time I recorded it, I played it perfect. I was elated, but when I looked around at everyone else, it was crickets.”
“They asked me to try a different approach and suggested that I play a slow solo on a six-string bass with tremolo. I’m a lefty and didn’t have a six-string bass, so I took one of Ben Orr’s Precision Basses, flipped it upside down and plugged it into a Fender Twin Reverb with tremolo and reverb.”
The bass solo — flipped upside down, through a Fender Twin’s tremolo and reverb — produced the moody, tremolo-soaked passage that appears in “Touch and Go.” It’s not a guitar. It’s a Precision Bass, left-handed, played right-handed upside-down through a combo amp’s tremolo circuit.
“But they said it wasn’t quite right either, and that I should try the guitar with a similar approach. So then I got the Fender Lead I and played that through the Mesa Boogie, and that became the famous solo.”
The perfect jazz/bop solo, rejected. The upside-down bass, rejected. The Fender Lead I through the Mesa Boogie, accepted.
Tone note: He played the perfect version of his composed jazz solo in one take. The band’s response was silence. He then played an upside-down left-handed bass flipped right-handed through a Fender Twin’s tremolo. That was also rejected. Then he got the Fender Lead I and the Mesa Boogie and recorded what you hear on the record. Creative process in its actual form.
Strings, Picks & Setup
Strings: D’Addario XL120 .009–.042 gauge — confirmed as his strings for the “Touch and Go” era in the Guitar World tone breakdown. Light gauge strings on a left-handed guitar for comfortable bending and fast melodic playing.
Picks: Fender 358 Shape small teardrop celluloid Medium — confirmed in the Guitar World “Touch and Go” breakdown. The small teardrop shape is one of Fender’s classic pick designs; celluloid material produces a warmer, slightly mellower attack than nylon or Tortex picks. The medium gauge provides flexibility for melodic playing without sacrificing control on fast lines.
Guitar setup notes:
- All guitars are left-handed configuration — strung for left-handed playing in conventional left-handed setup
- DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge pickup in the original Les Paul — his first hot-rod pickup choice before moving to vintage-voiced alternatives
- Bartolini Firebird mini-humbucker neck pickup in the 1977 Telecaster — warmer, more compressed than stock Tele neck single coil
- Fender Lead I’s Seth Lover single humbucker — the specific pickup confirmed for the “Touch and Go” solo
- Gretsch signature: 25″ scale, Sperzel locking tuners, graphite nut — modern stability specs applied to vintage aesthetic
Tone note: Fender 358 teardrop celluloid medium pick. D’Addario .009s. The pick choice and string gauge both point toward the same goal: light, responsive, melodically agile. Not aggressive. Not heavy. Just exactly what the music requires.
Tunings & Tone Philosophy
Standard E tuning throughout The Cars’ catalog and Easton’s subsequent career. The Cars’ music is built on the harmonic language of standard tuning applied to the specific interval choices of new wave pop — no exotic tuning required, just intelligent use of the standard guitar’s capabilities.
His tone philosophy, stated most directly: “All gear is just tools to get what’s inside your head out. And the guitar is like a paintbrush, so that’s where it’s at.” He has also noted that his priorities diverge from many serious players: “I can certainly say the passion I have for guitars is not the same for amps. I love great amps, but I don’t know what ‘rectifier’ or ‘tube’ is in that one or this one. I’m not an amp geek in that way.”
This is a revealing self-assessment: a guitarist who cares deeply about the specific instruments he plays (the left-handed vintage Strats and Teles and their specific individual qualities), but who approaches amplifiers more pragmatically — finding what works for the specific recording or performance context rather than pursuing amp knowledge as an end in itself. The Mesa Boogie Mark II for “Touch and Go” was the right tool for that specific job; the Blues Junior was unexpectedly the right tool for Move Like This. The tool serves the music.
His philosophy of visualising the sound: “Hear your voice, hear your sound, and you’ll go to the right amp, guitar and effects. I found that if I could visualize the sound in my mind I would automatically go for the right gear.” This is the mature musician’s approach to gear selection — the sound exists in the imagination before it exists in the equipment, and the equipment’s role is to realise what’s already conceived.
Tone note: “If I could visualize the sound in my mind I would automatically go for the right gear.” That’s the most sophisticated gear philosophy in this entire series. Every instrument is a tool; the music is the goal; the tools that serve the goal are the right ones.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy: The Short Solo as Complete Artistic Statement
Elliot Easton is the best argument available for the value of conciseness in guitar soloing. His solos on Cars records are short — rarely longer than eight or twelve bars, sometimes as few as four — and they are complete. Every one has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Every one says something specific rather than demonstrating something impressive. Every one fits the song like a key fits a lock.
