Foreigner - Cold as Ice - Guitar Lesson

Fender Stratocaster

Mick Jones occasionally grabbed the Strat for brighter, single-coil tones on specific Foreigner tracks, providing jangly contrast to his signature Les Paul warmth. The Strat's snap helped cut through dense keyboard arrangements without the heavy midrange of his primary guitars.

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Jones's main voice throughout Foreigner's classic era, the late '50s and early '60s Les Paul Standards delivered thick, sustaining midrange from mahogany bodies and maple tops. These guitars enabled the dynamic clean-to-crunch transitions that define songs like 'Cold as Ice' and 'Waiting for a Girl Like You.'

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Black Beauty appeared on several Foreigner recordings and live shows, offering the same warm, rounded PAF tones as Jones's Standards but with a sleeker aesthetic. This guitar contributed to the band's signature rich, vocal-friendly lead tones that soared over synth layers.

Marshall JCM800

The JCM800 head was the sonic foundation of Jones's tone, delivering warm crunch at moderate gain levels that cleaned up responsively with guitar volume changes. Driven into 4x12 cabs with Greenback speakers, it produced Foreigner's organic, dynamic overdrive sound without digital artifacts.

Fender Twin Reverb

Jones blended the Twin Reverb in the studio for cleaner rhythm parts and arpeggiated sections, adding natural reverb and clarity alongside Marshall crunch. This combination created Foreigner's signature warm, spacious production that balanced heavy riffs with lush, layered textures.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Jones deployed the Cry Baby on select Foreigner solos to add expressiveness and vocal-like quality to lead passages. The wah's sweep complemented his dynamic playing style, enhancing the emotional intensity of the band's power ballads and rock anthems.