Green Day’s Mike Dirnt has just announced that he’s selling a selection of iconic basses and amps – as well as clothes and accessories – used on tour and in the studio via his official Reverb shop.
Among the instruments up for grabs are several basses that were burned on stage during the late ’90s and early 2000s Nimrod and Warning tours. For Green Day fans, this was the era when Tré Cool would famously set fire to his drum set.
“Tré Cool is our resident pyromaniac,” says Dirnt. “There’d be a 20-foot fire going, and my bass and Tré’s kit are burning while Billie’s playing Time of Your Life. It was pretty awesome, actually.”
Other collectibles include two American Idiot-era Fender Mike Dirnt signature Precision basses and one of the first Ampeg SVT-810 cabinets that he purchased with his first Green Day paycheck – also used on the Dookie tour.
There’s a signed Fender bass used on the Nimrod album, an “unintentionally smashed” Gibson Grabber bass, and a Yamaha G100-II amp head from the band’s early days.
The 1962 Fender P-Bass in Fiesta Red, once part of Dirnt’s “studio quiver,” will also be available for purchase, along with several Mesa/Boogie amps and speaker cabinets that have racked up thousands of touring miles.
“They’re just bulletproof, incredible cabinets. I should probably keep one and use it as a coffee table because they’re really cool,” he quips, “but I could also plug stuff into it at the same time.”
Aside from the gear, Dirnt’s official Reverb shop is set to include dozens of pieces of clothing that MTV aficionados will surely recognize from music videos like Wake Me Up When September Ends and Oh Yeah, as well as outfits worn on the 21st Century Breakdown, American Idiot, and ¡UNO! tours.
“I’ve found some amazing guitars and basses over the years,” says Dirnt. “When you’re on tour for a long time, you’re always looking for cool gear. You’re always thinking about what could be on the next record, or what do I need to play tonight, or what can I find that sparks inspiration.
“Every guitar, every bass, every amp has something different. You pick up a guitar and strum it, and you think, there’s songs in this thing and I’m going to extract those songs. Then, once you feel like you’ve gotten the songs or the recording out of it, it’s time to let it go and give it to the next person.”
Dirnt’s official Reverb shop goes live on September 9.
For more information, visit Reverb.