The Compositional Approach
Easton’s solos are composed rather than improvised — the “Touch and Go” story confirms this explicitly. He described spending three weeks perfecting the jazz/bop solo he’d written for the song, playing it perfectly on the first take of the actual recording. That’s not improvisation; that’s composition played from memory. The rejection of that solo and the eventual acceptance of the Fender Lead I/Mesa Boogie version doesn’t negate the compositional approach — it demonstrates that composition can be revised, and that the revision process involves emotional and contextual judgment as much as technical skill.
The final “Touch and Go” solo sounds spontaneous. It isn’t. It is the result of multiple approaches, multiple instruments, and a decision-making process about what the song actually required rather than what the guitarist had already perfected.
Tone note: He played a perfect version of a three-weeks-composed jazz solo. The band responded with silence. He learned something about the difference between “perfect” and “right.” The distinction defines his approach to everything that followed.
The Melodic Intelligence
The formal musical education that Easton received through his Juilliard-trained mother manifests in his playing as harmonic awareness — he hears the chord progression and responds to it, phrase by phrase, making melodic choices that are specifically related to the underlying harmony rather than superimposed over it from a fixed scale pattern. This is jazz guitar’s core skill applied to pop music context, producing the sense of inevitability in his solos that distinguishes them from more arbitrary note choices.
Slash has cited Easton as an influence, specifically praising his “concise and melodic solos.” The word “concise” is the operative one: Slash, who is not himself a player of excessive solos, recognises conciseness as a quality that requires skill rather than indicating its absence.
The Left-Handed Dimension
Easton’s left-handedness has been a significant practical factor in his gear story — the scarcity of left-handed vintage instruments created both challenges (far fewer options at every price point) and opportunities (the few left-handed instruments available were sometimes underpriced relative to their right-handed equivalents). His 1964 left-handed Burgundy Mist Stratocaster at $2,800 is the clearest example: a right-handed equivalent at the same time would have cost significantly more.
He has described the current market differently: “Today’s players have never had it better” for equipment availability, even as the vintage market has become inaccessible at most prices. The democratisation of quality guitar equipment — including left-handed versions of standard models — has eliminated the scarcity disadvantage that left-handed players faced through most of Easton’s active career.
How to Sound Like Elliot Easton: Building The Cars Guitar Tone
Easton’s tone is one of the most accessible and most rewarding in this series to approximate — because his philosophy makes gear secondary to the ear’s conception of the sound. But the specific ingredients of his most celebrated moments are well-documented.
The Guitar
For the debut and Candy-O era: Les Paul Standard with DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge, or Telecaster with Bartolini mini-humbucker neck. For “Touch and Go”: Fender Lead I or any single-humbucker guitar with medium-to-high output and clarity. For more recent work: Gretsch or Firebird character for the vintage warmth.
- Gibson Les Paul Standard — Core of the early Cars sound; with DiMarzio Super Distortion if matching the debut specifically
- Fender Telecaster — For the twangy, single-coil dimension of his tone
- Fender Lead I (vintage) or equivalent single-humbucker guitar — For the “Touch and Go” character specifically
- Gretsch Elliot Easton Signature or any Gretsch Duo Jet — For later-era warmth and complexity
The Amp — Two Key Setups
| Control | Early Cars (Fender Twin / Ampeg) | “Touch and Go” (Mesa Boogie Mark II) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume / Lead Drive | Clean (Fender Twin headroom) | Lead Drive: 9 (maximum gain) | Clean platform for debut; maximum gain for “Touch and Go” sustained solo tone |
| Treble | 6–7 | 5 (+ Pull Shift engaged) | Moderate treble; the midrange does the work, not the treble |
| Middle | 6 | 10 (maximum) | The “Touch and Go” tone is all midrange; middle at maximum is the key setting |
| Bass | 5 | 3 (low) | The midrange emphasis requires low bass to avoid mud |
| Reverb (Fender) | Moderate spring | N/A (Marshall cab, no reverb) | The Ampeg/Fender clean setup includes spring reverb; the Mesa “Touch and Go” setup is dry |
| Graphic EQ (Mesa) | N/A | 750Hz: +11dB, 2200Hz: +9dB, 6600Hz: +8dB | The graphic EQ boosting the upper midrange is the specific ingredient of the “Touch and Go” tone |
Tone note: Middle at 10 and graphic EQ boosting 750Hz by +11dB. That’s the most counterintuitively specific amp setting in this series, and it’s documented in Easton’s own descriptions of the session. The midrange emphasis is the “Touch and Go” solo. Without it you have a different sound entirely.
