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What if Deftones’ lead singer Chino Moreno fully leaned into his love for the Cure and Depeche Mode (think “Digital Bath,” “Teenager,” “Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event,” and “Cherry Waves”)? The short answer is Crosses (often stylized as †††). And the sole sonic sniper pillowing and piercing through Moreno’s moodily melodic vocals is multi-instrumentalist Shaun Lopez.
Prior to working with Moreno in Crosses, Lopez cofounded Far—an influential post-hardcore 1990s contemporary of the Deftones in Sacramento—and has tallied a variety of producer credits, collaborating with Chon, Rob Zombie, Lupe Fiasco, Dead Sara, Whitechapel, and others. That versatile background is evident when experiencing Crosses with a pair of headphones or seeing them live onstage.
Lopez and bassist Chuck Doom had been jamming together in the late 2000s, and later recruited Moreno to front the dark dance party. As Crosses, the trio released three EPs and a self-titled debut full-length between 2011 and 2014, before going on hiatus in 2015.
Crosses was revitalized in 2022 with fresh material. Then, following the departure of bassist Chuck Doom, the remaining duo doubled down on their digital-based dynamism to feature even more synths, keys, and electronic experimentation. Now, for almost 15 years, the band has been weaving together sounds of new wave, electronica, goth rock, industrial, and ambient pop, as if they’re producing a soundtrack to a neo-noir readaptation of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Part of Lopez’s post-hiatus experimentation included sampling his guitar through his keys. “When we started Crosses, I was just learning to play piano,” he shares. “I think, back then, I wanted to make synthy-sounding songs, but I didn’t know how to play synths. I was like, ‘How can I get my guitar to sound like a synth?’ So I just incorporated pedals, lap steel, and anything else to make my guitar unrecognizable.
“Since those first songs, I’ve really learned how to play keyboards, and by better understanding that new instrument, at times, I’ve become more inspired by synths over guitar,” recalls Lopez.
But no matter how many synths or keyboards get put to tape, you’ll still see Lopez onstage with a guitar draped over his shoulder.
“I do prefer to play guitar live because it’s more fun and I can run around,” he shares. “I am always chasing sounds no matter the instrument it takes to get there. My sound is growing because I’m always learning. I think if you stop learning, you stop progressing … but guitar will always be home.”
Before Crosses’ sold-out show at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, Lopez welcomed PG’s Perry Bean onstage to dissect his setup. The lone instrumentalist showed off six stellar guitars, broke down the heavy lifting his FM9 endures for Crosses’ sets, introduced a peculiar pedal he can’t live without, and demoed a Gretsch that sounds like an angry orca.
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C Beast
“It’s the best-looking guitar I’ve ever seen in my life,” contends Lopez. The Gibson Les Paul Custom 20th Anniversary 1974 model is set for drop-C duties, and takes a custom set of Dunlops (.011–.070). He upgraded its original pickups with a set of Bare Knuckle Warpig alnico-5 humbuckers.
Special for Standard
Chino left this over at Shaun’s place long enough that Lopez fell for the devilish doublecut. Before he bonded with Chino’s SG Special, Lopez stayed away from SGs because of the uncomfortable neck dive, but he says this rocker balances really well (especially with a wireless pack), and the P-90s make a perfect contrast to his other guitar tones. This one rides in standard or drop D, and like the rest of Lopez’s electrics we’ll see, it takes a more standard fare of Dunlop strings (.010–.046).
Little Red Corvette
While he was picking up a 1978 P bass at Guitar Center in L.A., Shaun spotted this 1960s Gretsch Corvette. It had been at the GC for months collecting dust, so they made Lopez a sweet deal and he left the store with both instruments. While the Les Paul might be his favorite guitar, he did admit that this cherry Corvette is his favorite to play, and that’s clear with all the finish that’s been thrashed during this Crosses tour.
Shaun tunes it to standard or drop D, but when the crowd hears it, they won’t believe their ears—as he uses the pitch-block parameters within the Fractal Audio FM9 to drop down the Corvette 17 levels. It sounds like an angry orca!
Midnight Cruiser
The above Gretsch G2420T Streamliner Hollow Body Single-Cut with Bigsby was resting in backup duties compared to its Schecter counterpart, but its hotter BT-3S humbuckers have proved it mightier for the stage.
Easy Rider
The previous Gretsch took over first-chair hollowbody touring duties for this Schecter Coupe’s sibling that’s safe at home, but Lopez notes that the Coupes were the most-used guitars while recording Crosses’ 2023 release, Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.
T Time
Lopez caters many of Crosses’ sounds around the Tesla TV-ML1 humbuckers found in his Schecter Coupe. He tried to acquire another hollowbody, but Schecter no longer makes that model—however, they pointed him towards their PT Fastback that uses the company’s UltraTron humbuckers, which are very similar to FilterTron-style pickups.
To Infinity and Beyond!
Shaun slides around on this Fender FS-52 Deluxe Lap Steel. All the strings are tuned to D, creating a powerful droning effect.
Also, notice below that the FS-52 sits a Sequential Prophet-6—a 6-voice analog synthesizer that gets used throughout Crosses’ albums and live sets. And the Novation Launchkey 49 MK3 controller triggers samples, loops, and works with Ableton Live for show production.
