Ernie Ball: The Pursuit of Tone, a fascinating new AT&T original documentary series, has featured a lineup of iconic rock and roll songwriters and guitarists including Buddy Guy, Mike Ness, Billy Duffy and Hunter Hayes.
As we already mentioned, Tom DeLonge was announced as the focus of the series’ next episode – and we’ve got an exclusive preview video to give you a taste for what’s in store.
In the clip below, Delonge discusses the sonic evolution from his Fender guitar heard on Blink-182’s early recordings, to the custom Gibson ES-335 he uses today.
The full episode, which airs Friday, taps into a topical story with DeLonge – one of alt rock and punk's most interesting and polarizing voices – and he in turn opens up about his career. A wide variety of topics are covered, including stories behind DeLonge’s early influences in the San Diego skate scene, to his evolution from Blink-182 to Box Car Racer and Angels & Airwaves, as well as his expansion to new forms of media including novels, feature film and animation.
You can watch Ernie Ball: The Pursuit of Tone featuring Tom DeLonge this Friday, August 19, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on DirecTV channel 239 / AT&T U-Verse channel 114.
Find out more about the series at ernieball.com/thepursuitoftone.
DeLonge's custom Gibson ES-335:
“I only used the back pickup. Ozzy hates the sound of the front pickup. He calls it the ‘cow tone’”: Bursting with ideas but deferential to Ozzy Osbourne, a young Zakk Wylde had interesting guitar instructions upon joining the legendary frontman's band
“When I got into Miles Davis' band, playing like my idols – Jaco, Stanley and Larry Graham – wasn't going to work. I had to dig and find something else”: How Marcus Miller found his voice – and became one of the most-imitated bassists in the biz
