“I showed it to John Paul Jones. He laughed. And then he played it. He went from giggling to joy”: When Josh Homme introduced a Led Zeppelin legend to his secret-weapon amp

Queens of the Stone Age’s inimitable bandleader, Josh Homme, has historically been tight-lipped about the gear he uses, but that all changed in 2021 when he revealed his “secret weapon” to be the Peavey Decade, a tiny and ultra-affordable combo amp.

The amp, first released in the 1980s – and re-released as a Homme signature model last year – proves that good things can come in small packages, and it’s helped define the band’s sound over the years. But when Homme showed the amp to Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, the legendary bassist couldn’t help but laugh.

The pair had teamed up with Dave Grohl for the short-lived supergroup, Them Crooked Vultures, for one album in 2009. There, Jones quickly learned that looks can be deceiving.

“I have this Yamaha hollowbody bass with flat wounds on it, which I call Lame-aha,” Homme tells Guitar World. “Instead of a pickup switch, it’s a Volume knob, so you’re on the spectrum of which pickup you’re using.

“And I said [to John Paul Jones], ‘Try that with the Decade and a Coles ribbon mic.’ He laughed, and I love that, because the looks are deceiving.”

Homme revealing that his go-to amp for both electric guitar and bass was a Peavey that packed just 10 watts of power was met with disbelief. Surely his secret weapon was something more... well, glamorous. Powerful. Homme feeds off those reactions.

“The first thing after you look at it is you're like, ‘What is this entire piece of shit set up?’” Homme accepts. “And then he played it. And to see him go from giggling about how shitty something looks to joy, it's fun to do that to people. And it's fun to do that to yourself, too.”

Homme's signature Peavey Decade Too was given a host of new features, including Bass, Treble, and Saturation (Overdrive) boosting switches, alongside more output options to cater to modern recording needs. Don’t underestimate it.

Guitar World’s full interview with Josh Homme, exploring his unique approach to gear, will be published online in the near future.

In recent news, Homme explained why he prefers to write on an acoustic, and discussed why getting ‘oompah oompah’ lessons as a child helped him write more off-kilter guitar parts.