Shaun Lopez's Pedalboard
Creating Crosses’ serpentine soundscapes involves an abundance of gear. Lopez doesn’t really document his methods on their recordings, so when playing live, he’s left to recreate his tones from scratch. To help accomplish that feat in a compact and efficient fashion, he centers his live rig around a pair of Fractal Audio FM9 units powered by a Fryette LX II Stereo power amp. One transforms guitars into everything but, and the other partners with his FS-52, unleashing a tidal wave of Daniel Lanois-inspired washes and sustain. Two effects that the FM9 couldn’t replicate were the Chase Bliss Mood and a modded vintage Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer. Utility boxes include two tuners—Peterson StroboStomp HD and TC Electronic PolyTune 3—MIDI Solutions Thru 2-output box, a pair of BeardBuilds AB boxes, a Dunlop Volume (X) Mini, a Mission Engineering SP-1 pedal, and offstage, a Radial ProD8 8-Channel Rackmount Direct Box. A Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus and Truetone 1 Spot juices everything up.
Shop Shaun Lopez' Crosses (†††) Rig
Gibson Custom 1968 Les Paul Custom Reissue
Gibson SG Special
Gretsch G2420T Streamliner Hollowbody Electric Guitar
Schecter PT Fastback Electric Guitar
Sequential Prophet-6 - 6-voice Analog Synthesizer
Novation Launchkey 49 MK3 49-key Keyboard Controller
Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer Analog Guitar Microsynth Pedal
Peterson StroboStomp HD Pedal Tuner
TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Polyphonic LED Guitar Tuner Pedal with Buffer
Dunlop DVP4 Volume (X) Mini Pedal
Mission Engineering SP-1 Expression Pedal
Radial ProD8 8-channel Passive Instrument Direct Box
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 PLUS 8-output Isolated Guitar Pedal Power Supply
Truetone 1 SPOT Slim 9V DC Adapter
Nearly 40 years ago, Nuno Bettencourt walked into Mouradian Guitar Co. in Boston, where Pat Badger was working. They formed a bond that would change their worlds—and ours—with the multi-platinum band Extreme. In March of 2024, Badger, Bettencourt, and their tech John Thayer invited PG’s John Bohlinger to talk through their current rig.
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Washburn Wrecking Crew
This Washburn N4 was developed in collaboration with Nuno Bettencourt, Washburn, and Seattle-based luthier Stephen Davies. The guitar was introduced in the mid-to-late 1990s and became Bettencourt's primary guitar. The 4N features a balanced alder body with a Seymour Duncan ’59 in the neck and a Bill Lawrence L-500 in the bridge, plus an ebony fretboard and a Kahler whammy that was featured on the earliest iterations. Later production models included a Schaller tremolo before landing on the current Floyd Rose dive bomber for off-the-rack N4s. Nuno’s strings are a custom set of GHS Boomers (.009–.052) and his custom-made picks come from Grover Allman in Australia.
Sweet As Honey
This is “Bumble Bee,” a custom-painted N4 tribute to King Edward that was done by the luthier Craig Stofko behind CHS Custom Guitars, based out of Carmel, New York. It’s a standard Nuno Washburn signature, but with a maple fretboard (a first for Nuno and the N4 series).
Softer Sounds
This Washburn Festival EA20S-Nuno Bettencourt is in the video for Extreme’s song “More Than Words,” which was filmed over 30 years ago.
This custom-painted Washburn 12-string acoustic is heard on “Hole Hearted.”
Triple Duals
Nuno tours with three Marshall JCM 2000 Dual Super Leads. Usually, he only runs one through a Marshall 4x12 cab. (There are six total onstage but only one is hot and mic'd.) All the cabs are loaded with Celestion G12T-75s that combine a huge, tightly controlled low-end and aggressive mid-range with a softened top-end.
Nuno runs few effects. In front of the amp, there’s a battery powered Pro Co RAT (which stays on all the time), a Boss OC-5 Octave (plugged in and connected for just two solos), and a script logo MXR Phase 90 without a light. There’s also a Boss GT-8 that runs through the effects loop of the Marshall for delays.
Kingly Gifts
This Mouradian CS-74 bass is Pat Badger’s number-one. The alder-bodied bass, fitted with an EMG pickup, was built for Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith. About two years ago, Tom gave the bass to Pat. This and all of Badger’s basses are strung with Rotosound Ultramag Strings (.045–.105).
This Mouradian one-pickup bass was built for Michael Anthony from Van Halen. Michael passed it along to Pat a few years ago.
This classic ’80s Hamer Blitz bass is a recent Reverb purchase.
Badger's Den
Badger tours with two Ampeg amps: a SVT-4 Pro and a SVT Classic. There’s a wall of 4x10 cabs underneath them, but only one is used.
Pat runs his bass into a Boss TU-3 tuner, Boss GE-7 EQ, EHX Micro POG, Pro Co Rat, Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, and EBS Billy Sheehan Signature Drive.
Shop Nuno Bettencourt & Pat Badger's Gear
Washburn N4-Nuno Vintage USA Electric Guitar
Washburn Nuno Bettencourt N4 Authentic Signature - Natural Matte
Seymour Duncan SH-1n '59 Model Neck 4-conductor Humbucker Pickup - Black
MXR CSP026 '74 Vintage Phase 90 Pedal
Pro Co RAT 2 Distortion / Fuzz / Overdrive Pedal
Boss OC-5
EMG 35DC Active Ceramic Modern Humbucker Bass Pickups
Rotosound UM45 UltraMag Type 52 Alloy Bass Guitar Strings - .045-.105 Standard 4-String
Ampeg SVT-CL 300
Ampeg SVT-810AV 8x10"
Ampeg SVT-4PRO 1200-watt Tube Preamp Bass Head
EBS Billy Sheehan Ultimate Signature Drive Pedal
Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI V2 Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG Polyphonic Octave Generator Pedal
Boss GE-7 7-band EQ Pedal
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner Pedal with Bypass