Next time you're shopping for guitar gear and accessories, consider some of Keith Urban's favorites. His tech has some great picks that Keith uses for studio and live performances—from picks, strings, amps, and effects, we'll cover the verified gear that we think you'll enjoy using as well. You can find Keith Urban's favorites at Guitar Center, Sweetwater, and Reverb. Many of the products are new, but you'll have to buy a few products used. Sweetwater sellers keep gear in great used condition, and you can also opt for a demo product to save some money at Sweetwater.
1. Herco HE211P Flex 75 1.01mm Silver Nylon Guitar Picks 12-pack
The Scoop:
Lots of musicians love Dunlop picks, including Gene Simmons, Jimmy Page, and Keith Urban. Lots of Herco pick fans say Simmons, Page, and Urban are exactly why they use them and say they live up to the hype. Equipboard says that Keith likes to hold the Herco pick sideways, as Keith says it grabs the strings more. Practice your technique and grab these picks to sound like Keith.
Key Features:
These professional picks are thick, durable, and long-lasting. They're made of nylon and have a unique pattern that makes them easy to grip. They're 1.01 gauge picks and you'll get 12 total. Take a few to the studio and keep a few at home for practice. Definitely give these a try if you're looking for anti-slip picks that professionals use.
2. D'Addario EXL115 XL Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings - .011-.049 Medium (3-pack)
The Scoop:
Grab some new guitar strings today for under $20. Keith Urban's tech, Chris Miller, says Keith uses these exact strings on his guitars. The nickel wound strings come from D'Addario, one of the most trusted brands in music gear. Gary Clark Jr. and Brandi Carlile are also D'Addario fans.
Key Features:
These XL nickel strings have a long lifespan and give guitarists a bright and versatile tone for many genres. With smooth bends and supreme stability, you won't look elsewhere for strings, you'll fall in love with the snappy attack and smooth sustain. In case you decide to stock up, you don't have to worry about the strings getting yucky. They come in corrosion-resistant packaging. Also, if you're not too excited about changing strings, you'll love that these have color-coded ball ends to make replacing them easy.
3. Wampler Ego Compressor
The Scoop:
Wampler is a favorite from Brad Paisley and many of our favorite artists, including Keith Urban. This pedal allows you to control signal peaks and lengthen sustain. The made-in-the-USA pedal is pretty straightforward—watch Sweetwater's demo video to get a feel for it.
Key Features:
The blend control feature lets you combine the dynamic un-effected signal with the compressed signal, and tone control brings high frequencies that were affected by high compression levels back. A customer gave it a 5-star rating and wrote, "Wampler quality sound and construction. So very easy to dial in as well as being versatile. My all-time favorite guitar Compressor pedal."
4. BOSS CS-2 Compression Sustainer
The Scoop:
This BOSS pedal is a difficult one to find, so consider buying a used pedal from Reverb. Equipboard says this is Keith's pick for fingerpicking since it helps keep the level of the sound to remain in the song when he goes from fingerpicking to strumming. The made-in-Japan compression sustainer is impressive.
Key Features:
This vintage pedal will take your guitar tone to the next level. The pedal utilizes a VCA, improving the attack of the compressor and signal processing. These old-school pedals are worth every penny.
5. Bad Cat Lynx 2-Channel 50-Watt Guitar Amp Head
The Scoop:
The Lynx is a great high-gain amp for guitarists looking for high frequencies that cut without sounding harsh and grainy. This redesigned amp weighs about 31 pounds and has a highly effective, patent-pending noise gate, along with a buffered active effects loop to run all your pedals transparently. And if you love made-in-the-USA products, consider this amp. It was made in Costa Mesa, California.
Key Features:
Specs we love: It's been re-engineered with Lo/HI switch to access a new gain stage topology that's unique. It's also loaded with percussive, heavy, and tight saturation and excellent string-to-string note definition. The distinct channels include channel 1, which is a classic high gain perfect for '80s metal tones. Channel 2 is a modern high gain.
6. Vox AC30HW2 30-watt 2x12" Handwired Tube Combo Amp
The Scoop:
The Vox AC30HW2 amp is the ultimate vintage-inspired pick for guitarists. It's super retro, and to no surprise, this amp is hard to find new these days. Sweetwater has more on the way, so if you can wait a bit, check back when they're in stock. The hand-wired combo guitar amp is a traditional 2-channel design, with both a top boost channel that has a hot/cool switch and a normal channel that has a bright switch. A customer gave it 5 stars and wrote, "I absolutely love this amp, it's phenomenal. I bought the amp with the green backs, then I made a slick speaker cabinet myself and filled it with a set of blue backs." Artists known for using greenback speakers are Jimi Hendrix and Angus Young.
Key Features:
The Celestion G12M Greenback speakers provide a clear tone, and the OP mode switch lets you cut the output power level in half, making this a great amp for practice or recording. The Birch plywood cabinet features solid bracing and a natural high-frequency diffuser, and one button footswitch is included (it controls the top boost channel's hot/cool switch) and a dust cover is also included. You'll want to keep this amp in mint condition.
7. FAMC Liquid Foot Pro MIDI Foot Controller
The Scoop:
This 10-pound MIDI foot controller will be your favorite piece to take on the road. This footswitch is running firmware version 2.30 and includes a power supply and manual.
Key Features:
Features include 252 patches, 100 songs, 20 set lists, and 32 instant access switches. It also has 4 expression pedals (fully programmable range, function, MIDI commands), and the following expression pedal modes: continuous, latch, momentary, and more.
Keith Urban Guitars
Keith Urban's been spotted using plenty of guitars over the course of his career. The country superstar is known for playing his PRS Silver Sky Electric Guitar Tungsten (with a Maple Fingerboard), a Gibson Custom 1957 Les Paul Junior Single Cut Reissue VOS, Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster (with a Maple Fingerboard), and a Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition '64 Stratocaster Journeyman Relic. You can find all of these guitars at Sweetwater by checking out the links below.
- PRS Silver Sky Electric Guitar Tungsten
- Gibson Customer 1957 Les Paul Junior Single Cut Reissue
- Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster
- Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition '64 Stratocaster Journeyman Relic
Keith Urban Tour
Keith Urban's Las Vegas residency is happening now. Buy tickets to the residency through Summer 2023. Don't miss your chance to see Keith Urban live. After the residency wraps up, Keith will be touring New Jersey, Wisconsin, Florida, and a few other places in the U.S. and Canada. Check out the tickets below from TicketClub, TicketMaster, and StubHub.
Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images
