Instagram story viewer> @foppstar> Posts

Drew Foppe

@foppstar

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Went to go see my homies in @staindofficial the other night when they came through AZ. 20,000+ in attendance, which is always incredibly awesome to look out and see!

Every single person in this camp is always a pleasure to be around!

Nothing but laughter, jokes and good times every time I’m out there working or just stopping by as a guest! Thanks @fohheff for the royal treatment as always!

Got to catch up with soooo many friends from all the bands on the tour in one night. It was exactly what my soul needed!

Beyond grateful to be part of something much bigger than myself and to have friends all over the world who are so welcoming and make you feel like home, even when you’re just a guest.

Safe travels my dudes 👊! taken in Phoenix, Arizona by @foppstar

243

11

3 days ago

182

10

4 days ago

Well, went to Las Vegas for 24 hours and here’s what we were able to get done all in just one day…

1) Left home at 4:50am to catch a 7am flight to Vegas

2) Checked into the @excaliburvegas Hotel to drop off our bags and grabbed breakfast at the @hrcvegasstrip

3) Rode the rollercoaster at @nynyvegas but the cameras were down for our ride 👎🏼!

4) Took a scenic ride on @cartzillaride which takes you up and down the Vegas Strip blasting music as you’re riding in a huge shopping cart like@something out of Jackass the movie! Haha.

5) Went over to the @stratvegas to ride the “Big Shot” which straps you in and shoots you up to the top of the tower needle at 40 miles an hour and then slowly brings you back down.

6) Next we went over to the @horrorunleashedvegas experience. This was pretty cool too. It was a massive haunted house from Universal Studios. There were 4 different haunted houses inside. 1 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 2 - Universal Monsters in Dracula’s Castle, 3 - The Exorcist and 4 - Scarecrow, The Reaping.

7) last thing on the list was to take @tiasavanna and @danielr123 to SlotZilla and zip-line over Fremont Street. We headed down in the parking garage elevator at 8:50pm and just happened to see @theused were playing that same night on Fremont at 9pm!

For those who don’t know, I met my wife on tour in London back when I worked with the Used. I was Quinn’s guitar tech from 2004-2007. Tia and Daniel got to catch the very last song of the set as they flew over top of Fremont on the zip-line!

8) Woke up at 6:30am the next day to stop at the Vegas sign for the obligatory touristy photo. Perfect timing too, as a packed bus of tourists arrived as soon as we were leaving.

9) Grabbed a box of donuts from @ilovesainthonore to take home and got coffee from @starbucks before driving back to Phoenix.

10) As we were leaving Vegas, we saw a massive rainbow from the tropical storm remnants that was just about to roll through town. Heaviest rain I’ve ever driven through in my life the entire way home, but we made it safe!

That was literally just about as much as anyone could ever cram into a 24 hour road trip!

#lasvegas #roadtrip #family #goodtimes #exhausted by @foppstar

254

17

6 days ago

Taking a quick 24 hour trip to Las Vegas with @flickityboo. Then, hopefully we get back home in enough time to prep the house before this Tropical Storm Rachel hits Arizona.

Supposed to hit us straight on and Phoenix is supposed to be under a tornado watch later today.

And people say living in the desert is boring. Haha.

Weird times out there for sure 🤷🏻‍♂️😂! by @foppstar

107

10

8 days ago

Did you know that people are making counterfeit vacuum tubes out there because the vintage market has become so scarce?!?

These vintage tubes can fetch some serious high dollar prices, and often times you run a chance of buying a fake if you don’t buy from a reliable and vetted reseller.

@fuzzaudio is one of the best and most reliable places to shop for all your vintage tube needs. Some of the most sought after, valuable and desirable tubes in my collection have been purchased from Fuzz Audio.

Prices on New Old Stock (NOS) tubes are only going to go up because when they’re gone, they’re gone. They simply don’t make them like they used to!

If you can find the NOS Ei Yugoslavian 12ax7, I highly recommend picking some up. It just happens to be my personal favorite preamp tube in any British or AC style amp.

Makes an okay sounding amp sound spectacular 🤘🤓!

#vacuumtubes #tubeamps #guitartech #rare #vintage by @foppstar

60

4

10 days ago

Hi, my name is Drew Foppe. I’ve been a touring guitar tech for over 25 years…

I’ve seen, experienced firsthand, and had to MacGyver the craziest things possible over the decades as a tech.

From the wildest overnight hotel room repairs you could possibly imagine, to somehow pulling off the impossible during the day, more times than I can count, just so the show can go on without a hitch.

Yes, I take care of a bunch of guitars on tour, but that’s probably the easiest part of the job…It’s also just the tip of the iceberg of what I actually do night after night.

The most successful guitar techs in the music industry don’t actually have a job description that can be defined. You just have to jump in and help wherever you’re needed, keep your head down, and always let your work speak for itself.

It doesn’t matter if you’re doing a one-off show, or if you’ve been with the same band for decades…you’re only as good as your last show. No one cares if you have 1,000 perfect shows in a row under your belt…you always have to strive for perfection for the next one just the same.

