TONE HEROES
Get the secrets behind the sounds as TG dials in 10 of the most iconic guitar tones of all time
AMPS, PEDALS & EFFECTS
Steely Dan – Reelin’intheyears
Elliot Randall attributes the tone on Reelin’ to his 1963 Fender Strat equipped with a retrofitted 1969 Gibson humbucker in the neck position, which he played through a cranked 400 watt Ampeg SVT bass amp. Not exactly a traditional rig, and, unsurprisingly, an unusual guitar sound. To get close to Randall’s tone, select a neck humbucker and set your amp’s EQ on the trebly side. A fuzz pedal may help you get closer to the sizzling highs of that dimed Ampeg.
Def Leppard – Photograph
Phil Collen used his black Ibanez Destroyer alongside Steve Clark who played a Les Paul XR-1 (the forerunner to the Les Paul Studio). Still, these particular guitars aren’t essential – just make sure to use a bridge humbucker for the dirty sounds and solos, but switch to the middle position for the sparkling cleans. A dash of compression and chorus will help your cleans cut through and give you some of the classic glossy 80s production sound.
Van Halen – Ain’ttalk’’boutlove
The swirly sound in the solos came courtesy of Eddie’s MXR Phase 90 pedal (don’t mistake this for the left-panned electric sitar!) set to a slow, low-in-the-mix sound. An Echoplex delay was used throughout, set roughly to a dotted eighth note repeat (about 320 ms at 138 bpm). Finally, kick in a flanger at the end of bar 2 ofthe main riff. Eddie used a Marshall Super Lead amp coupled with an H&H power amp to help create his trademark ‘brown sound’. Many modelling amps will have a suitable preset.
ZZ Top – Gimmeallyourlovin’
This track was cut using Billy Gibbons’ custom Dean Z guitar with a bridge position Dimarzio Super Distortion pickup. The Dean was recorded dry with a Legend 50-watt hybrid unit with valve preamp and transistor power amp. For best results, use a humbucker-equipped guitar, select the drive channel on your amp and keep the treble and mids high and the bass low. If you’re using single coils, increase your gain and maybe dial in a little more bass to compensate for the thinner sound of this type of pickup.
Dire Straits – Brothersinarms
You probably think of a Fender Stratocaster when you think of Mark Knopfler, but he recorded this track with a Gibson Les Paul Standard with neck pickup selected and plugged into a Marshall JTM45 amp. The swells were created using an Ernie Ball volume pedal – a crucial part of the sound! Dial in enough gain on your amp for the loudest licks in the outro solo and back off your guitar volume to reduce
Howsoonisnow? Is regarded as a tremolo classic, but it’s more complicated than that
the distortion on the earlier, cleaner sounding lines. Use a neck position humbucker and a moderate amount of amp gain.
Queens Of The Stone Age – Littlesister
Live, Josh Homme usually uses a humbuckerequipped Motor Ave Belaire with Ampeg and Greedtone amps. We recommend dialing in a very light overdrive sound on your amp and using a fuzz pedal (Josh likely used his Stone Deaf PDF-1 drive pedal) with the treble set fairly low to get a ballpark tone. Choose a guitar with a humbucker and experiment with bridge and neck positions – you may find the neck gets you closer to Josh’s treble-light tone.
Led Zeppelin – Communicationbreakdown
The whole of Led Zeppelin’s debut album was recorded with Jimmy Page’s Dragon art Fender Telecaster with a Supro Coronado 1690T amp, a Sola Sound Tone Bender overdrive, an Echoplex EP-3 tape delay and a Vox wah-wah. A bridge position single coil pickup on a T-style guitar will get you most of the way, but check out Boss’ new Waza Craft TB-2W Tone Bender pedal for authentic Led Zeppelin fuzz tones.
The Police – Messageinabottle
In the early days of The Police, Andy Summers played this track on his Fender Telecaster Custom, usually set to its bridge position single-coil pickup through Marshall 1959 Super Lead heads and Marshall cabs. Ideally set your amp quite loud but without much preamp gain. A flanger gives you Andy’s rounded glassy tone (he used an Electro-harmonix Electric Mistress), and dial in a little compression to increase the sustain.
Soundgarden – Blackholesun
The wobbly-sounding intro line is played using an Ebow and a long stereo delay through a Leslie speaker. A rotary speaker emulator is just the ticket to recreate the signature warble. Kim Thayil most likely used his humbuckerequipped Guild S-100. You need clarity on the low arpeggios so dial in plenty of treble on your amp. A Mesa/boogie-style distortion works well for high-gain sounds. Take care not to use too much gain, though; much of that muddy, ‘grungy’ sound comes from downtuning to drop D, not purely from high gain.
The Smiths – Howsoonisnow?
Johnny Marr’s crowning achievement in The Smiths soundscapery is often heralded as a tremolo-pedal classic, but the actual recording is far more complex than that. The original track features an Epiphone Casino running through a Fender Twin, which was then played back through four Twins set to the vibrato channel. Johnny Marr and producer John Porter struggled to keep the parts vibrating in time, which resulted in the pair recording the riff in 10-second bursts. Thankfully, nowadays you can get a remarkably similar effect using a square-wave tremolo, with tap tempo to sync it to the track’s bpm.