Mark Arm Guitars & Gear: Mudhoney’s Gretsch Duo Jet, Super Fuzz and Fender Super Six Rig

Mark Arm is Mudhoney’s singer first, and he also plays guitar alongside Steve Turner. That makes his gear story short and unusually specific. He has a favourite Gretsch, a big Fender combo he does not have to think about, a handful of fuzzes and a string gauge he changed after reading about another guitarist. The rest of what people call the Mudhoney guitar sound is largely Turner’s rig, and we keep the two apart here. This guide sets out what Premier Guitar, Vintage Guitar, Guitar Player and a few interviews say about Mark Arm’s guitars and gear, who said it, and where the accounts do not line up.

What Is Documented and What Is Not

The best single source is Premier Guitar’s rig rundown with both guitarists, by Chris Kies, dated December 20, 2023. Arm goes through his own guitars, amp, pedals and strings in it. An earlier Premier Guitar feature by Shawn Hammond (November 1, 2018) adds pedal and string detail, but its gear sidebars do not name a player, so we use them only where the text itself ties an item to Arm. Vintage Guitar’s September 2023 profile of Turner by Dennis Pernu and a 1992 Guitar Player interview with Turner by James Rotondi cover the other half of the band. A 1999 University of Washington Daily interview with Arm and the notes for a Life of the Record episode transcript on the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP (the page is undated) fill in the early years.

Gaps are real. Arm gives no amp details for the early records in anything we read, and we found no maker-confirmed spec sheet for his Gretsch guitars, because the Gretsch product pages did not open for us. Where a point rests on one article, we say so. Everything below is an account of what was reported as of December 2023 unless a date says otherwise.

The Rig: Mark Arm’s Guitars, Amps and Effects

Guitars

Amps

Effects

Strings, Picks and Tuning

In the 2023 rundown Arm uses Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings, gauge .009 to .042. He says he moved down from Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom (.010 to .052) after reading about Tony Iommi’s light-string playing. The 2018 feature lists Ernie Ball .010 to .052 sets in its sidebars, but the sidebars do not name a player, so we do not tie that gauge to Arm. Both sidebars list Jim Dunlop .73 mm Tortex picks.

Tuning is simple. On the early recordings Arm says he played in standard tuning. In the 2023 rundown Turner says his Guild Starfire IV and Jazzmaster are in standard tuning too, and that the Hagstrom III is the exception, set to open A for slide. If you want background on alternate tunings in general, our alternate tunings guide covers the common ones, though it does not include open A.

The Two-Guitar Sound: Who Plays What

Mudhoney is a two-guitar band with a singer who plays, and the sources describe a clear division. In the Life of the Record notes, Arm says Turner was given a Super Fuzz in the Green River days and that he, Arm, played Turner’s Super Fuzz on the early recordings. He says he only played with the Super Fuzz on, and that it eventually broke down on tour. Turner’s own account in the notes is that he played the Big Muff. Vintage Guitar adds that Turner already owned a Super Fuzz before he bought the Big Muff. These are three accounts of one story, and they do not contradict each other.

The band’s debut EP, Superfuzz Bigmuff, is named for those two pedals, according to Turner in the 2018 feature. Our Big Muff Pi guide covers the pedal Turner plays, and the Nano Big Muff Pi guide covers the small version Turner names as his favourite. In the Hammond feature he says he likes the Nano, which he calls the cheapest one EHX makes. Vintage Guitar says he bought his first Big Muff new in Seattle in about 1984 for $25, and that its remains are in the Museum of Pop Culture, as of that September 2023 article. The 2018 feature gives a slightly different detail, a 1984 unit bought on closeout. Both put the pedal in 1984.

Steve Turner’s rig, in brief

We include Turner’s gear because it is half of the sound, and because it is easy to attribute to the wrong player. All of the following is reported as Turner’s, as of the 2023 sources.

Guitars: Two Guild Starfire IV semi-hollows, a 1967 and a 1968, the newer one being the one he says he uses (2023 rundown). Vintage Guitar says the Starfire has been his main guitar since about 2001 or 2002, and that he bought a second because he breaks strings often on stage. He also has a Fender Gold Foil Jazzmaster, used for vibrato on a couple of songs on the newest record, per Vintage Guitar. His first good guitar was a Fender Mustang, which he says he bought in 1984 for $200. In 1992 he told Guitar Player that Mustangs were his main guitars.

Amps: A Fender Hot Rod DeVille is his live amp: a 4×10 combo in the rundown and, per Vintage Guitar, a 2×12 version on tour and a Deluxe Reverb in the studio. He keeps a 1965 Super Reverb that he has not used for about a decade. In 1992 he described an older Super Reverb, an Ampeg Portaflex and an Excelsior amp bought from an accordion shop.

Pedals: An MXR Micro Amp, a Vox V847A wah, an EHX Little Big Muff Pi, a Strymon Flint, an MXR Phase 90 and an Ibanez TS9DX Turbo Tube Screamer that Turner says Stone Gossard gave him, listed in the rundown. Our Stone Gossard guide covers his side of the Green River connection. In the 2018 feature Turner calls Death by Audio’s Fuzz War a pretty amazing pedal from a few years back, and our Fuzz War guide describes it. For the wah, Turner says in the rundown that he puts it early in the chain and wants it twice as loud as everything else, as on a Stooges record. Our Ron Asheton guitars and gear guide covers that reference.

Where the Sources Disagree

Whose Hagstrom? The 2018 feature’s gear sidebars list a 1960s Hagstrom III with a Filter’Tron neck pickup tuned to open A for slide, without naming a player, and it can be read as Arm’s. The 2023 rundown puts the Hagstrom III in Turner’s hands. The 1992 Guitar Player piece and Arm’s own account in the Life of the Record notes show that both players have owned Hagstroms. We think the safest reading is that the band shares the brand and that the open-A guitar is Turner’s as of 2023, but we cannot rule out that the earlier piece described a different guitar.

Which Gretsch? The 1999 interview names no model for the silver guitar. The 2023 rundown names a Duo Jet and a Silver Jet. Whether the guitar from 1999 is the 2023 Silver Jet is not stated anywhere we read.

Where did the first Super Fuzz come from? Arm’s account in the Life of the Record notes is that Turner was given it, which matches Vintage Guitar’s statement that Turner owned one first. We saw no source that gives the pedal’s model or serial details.

Playing Style and Tone: Fuzz Plus a Loud Clean Amp

In our view, the sources describe an approach that is plain: a big Fender combo, a fuzz or two, and a guitar chosen for weight and resonance. Arm says in the 2018 feature that his setup is minimal, and the 2023 rundown shows the same thing at small scale: a Gretsch he prefers, a few fuzzes and an octave box, and an amp he does not worry about. That is an observation about what was shown, not a claim about every show.

In the Life of the Record notes, Arm also says that “Mudride” needs an amp for its notes to sustain. It fits the pattern: the amp is part of the instrument.

How to Get Close to the Sound

None of these steps is endorsed by Arm. They follow from what the sources above report, and they are our own view.

• Start with the amp. In our view, a loud Fender combo matters more than any one pedal. Arm’s is a Super Six Reverb; Turner says a stock Hot Rod DeVille is the closest match he has found to his 1965 Super Reverb.
• Add a Super Fuzz type before a Muff. Arm’s own pedal is a Stromer Mutroniks Superfuzz and, in the early years, Turner’s original. He also uses an Ibanez FZ5 in a metal enclosure.
• Use lighter strings. Arm’s 2023 rundown gauge is .009 to .042, and Turner uses .010 to .048.

Frequently Asked Questions