There are no sick days, no mental health days, no paid vacation days, no health insurance, no retirement, no 401k, and on some gigs you may only be given one chance, possibly two, to make any type of mistake before a band may choose to hire someone else. *(yes, I’m aware there are some exceptions to this with certain organizations!)

You have to truly love what you do to make a career out of the touring industry. It’s definitely not a place for everyone!

Unfortunately, you have to be willing to make some tough sacrifices along the way, both physically and mentally, as well as with friends and family back home, etc….I’m also not saying any of that makes things right by any means.

The music industry itself, has created its own cut-throat culture where pushing the limits of the crew, logistics and rapidly growing technologies can make sustainability pretty tough sometimes.

Thank you to everyone out there who buys tickets to shows, because without your support, I wouldn’t have a job or a longstanding career being able to do what I do 🙌🎉!

#tourlife #gui by @foppstar

1k

34

11 days ago

When I first posted a photo of @zmyersofficial relic’d @johnmayer Silver Sky from @shinedown rehearsals almost 6 years ago, it originally created some serious controversy on the internet, seemed to ruffle some feathers within the guitar community and some people even sent us hate messages… then again when we did a rig rundown with @premierguitar 😳!

Moving forward to current day, everything has now come full circle and modified Silver Sky guitars have officially been given a blessing and are being encouraged by John himself publicly…

I’m pretty happy about all of this, because I’m a huge John Mayer / René Martinez fan!

Although I wasn’t the one who relic’d Zach’s pink Silver Sky, I did build him two custom “John Delonge” Silver Sky guitars along the way…which means, Zach is probably playing more aftermarket custom modified Silver Sky guitars than anyone else out there these days. Haha.

Much love to John Mayer for the current support of these endeavors to his signature @prsguitars and I’d be more than happy to custom modify one for him anytime as well 🤓🎉!

#johnmayer #zachmyers #shinedown #onlyonepickup #foppstartech by @foppstar

1k

29

12 days ago

I picked up a new @casiowatches_official G-Shock watch at the airport in New Zealand because I didn’t bring my fitbit on tour!

The model I got charges via solar power and it also connects to my phone via Bluetooth and has a pedometer, which records my daily step count.

Turns out, even down under in Australia, I was still clocking in an average of 32,000+ steps on show days.

Unfortunately, I left my new watch behind, sitting in my hotel windowsill charging in the sunlight, when I left for the airport to head home from Perth.

Lucky for me, my good buddy G Rule was able to retrieve the watch on my behalf! He grabbed it from my hotel room before housekeeping got there and he was able to ship it home for me 🙏😎!

I think it just wasn’t ready to come home yet, and wanted to extend its journey and literally soak up the sun!!! Haha.

#gshock #watches #smartwatch #lucky by @foppstar

23

4

13 days ago

@ricksand213 is hands down, of the best drum techs in the business. He also just happens to be one of my closest friends in life!

I don’t think I’d be able to mentally survive some days out there on tour if it weren’t for the ridiculous antics we get ourselves into (especially on days off) and having the ability to always laugh at ourselves on a daily basis 😂.

You have to find time to have fun from time to time, because all work and no play, is enough to drive anyone insane over time.

#dayoff #goofballs #idiots #friends #tourlife by @foppstar

65

6

14 days ago

If you travel or ever plan to fly with a guitar these days, you already know how tough airlines are on instruments.

Baggage handlers don’t care what’s inside your case, and it often feels like they just throw instruments on purpose to see if they can damage them for fun. Yeah, some people really suck out there 😬.

This is my trusted @gatorcases Icon Series electric bag. This thing protects your guitar much better than a hard case. Has impact-resistant padding on the inside, an adjustable neck rest that secures the guitar in place, includes an internal QR code tracker and has several storage pockets to hold all your accessories! It also has removable shoulder straps so you can wear it on your back if your hands are full!

I’ve flown with this bag all around the world at least 40+ times over the past couple years. I’ve never had any problems or concerns checking this bag with my luggage on international and domestic trips alike. My guitars have always arrived safe and secure inside this bag!

I recently flew with this guitar all the way to New Zealand and I never once had to worry about it!

Street pricing is roughly $270 for this gig bag, but it’s a massive upgrade from any factory hard case and I’ve never once had to worry about any guitar I choose to put in this bag.

Also, just for full disclosure, I don’t get paid to give reviews on gear! As always, if I use a product in the real world, I’m happy to share my experiences with others and highlight any piece of gear that stands out from the rest!

#guitar #guitarcase #gatorcases #gigbag #guitartech by @foppstar

425

41

15 days ago

116

13

16 days ago

Made my way home from Australia the other day!

Took almost 27 hours from gate to gate…I flew from Perth to Sydney, Sydney to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Phoenix.

As soon as I landed, I grabbed my bags, hopped in an Uber and drove all the way to the other side of town to catch the last set of Lullaby’s volleyball game 🏐🙌!

Luckily for me…her game started a bit late, and I was able to make it just in time to at least catch the end of the game in person!

It’s our job as parents to be there for our kids whenever humanly possible. I’m away quite a bit, so moments like this are everything to me because I don’t get to experience them often!

#dadlife #tourlife #volleyballdad #foppstartech #guitartech taken in Desert Edge High School by @foppstar

441

17

16 days ago