The Turnstile Kit: The Gear They Play and the Look They Wear
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Turnstile went from Baltimore hardcore matinees to headlining festivals without ever feeling like a different band, and the gear tells the same story: workhorse instruments you can actually buy at a big-box retailer, and a wardrobe built on twenty-year-old basics rather than hype drops. Frontman Brendan Yates has bragged about wearing the same hand-me-down Hanes zip hoodie for two decades, and guitarist Pat McCrory's stage guitar is a production-line Jackson, not a custom shop unicorn.
So this guide covers both halves of the kit: the rig they actually play, and the look they actually wear. Every pick is something you can order today.
The Turnstile Kit at a Glance
- The guitar: Jackson X Series Soloist SLX DX — $649.99
- The bass: Fender Player Precision Bass — $849.99
- The strings: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 3-pack — $19.99
- The pedalboard essential: Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner — $109.99
- The mic: Shure SM58S — $119
- The sneakers: Converse Chuck 70 Hi — $63
- The hoodie: Champion Reverse Weave Zip — from $37
- The tee: Carhartt Heavyweight Pocket T-Shirt — $24.99
- The pants: Dickies Double Knee Work Pants — $34.99
- The hat: '47 x Carhartt Orioles Snapback — $45
- The shades: Oakley Sutro S — from $142
- The show survival kit: Loop Experience 2 Earplugs — $34.95
Part One: The Rig
Quick scene-setting before the picks. Pat McCrory spent the Glow On era running Gibson Les Pauls into an Orange Rockerverb MKIII — that thick, compressed British crunch is all over the record — before switching to a Jackson Soloist on stage. Bassist Franz Lyons drives a Fender Precision Bass through a Fender Bassman 300 head and an Ampeg 8x10 fridge, with a Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra doing the dirty work on his board. You can't add an 8x10 cab to cart on a whim, but the core of the sound is surprisingly attainable.
1. Jackson X Series Soloist SLX DX — The Guitar
McCrory's live guitar these days is a Jackson Soloist, and the X Series SLX DX is the version that doesn't require a signature-artist budget. Neck-through build, hot ceramic pickups, and a hardtail bridge that stays in tune while you're getting shoved into the barricade. It's built for exactly the kind of fast, groove-heavy riffing Turnstile runs on. $649.99 at Best Buy.
Shop the Jackson Soloist SLX DX →
2. Fender Player Precision Bass — The Bass
Franz Lyons — the guy responsible for the most joyful stage presence in hardcore — plays a Fender Precision Bass (a blue American Performer in the "Birds" video). The Player series P-Bass gets you that same punchy, sits-perfectly-in-the-mix DNA for well under a grand. If you only ever own one bass, this is the shape it should be. $849.99 at Best Buy.
Shop the Fender Player P-Bass →
3. Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 3-Pack — The Strings
Turnstile are an Ernie Ball band — they've talked shop on the company's own blog — and Regular Slinkys are the default string of basically every hardcore riff written since 1980. Ten-to-forty-six gauge, bright, cheap enough to change before every show. Buy the 3-pack; you'll use them. $19.99 at Target.
Shop Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys →
4. Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner — The Pedalboard Essential
The one pedal we can point to on Franz Lyons' board that costs less than a car payment: the Boss TU-3, the tuner that lives on virtually every touring pedalboard on earth. Tank-grade housing, bright LED meter you can read in daylight, and it mutes your signal while you tune — which is the polite thing to do. $109.99 at Best Buy.
5. Shure SM58S — The Mic
The SM58 is the microphone that gets passed into the crowd at every hardcore show ever, survives it, and comes back working. If you're starting a band, running a basement show, or just want the vocal mic that the entire live music industry standardized on, this is it — the S model adds an on/off switch. $119 at Target.
