“Some of the biggest steps I've taken forward as an artist were based on spectacular failures,” admits Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Tom Morello. “At 13 years old, I took two guitar lessons. I wanted to learn KISS and Led Zeppelin songs. They wanted to teach me how to tune the guitar and play the C major scale, and that made me quit playing for four years. I failed at guitar lessons, but it made me want to play my own way without outside molding. Then, I spent a lot of money on a custom-made guitar that sounded like crap. Another failure. So, I put together this amalgamation—a kind of ‘Island of Misfit Toys’ guitar—that was the ‘Arm the Homeless’ guitar, looking for a sound I never found. But one fateful day, I pushed past the failure to do the imagined sound I wanted, and I embraced who I was. I found my sound when I stopped looking for my sound.”
Key Features of the Fender Tom Morello Signature “Arm the Homeless” Guitar
- Alder body
- Maple neck with Custom Flat C profile
- Rosewood fingerboard
- 22 medium-jumbo frets
- Active EMG 85 (bridge) and EMG H (neck) pickups
- Gotoh SG360 tuning machines
- Gotoh GE1996T double-locking tremolo
- “Arm the Homeless” graphics
- Includes deluxe black hardshell case
A Work of Social Art
“I'm a big fan of the Situationists [1957-1972] and their provocative art statements,” explains Morello. “But today, ‘Arm the Homeless’ has a very specific meaning. I'm very proud to partner with Midnight Mission in Los Angeles and Covenant House—the teen homeless shelters around the country. A portion of the proceeds from these guitars will go to those organizations to help unhoused people.”
But even after all of the technical modifications to the guitar itself, the statement wasn’t quite ready until Morello took some pens in hand.
“I’ve always thought the front of a guitar—or any of your equipment—can also be additional artistic signage to get your point of view across,” says Morello. “So, before an early Rage Against the Machine show at the Whisky around 1992, I had the white hippopotamuses—the only thing I can draw—and I sat down on my apartment floor with a black Sharpie and a red Sharpie and I scrawled ‘Arm the Homeless’ on the guitar body. That night, the ‘Arm the Homeless’ guitar was born."
The Guitar as Creative Partner
“My relationship with the ‘Arm the Homeless’ guitar is so special, because it has been the divining rod of truth, justice and feedback,” says Morello. “It has been a collaborator more than an instrument for me throughout the years.”
More Morello Tones
If you want to forge your own sound using a Superstrat, such as the “Arm the Homeless” guitar, read our comprehensive Superstrat history. You can also experience a different side of the Tom Morello sound by checking into another of his iconic signature models, the Fender “Soul Power” Stratocaster.