Tom Morello's guitar strings: the RATM rig, sourced

Documented string gauges and tunings Tom Morello uses with Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage on 'Arm the Homeless,' 'Soul Power,' and the Fender Tom Morello Stratocaster signature. With citations.

Rage Against the Machine / Audioslave / Prophets of Rage / Solo (The Nightwatchman) / Atlas Underground · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team · 2026-04-30

Tom Morello uses Ernie Ball strings on his customized Fender Stratocasters, primarily 'Arm the Homeless' (a hand-painted Performance custom Strat-style instrument with EMG pickups and a kill-switch) and 'Soul Power' (a black Fender Stratocaster with a Hot-Rails bridge pickup). Drop D and Drop C tunings on most of the RATM and Audioslave catalog; standard E on selected tracks. Morello's lead vocabulary integrates avant-garde noise techniques (kill-switch stutters, tremolo-arm pitch dives, scratching the strings with the side of a pick) into a hard-rock-and-rap-rock context, one of the most-distinctive lead voices in modern rock.

At a glance

Role

Guitarist

Active

1986–present

Based

Los Angeles, California

Genres

Affiliations

Rage Against the Machine (founding guitarist, 1991–2000, 2007–2011, 2019–2023)
Audioslave (with Chris Cornell, 2001–2007)
Prophets of Rage (with RATM members + Chuck D + B-Real, 2016–2019)
Solo (The Nightwatchman, 2003–present; Atlas Underground project, 2018–present)
Fender (Tom Morello Soul Power Signature Stratocaster, 2017–present)

Notable credits

Rage Against the Machine, Rage Against the Machine (1992)
Evil Empire (1996)
The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)
Audioslave, Audioslave (2002)
Out of Exile (2005)
Revelations (2006)
The Nightwatchman, One Man Revolution (2007, solo)

Official media

Sourcing4 citations · reviewed 2026-04-30· by Change Your Strings editorial team

Who Tom Morello is

Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964, New York City; raised in Libertyville, Illinois) is the founding guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, the Los Angeles-formed rap-rock-and-political-rock band whose 1991-2000 / 2007-2011 / 2019-2023 catalog of three studio records (Rage Against the Machine in 1992, Evil Empire in 1996, The Battle of Los Angeles in 1999) is foundational to rap-rock as a genre. After RATM's 2000 dissolution he co-founded Audioslave with the remaining RATM members and vocalist Chris Cornell (2001-2007), then Prophets of Rage (with Chuck D and B-Real, 2016-2019). His solo work includes the acoustic-political project The Nightwatchman (2003 onward) and the modern collaboration project Atlas Underground (2018 onward).

His lead vocabulary, integrating avant-garde noise techniques (kill-switch stutters, tremolo-arm pitch dives, scratch effects) into a hard-rock context, is among the most-distinctive lead-guitar voices in modern rock. The Fender Tom Morello Soul Power Signature Stratocaster has been in continuous production since 2017.

What he plays

Two primary instruments across his career. 'Arm the Homeless,' a hand-painted Performance custom Strat-style instrument with EMG humbuckers, a kill-switch toggle, and a Floyd Rose tremolo. And 'Soul Power,' a black Fender Stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails bridge humbucker, a kill-switch, and a two-point tremolo, the basis for the Fender signature instrument.

For strings, Ernie Ball Slinky variants in gauge configurations that scale with tuning. Drop D and Drop C are the most-cited tunings across the RATM and Audioslave catalogs. The Hot Rails humbucker delivers high-output, saturated signal into Marshall tube amplification; the resulting tone is the foundation of his recorded sound across the catalog.

His pedalboard is uniquely simple for a lead guitarist of his stature, a DigiTech Whammy (the signature pitch-shift pedal heard across his catalog), a Boss DD-2 / DD-3 delay, a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, a Boss tremolo. The avant-garde lead vocabulary comes from his right-hand technique (kill-switch toggle, scratching strings with the side of a pick, tremolo-arm pitch dives) more than from the pedalboard itself.

Why this fits the rig

The Hot Rails humbucker (a Strat-sized humbucker with high output) is the secret behind his canonical lead tone. Compared to standard Strat single coils, the Hot Rails delivers approximately twice the output, which drives the front end of his Marshall tube amp into clean, controllable saturation. The result is a high-gain rhythm tone that retains the bright, articulate response of a Strat (rather than the warmer, more compressed response of a typical humbucker-equipped guitar).

The kill-switch is wired to short the signal to ground when toggled; by rapidly toggling it during a sustained note, he produces the on-off stutter effects that define his lead voice. The DigiTech Whammy adds the pitch-shift effects (the famous 'Killing in the Name' solo is built on Whammy-pedal manipulation), and the combination of kill-switch + Whammy + tremolo arm gives him a wide range of pitch-and-rhythm-modulation tools without compromising his core Marshall-tube-saturated tone.

If you want this rig

The Fender Tom Morello Soul Power Signature Stratocaster (in current production since 2017) carries the canonical Hot Rails-and-kill-switch spec. Ernie Ball Slinky strings in a gauge configuration that suits Drop D or Drop C tuning; Marshall tube amp at moderate-to-high saturation; DigiTech Whammy + delay + wah pedalboard.

Frequently asked questions

What strings does Tom Morello use?

Ernie Ball Slinky variants. Gauge configuration varies by tuning across the RATM and Audioslave catalogs; Drop D and Drop C tunings benefit from medium gauges (.010-.046 to .011-.048 territory) for tension control on the down-tuned strings.

What's 'Arm the Homeless'?

A hand-painted custom Strat-style instrument Morello has played across the entire RATM catalog. The body is a Performance custom build (originally an Ibanez body that Morello painted with the slogan 'Arm the Homeless' as a political statement). EMG humbucker pickups, a kill-switch toggle for his stutter effects, and a Floyd Rose tremolo. The instrument is one of the most-iconic stage guitars of the 1990s and 2000s.

What's the kill-switch technique?

A toggle switch wired to interrupt the guitar's signal output, mounted on the body where Morello can hit it with his picking-hand thumb. By rapidly toggling the switch on-and-off while a sustained note rings, he produces the stuttered, on-off rhythmic pattern heard on 'Bulls on Parade' (1996), 'Killing in the Name' (1992), and many other RATM and Audioslave tracks. The kill-switch technique is one of his most-imitated lead-guitar signatures and is built into his Fender signature instrument.

What tunings does RATM play in?

Drop D and Drop C are the most-cited RATM tunings. Morello has discussed across multiple interviews that he tunes his guitar to match the song; the band's catalog includes material in standard E (early tracks), Drop D (the bulk of the catalog), and Drop C (selected lower-tuned material). The Floyd Rose tremolo on Arm the Homeless and the Soul Power Strat keeps the down-tuned strings in tune through aggressive trem use.

Is Morello endorsed by Fender?

Yes. The Fender Tom Morello Soul Power Signature Stratocaster has been in continuous production since 2017. The relationship is the formal partnership of record. Per FTC framing, his Fender use is endorsed; his Ernie Ball string use is verified-use across his rig coverage.