Part Two: The Look
Turnstile's style is the opposite of a costume: vintage sportswear, workwear that's already broken in, and sneakers you can pit in. Yates told Blackbird Spyplane he doesn't care about graphics or brands — he cares about fit, comfort, and wearing things for twenty years. That's a philosophy we can get behind, and it's cheap to buy into.
6. Converse Chuck 70 Hi — The Sneakers
Turnstile literally made their own Converse — the band dropped a collab with the brand in 2024 — and the Chuck 70 in black is the everyday version of that energy. Thicker canvas, cushier sole, and better ankle structure than the standard Chuck. It's the official footwear of both the stage and the parking lot. $63 at Jack's Surfboards.
7. Champion Reverse Weave Zip Hoodie — The Hoodie
Yates' most famous piece of clothing is a Hanes zip hoodie his dad handed down that he's worn for roughly twenty years. The buy-it-once modern equivalent is Champion's Reverse Weave zip — the cross-grain cut means it won't shrink into a crop top, and it only gets better as it beats up. Wear it two decades and report back. From $37 at Amazon.
Shop the Reverse Weave Zip Hoodie →
8. Carhartt Heavyweight Pocket T-Shirt — The Tee
The anti-brand brand. A heavyweight Carhartt pocket tee is boxy, thick enough to hold its shape through a hundred washes, and reads exactly right with work pants — no graphics required, per the Yates doctrine. Buy two, they're basically the price of a show ticket. $24.99 at Academy Sports.
Shop the Carhartt Pocket Tee →
9. Dickies Double Knee Work Pants — The Pants
The loose double knee is the unofficial uniform pant of hardcore — skate-proof, stage-proof, and cut baggy enough to move in. Reinforced knees mean they outlast whatever you do in them, and the drape over a pair of Chucks is exactly the silhouette you see side-stage at a Turnstile show. $34.99 at Amazon.
10. '47 x Carhartt Baltimore Orioles Snapback — The Hat
You can't rep Turnstile without repping Baltimore. This '47 x Carhartt collab Orioles snapback splits the difference between ballpark and job site — washed-out canvas, tonal bird, zero new-hat stiffness. It's the most on-theme piece in this entire guide. $45 at Finish Line.
11. Oakley Sutro S — The Shades
The wraparound sport shield came roaring back with the Y2K sportswear wave that Turnstile's whole visual world runs on, and the Sutro is the definitive modern version. The S sizing fits more faces, and the Prizm lens makes everything look vaguely like a music video — appropriate. From $142 at Amazon.
12. Loop Experience 2 Earplugs — The Show Survival Kit
An Ampeg 8x10 and an Orange full stack in a mid-size room will take years off your hearing, and tinnitus is forever. Loop's Experience 2 plugs cut about 17 dB while keeping the mix intact, so the breakdown still hits — you just get to hear the next thousand breakdowns too. The black ones disappear in your ears. $34.95 at Loop.
The Bottom Line
The whole Turnstile ethos — on stage and off — is buy real stuff and use it hard. If you're picking one piece from each half of the kit, make it the Jackson Soloist SLX DX for the rig and the Converse Chuck 70 for the look. And whatever you do, throw the Loop earplugs in your pocket before the show.
FAQ
What guitar does Turnstile's Pat McCrory play?
McCrory played Gibson Les Pauls (including a 2015 Les Paul Classic) through an Orange Rockerverb MKIII for much of the Glow On era, and has since played a Jackson Soloist live. The Jackson X Series Soloist SLX DX is the accessible production version of that guitar.
What bass does Franz Lyons play?
A Fender Precision Bass — he plays a blue American Performer with a PJ pickup setup in the "Birds" video — through a Fender Bassman 300 head and an Ampeg 8x10 cab, with a Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra and Boss TU-3 on his board.
What do Turnstile wear on stage?
Broken-in basics: vintage sportswear, oversized jackets, work pants, and Chucks. Brendan Yates has said he doesn't care about brands or graphics — he famously still wears a Hanes zip hoodie that's about twenty years old.