Budget vs Pro Rigs
Budget — Early Cars tone:
- Guitar: Epiphone Les Paul Standard with DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge swap; or Squier Telecaster
- Amp: Fender Blues Junior (as Easton himself used on Move Like This) — “sounded amazing”
- Effects: Boss CE-2 or CE-2W Waza Craft chorus
- Strings: D’Addario XL120 .009–.042
- Picks: Fender 358 teardrop celluloid medium
Pro — “Touch and Go” era:
- Guitar: Fender Lead I (vintage) or any single-humbucker guitar with the Seymour Duncan Nazgul or similar ceramic-magnet humbucker
- Amp: Mesa Boogie Mark II head → Marshall 1960A 4×12 (Celestion G12M speakers); Middle at 10, graphic EQ at specific settings documented above
- Strings: D’Addario .009–.042
- Picks: Fender 358 teardrop medium
Tone note: The most authentic and cheapest path to Easton’s sound is a Les Paul through a Fender Blues Junior with the Boss CE-1 chorus — because that’s literally what he used on Move Like This for the clean material. The best amp in the room is sometimes a Blues Junior.
The Technique
Compose your solos. Don’t improvise and hope something memorable happens — build the solo deliberately, phrase by phrase, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Know what the harmony is doing and respond to it. Make every note mean something. When you’ve written the solo, practice it until you can play it from muscle memory at performance tempo. Then trust it.
And: make the solo short. The discipline of saying exactly what needs to be said and stopping is harder than it sounds and more musically effective than it looks. Easton’s solos are remembered decades later partly because of what they don’t include.
Influence & Legacy: The New Wave Guitar Hero Slash Studied
Elliot Easton’s influence on rock guitar is one of the more quietly significant in this series — working through the medium of extremely well-crafted pop radio hits rather than through technical demonstrations or genre-defining heaviness.
Slash’s citation of Easton as an influence (specifically for his “concise and melodic solos”) is the most prominent acknowledgment of his guitar-community status from another major player. The specific quality Slash identifies — conciseness — is the quality most often overlooked in assessments of virtuosity, which tend to reward length and complexity rather than economy and precision. Easton’s solos demonstrate that the two-measure guitar break that you remember thirty years later is more impressive than the two-minute solo you forget during the song.
His specific contribution to the New Wave era was establishing that the pop guitar solo could be a genuinely compositional element — not a genre concession or a commercial compromise, but a melodically complete musical statement that existed in the same artistic universe as the rest of the song. The “Just What I Needed” solo, the “My Best Friend’s Girl” solo, the “Touch and Go” solo — these are small masterpieces of economy, each saying exactly what the song required and nothing else.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2018 formally acknowledged what the guitar community had known for decades: The Cars were genuinely excellent, and Easton’s guitar was a large part of why. The induction came after the death of both Benjamin Orr (2000) and before the death of Ric Ocasek (2019), making it a complicated celebration for all involved. But the recognition was real and deserved.
His post-Cars work — Creedence Clearwater Revisited (1995–2004), the New Cars, the Empty Hearts, The Immediate Family, session work — has maintained a professional career without the commercial platform The Cars provided. He describes himself as motivated by the love of playing: “All I ever wanted since I was the smallest of kids was to be in a great band that mattered — and that you could tell on the radio after a couple of notes that it was them. I got to realize my childhood dreams.”
Tone note: “You could tell on the radio after a couple of notes that it was them.” That’s the goal every band attempts and almost none achieve. Easton’s guitar was one of the reasons you could tell it was The Cars within two notes. The specific tonal identity — the brief, melodically complete solos, the specific character of each guitar choice — was part of what made them immediately recognisable.
In a recording studio somewhere, a left-handed guitarist with a 1964 Burgundy Mist Stratocaster — purchased for $2,800, now worth six figures — is visualising the sound in his mind before selecting the gear to produce it.
“If I could visualize the sound in my mind I would automatically go for the right gear.”
He knows this because he once played a perfect version of a perfectly composed jazz solo and the room went silent, and then played an upside-down left-handed bass through a Fender Twin’s tremolo circuit, and then played a Fender Lead I through a Mesa Boogie Mark II with the middle at 10 and the graphic EQ boosting 750Hz by eleven decibels, and that last one was “Touch and Go.”
The equipment serves the idea. The idea comes first.
In the guitar playing of Elliot Easton, the idea always came first. You can tell.
