Soundgarden
Latest Soundgarden news, guitars, gear, music, performances, and collaborations covered by Guitar Radar.
Guitar Radar has 2 stories about Soundgarden, tracking new music, tours, collaborations and gear. Most of it sits under players. The most recent story, from Sep 12, 2026, is “Soundgarden return to the stage with Taylor Momsen and Mike McCready at Seahawks halftime”. Coverage here goes back to Aug 28, 2026.
About Soundgarden
Soundgarden is a Seattle band that became one of the defining groups of 1990s grunge, with Kim Thayil as lead guitarist. Thayil is closely linked to Guild: his main guitar is a black 1990s reissue of the Guild S-100 Polara, an SG-style model he first bought at 18 for about $250 because it was the guitar he could afford. He has said he likes the long distance between the tailpiece and bridge, because he bends strings behind the bridge. A second S-100 with heavier, doubled strings is used for lower tunings, and Guild now sells signature S-100 Polara Kim Thayil models.
His amplifier setup is built around Mesa/Boogie, mainly Electra Dyne heads and Tremoverb 2x12 combos, which give him a pushed, full gain tone that cleans up with the guitar's volume knob.
He is also associated with alternate tunings. Drop D features on songs such as Jesus Christ Pose, Outshined and Spoonman, and the band used a very low EEBBBE tuning with doubled strings on Superunknown.
Sources: Guitar.com: Kim Thayil on the Guild S-100 · Guitar World: Kim Thayil and the Guild S-100 Polara · Premier Guitar: Rig Rundown, Soundgarden
Stories
Soundgarden return to the stage with Taylor Momsen and Mike McCready at Seahawks halftime
Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd played Outshined and Spoonman with Taylor Momsen on vocals and Mike McCready adding guitar in Seattle.
Sep 12, 2026
Soundgarden return to the stage for a Seahawks halftime show with Mike McCready and Taylor Momsen
Kim Thayil and the band will play Lumen Field on September 9, with Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on guitar and Taylor Momsen singing.
Aug 28, 2026