The guitars Dave Grohl gave to Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett
Dave Grohl has a reputation as a kind soul. You don’t get the “Nicest Guy in Rock” tag for no reason. But during the earliest days of the Foo Fighters, Grohl pulled some strings that didn’t make him come off looking too great. Firstly, he re-recorded the drum parts for the band’s sophomore album, The Colour and the Shape, effectively squeezing out original drummer William Goldsmith. While touring behind that record, guitarist Franz Stahl (who had previously played with Grohl in the legendary Washington D.C. hardcore band Scream) was fired after songwriting sessions went nowhere.
After recording their third album, 1999’s There Is Nothing Left To Lose, as a trio, the Foos were in need of a second guitarist. Chris Shiflett entered the band in an unenvious position: the first half-decade of the band’s existence saw two guitarists come and go, and early in his tenure, Shiflett caught wind that original guitarist Pat Smear was looking to rejoin the band, possibly costing Shiflett his job.
As it turned out, Shiflett had no reason to worry. When Smear eventually returned to the fold, it was as a second rhythm guitarist and touring member. Eventually, Smear would rejoin the band full-time, but Shiflett’s role as lead guitarist was never in danger. In fact, early on in his tenure, Shiflett was bolstered in his confidence when Grohl loaned him some special guitars.
When he landed the job, Shiflett showed up to his first Foo Fighters rehearsal with only a single guitar. “When I joined the Foo Fighters, I remember at the first rehearsal we had, Dave said… ‘How many guitars do you have?'” Shiflett told Premier Guitar. “I was like, ‘Well, I have two, but one of them has a broken headstock.’ So I really had one functional guitar. And he just kind of chuckled, and he said, ‘Well, we’ve gotta get you a couple more guitars.'”
After scouring the guitar shops around Los Angeles, Grohl personally bought two guitars for Shiflett. One was a faded white 1990s-era Gibson Les Paul Custom that can easily be identified thanks to its sticker of Ace Frehley on the body and a truss rod cover with the name “Shifty”. The Les Paul became Shiflett’s go-to drop D guitar, which he used for classics like ‘Monkey Wrench’ and ‘Everlong’.
The other guitar that Grohl gifted to Shiflett was also a Gibson, but this one was a white Explorer not dissimilar to the one that Grohl played during the band’s earliest days. “I actually picked this up because I knew Dave played Explorers back then in the early days of the Foo Fighters, and I picked this up kind of as a joke,” Shiflett added. “And I said, ‘Oh, should I get this?’ and he said, ‘Yeah!'”
The Explorer has its own unique sticker, this time with a tiger on the body. Shiflett admitted that he stopped using the Explorer in more recent years but picked it back up and now uses it frequently during his side projects. “It’s one of those guitars where you think it’s a goofy heavy metal guitar,” Shiflett said. “[It] may be the most well-balanced guitar ever made! It’s perfect, it feels so good. It’s so ergonomically correct.”
Check out Shiflett going through his two Gibsons down below.