If Easton’s approach to the guitar solo as a brief, compositionally complete melodic statement connects with you — the idea that the best solos say what they need to say and stop — check out our complete guide to Peter Green’s guitars and gear, whose approach to melody-first, economy-always guitar playing produced some of the most enduring blues guitar recordings in history through remarkably similar principles.
And for the player who cited Easton as an influence and whose own melodic approach to rock lead playing reflects what he absorbed, don’t miss our complete breakdown of Slash’s tone and gear guide.
FAQ: Elliot Easton Guitars & Gear
- What guitar did Elliot Easton use on The Cars debut album?
- A Gibson Les Paul Standard that he had refinished from Tobacco Sunburst to red with a black back, fitted with DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups in the bridge position. He also used a 1977 Fender Telecaster with the neck pickup changed to a Hi-A Bartolini Firebird mini-humbucker. Both guitars were run through a Fender Twin Reverb and one of three Ampeg amplifiers (VT-22, V2, and V4). Effects on the debut were minimal: a Boss CE-1 chorus and a Moorley Echo Volume EVO-1 delay.
- What guitar and amp did Elliot Easton use on the “Touch and Go” solo?
- A Fender Lead I (featuring a single Seth Lover-designed humbucker), plugged into a 1979 Mesa Boogie Mark II head through a Marshall 1960A 4×12 cabinet loaded with Celestion G12M speakers. The documented amp settings: Volume 1: 8, Treble: 5/Pull Shift, Bass: 3, Middle: 10, Master 1: Pull Gain Boost, Lead Drive: 9/Pull Lead, Lead Master: 7/Pull Bright, Presence: 5. The Graphic EQ boosted 750Hz at +11dB, 2200Hz at +9dB, and 6600Hz at +8dB. Easton described the approach as “the guitar full up and the Boogie set on stun.”
- What is the story behind the “Touch and Go” solo?
- Easton spent three weeks composing a jazz/bop-style solo that tracked the chord changes in a Steely Dan-influenced manner. He recorded it perfectly on the first take. The band’s response was silence. They asked him to try something different — a slow solo on a six-string bass with tremolo. Being left-handed without a six-string bass, he flipped Ben Orr’s Precision Bass upside-down and plugged it into a Fender Twin Reverb with tremolo and reverb. That version was also rejected. He then picked up the Fender Lead I, plugged into the Mesa Boogie Mark II, and recorded the solo that appears on the record.
- What is Elliot Easton’s most notable vintage guitar find?
- A 1964 left-handed Fender Stratocaster in Burgundy Mist finish, purchased for $2,800 from a vintage dealer when The Cars first started making money. He estimated its current value at six figures. As a left-handed player, he noted that left-handed vintage instruments were sometimes more affordable than their right-handed equivalents due to limited demand — allowing him to acquire pieces that would have cost significantly more in right-handed configuration. This guitar was featured in a Guitar World centrefold.
- What signature guitars does Elliot Easton have?
- Two major signature models: the Gretsch Elliot Easton Signature “Tiki-Bird” (introduced 2005), featuring a 1950s-style narrow headstock, 25-inch scale (half-inch longer than the standard Duo Jet), graphite nut, Sperzel locking tuners, and a distinctive three-position Tone Switch with a new mid-range voice setting, plus a master volume that maintains consistent tonality at all volumes. The Gibson Elliot Easton “Tikibird” Firebird (introduced 2013), a Custom Shop-built modified Firebird with neck-through construction, built by Gibson’s Tim Shaw.
- Has Elliot Easton influenced other guitarists?
- Yes — most notably, Slash (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) has cited Easton as one of his musical influences, specifically praising his “concise and melodic solos.” This recognition from a player known for his own melodic sensibility confirms the quality of Easton’s compositional approach to guitar solos. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 as a member of The Cars.
- How do I get Elliot Easton’s guitar tone?
- For the debut Cars sound: Gibson Les Paul Standard with DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge pickup, through Fender Twin Reverb or Ampeg combo, with Boss CE-1 chorus for shimmer. For the “Touch and Go” tone specifically: any single-humbucker guitar (Fender Lead I authentic, or Seymour Duncan Nazgul equivalent) through a Mesa Boogie Mark II or similar amp with the middle control at maximum and the graphic EQ boosting 750Hz strongly (approximately +10-12dB), into a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. For clean material: Easton himself used a stock Fender Blues Junior on the Move Like This sessions. D’Addario XL120 .009–.042 strings and Fender 358 small teardrop celluloid medium picks.
