Ronald Jones (born November 26, 1970) is an American musician, who was a guitarist in the Oklahoma rock band The Flaming Lips from 1991 to 1996.
He specialized in a unique, abstract style of playing, which involved using a plethora of effects pedals. This playing style was reportedly honed during the large amounts of time that Jones used to spend in his bedroom playing. According to the book Staring at Sound by Jim DeRogatis, Ronald Jones is of African-American and Filipino descent.
Jones left the band after confronting his bandmates and forcing them to choose between him and fellow member Steven Drozd. The official website states that Jones had a "moral conflict" with Drozd, while the 2005 documentary film The Fearless Freaks states that it was Jones' paranoia over Drozd's drug use that led to Jones' departure. Jones' departure is also said to be related to agoraphobia.
Other than his work with the Flaming Lips, Jones produced, played guitar and percussion, and added his vocals on the Richard Davies album Telegraph, and was involved to some extent with producing a Norman, Oklahoma band called The Tea Set Colony, though they have since changed their name to The Colonists and Jones' involvement is unclear.
Jones' primary guitar of choice during his time in The Flaming Lips was a Fender Jaguar. He used a Surf Green and Sunburst model (both vintage). Both were modified with Seymour Duncan Hotrails pickups in the bridge and middle positions. He also played a '70s Fender Telecaster with a hotrails pickup in the bridge. For stage work, his primary amplification was a pair of Roland Jazz Chorus amps, wired for stereo. Jones used a very large number of effects units for live and recorded work, many of which he built or modified himself. In addition to traditional distortion and fuzz units, he is known to have used multiple Eventide Harmonizers, a customized reverse wah pedal, and a hand-held telephone receiver wired to his amp output which could be used to generate feedback.