Dean DeLeo - Equipment and Style

Equipment and Style

Dean owns numerous guitars, and he is an avid collector of vintage guitars. Some of his more notable guitars include:

• Three 1978 Les Paul Standards
• 1960's Fender Telecaster
• A Sunburst Telecaster
• A PRS hollowbody electric by PRS Guitars
• A Gibson J-45
• '57 Les Paul Special with P-90's in TV Yellow
• Gibson J-100 XT

Dean's live equipment has been described as "simple yet effective", and allows him to replicate the sounds he gets in studios. He primarily uses a modified Dunlop Cry Baby and a BOSS CE-1 stereo chorus pedal. For a number of years his rig was switched via a Rockman midi pedal, has since been replaced by a RJM Mastermind midi pedal.

His amp set up includes a Demeter TGP-3 three-channel preamp, preamp switching via Rockman Midi Octopus, a Rocktron Intelliverb and a VHT Classic stereo tube power amp that runs 100 watts per side into two Marshall 4x12 cabinets. Part of the signal from the pedalboard is also sent to a Vox AC-30 2x12 combo amp, and DeLeo credits this amp with creating clarity in his crunchy guitar tone. In addition, since part of his rig broke down while he was in Japan, Dean's rig is now doubled, containing two of everything, as a backup in case of problems. Deleo also uses an S.I.B. Varidrive pedal for overdrive and distortion.

Dean's crunchy guitar tone is a main trademark of STP, and has a distinct tone. Not overbearing on distortion, his sound possesses a unique "crunch", and is often seen as spacey. He pays homage to many genres and tones, most noticeably hard rock with elements of "psychedelia, jangle pop, and other forms of melodic alternative guitar."