In live performance, Dewan accompanies his singing with a home-built electric zither, outfitted with eight humbucker pickups and 88 strings, sometimes piped through a leslie cabinet or guitar effects pedals.
The instrument featured bound headstock and neck, neck-through construction, Schaller locking tremolo system, two Jackson J200 single coil pickups (neck and middle), one Jackson JC50BC humbucker at the bridge, JE-1200 mid-boost, "Toothpaste Logo" headstock, and sharkfin inlaid position markers.
Dr. Matt typically plays a 1970s Fender Telecaster Bass which differs from the 1950s Telecaster Bass in that the bass has a humbucker rather than a single coil pickup (note: In the "Hate to Say I Told You So" music video, he plays a Rickenbacker bass) in the band's signature white/black color combo through a white Hiwatt amplifier; he almost always uses bass distortion and a pick.
The original single-coil pickup was replaced in 1957 with a new split-coil pickup with staggered polepieces, connected in a humbucking mode; however, Fender never emphasized this, as the Seth Lover patent on the humbucking pickup had not yet expired.