Play electric guitar like Chris Shiflett

Do you want to sound like Chris Shiflett? No problem — here in our Guided Shopping area you'll learn all about the guitars, amps, effects and accessories your idol Chris Shiflett uses. We show you equipment from all price ranges that lets you sound just like Chris Shiflett. You can also discover visually matching accessories in Chris' style. Enjoy browsing!

About Chris Shiflett

Chris Shiflett was born in Santa Barbara, California. He has two older brothers, Mike and Scott, the latter of whom also became a musician — as the bassist of the punk rock band Face to Face. Chris started playing guitar at the age of 11. As a promising young footballer he also played from 1982–1984 with the American Youth Soccer Organization. Under the pressure of having to choose a career, he joined his first band at the age of 14.

Chris began his music career in a band called Lost Kittenz. Later he became lead guitarist of the punk rock band No Use for a Name from the San Francisco Bay Area. When a friend told him in 1999 that Guns N' Roses were looking for a guitarist, Chris asked the friend instead to get him an audition with the Foo Fighters, who, after recording their third studio album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, held an open audition as a trio to hire another guitarist alongside Dave Grohl. When he was offered the job, he quickly left No Use for a Name and joined the Foo Fighters.
After joining he played on the tour for There Is Nothing Left to Lose and on all subsequent studio albums, starting with the fourth album One by One. One of his favourite songs that he plays with the Foo Fighters is All My Life, which comes from that very album.

Alongside his main role in the Foo Fighters, Chris also plays in his side projects Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, Jackson United and Viva Death with his brother Scott. On numerous projects Chris performed under the name Jake Jackson. He played in the cover band Chevy Metal together with the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. They played songs by classic rock bands like Black Sabbath, Queen, ZZ Top and the Rolling Stones. In 2010 he founded a new country-oriented side project, Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants, which released a self-titled album in July. He has also released three solo albums.
From October 2013 until December 2022 Chris was the host of the weekly podcast Walking the Floor with Chris Shiflett. A total of 215 episodes were produced. In June 2023 he announced a new guitar-based podcast titled Shred with Shifty.

Affordable electric guitars for Chris Shiflett fans

Chris mostly plays high-quality guitars from the brands Fender and Gibson, and his collection largely consists of Custom Shop models. If you don't want to spend a fortune on your new guitar right away, we've put together a selection of affordable models for you that let you copy Chris' sound and style.

High-end and signature electric guitars from Chris Shiflett

About Chris Shiflett's guitars

Like his Foo Fighters colleague Dave Grohl Chris also has a preference for Gibson guitars. His collection includes several Les Pauls, Explorers, Firebirds and even an ES-335. Chris also owns several signature models from Fender, which he plays alongside the Gibson models, especially during Foo Fighters shows. There are also some Strats and Teles in his collection. Chris also uses guitars from Gretsch and Duesenberg. Here we've put together a selection of high-end guitars from Chris Shiflett.

Expert opinion

One of Chris' favourite guitars is his signature guitar from Fender, modelled on a '70s Telecaster Deluxe. This guitar covers a wide range of tones that Chris uses across his many projects, thanks to its classic alder body and its two P-90 pickups. With this guitar you can reproduce most of his sounds with ease.

Alternative high-end electric guitars for the Foo Fighters sound

It doesn't always have to be Fender or Gibson — other manufacturers also build high-quality guitars that allow you to reproduce Chris Shiflett's sound and are by no means inferior to the originals from better-known brands. Below we've put together a selection of such guitars for you:

Chris Shiflett's amps and cabinets

Chris owns several different amplifiers, including models from Fender, Mesa/Boogie and Friedman, but his favourite he shares with his fellow guitarist Dave Grohl: the Vox AC30, of which Chris owns a particularly high-quality hand-wired version.

“My VOX AC30 Hand-Wired give me the sound I've been searching for for ages. They deliver everything, from crashing fireworks to the finest nuances.”

Chris Shiflett on his amplifiers

Chris Shiflett's effect pedals

In addition to his amps, Chris also has a whole array of effect pedals that are responsible for his versatile tones. Most of them were manufactured by Strymon and are very pricey, but also of exceptional quality. In addition, there are some other pedals on Chris' board that are a bit more affordable.

Finally, the right accessories

With the accessories below you can perfect your look and sound and get even closer to sounding like Chris Shiflett. Whether strings, straps, picks or other accessories, here you'll find everything a Foo Fighters and Chris Shiflett fan could wish for!