best guitar and amp for playin punk

hi everybody, i am a huge green day fan and a fan of other punk rock bands. i am looking for a guitar and a amp that will be able to play green day songs like basket case, longview, when i come around, she, walking contradiction, brain stew, and others. i am currently looking at a gibson les paul, but dont think it will be able to play the old green day songs i listed abouve. in those songs, billie "the lead singer" uses a fernandes. if i use a gibson, will it put out the same sound?

find what feels good to you.


you can elicit most sounds from a good guitar. you'll need a humbucker in the bridge position, though. make sure if you get a strat, it's a fat strat.

billie uses a les paul nowadays and no offense but greenday isn't really rocket science when it comes to tone, so really you can get that tone from a lot of guitars. I'd be more worried about your amp, getting that marshall distortion they use.

i personally wouldn't even be worried about it...

get a guitar that feels good and plays nice to you... Billy's tone doesn't come from his guitar since most of the time he's using plain-jane models like a Les Paul Special... which has only one humbucker in the bridge. The amp really isn't going to cause much of a problem either... Just get an amp that will project the sound... You can always get a cheap effects processor to get what tones you want... Most of the people that are going to listen to you music (if you're playing Green Day) aren't going to be too concerned with how your amp and guitar sound in comparison to Billy Joe Armstrongs... Don't sweat it... Just do what feels good to you. That's part of the punk philosophy anyway... Don't do something based on something someone else is doing. Make the music your own... If that means you have slightly different tone... then so-be-it.

thanks everybody for the replys... i am prob. goin to buy a gibson les paul gt. the one thats black with the flames comin off it.. u can see a pic on gibsons site. is there any specail amp that i need for playin punk? would a 30 amp be better than a 100 amp? i mostly will be playin in my room but i am tryin to get together a band and if i get a band together i dont wanna be buyin another amp to play gigs and shows u know. Thanks again, Jacob

Dude, the whole point of punk music is to use whatever you can get your hands on. Just get some crap and play! A 30 watt amp should be enough for anything, since you can plug it into a PA and be good for shows, and it
s enough for practice alone or with a band.