What makes for a great guitar tone? How often do you hear people saying this line:
"Tone is all in the fingers".
But is it? Weeeeeell...I'd say yes and no. It’s true that a great player can make anything sound good just as much as it’s also true that expensive gear doesn’t disguise bad technique.
Great players also sound amazing, but you still need the correct tools for the job. To me, great tone is about having awesome technique and having the right set up. AND it’s also about applying the right type of sound at the right time. It’s a blend of these three elements that produces the unforgettable magic that makes us love certain guitar parts.
Today's blog highlights a number of sterling examples of this holy trinity in full flight. It's not easy to whittle the entirety of guitar history into a few entries in a blog, but I hope you'll agree with at least some of my efforts and decisions today. Will 'great tone' mean the same thing to me as it does you?
Rather than setting these out chronologically, I think it’s interesting to look at these examples away from the context of time and appreciate them purely for sonics. After all, this is how we all listen to music anyway! I hope you get some inspiration from how some of your fellow guitar players have approached their sounds, so come with me and let's find out just what are the greatest guitar tones ever!
Here we go!
The Greatest Tones at a Glance
Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
Money For Nothing – Dire Straits
Flash and Crash – Rocky and the Riddlers
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
Bringing up all the romance of the 50s with a hint of darkness, the late James Calvin Wilsey’s twang-tastic licks made Wicked Game a sultry classic even before we got to Isaak’s yearning voice.
The leads on Wicked Game were played on a white 60s reissue Fender Stratocaster (not a vintage Strat, a new one!) into a Fender Silverface amp, with a generous helping of reverb and a subtle delay. The rest is indeed a combination of great touch, taste and whammy bar technique. Who wouldn’t want to sound like this?
Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
As mysterious as the pyramids, as inscrutable as the sphinx, this long-form epic is rightly heralded as a guitar nirvana for those who appreciate space, melody, timing and drama.
There are many David Gilmour moments that could’ve been selected for this article, but I think that the relatively clean, undistorted tone here shows off his technique and touch more than any fuzzier moments from Dark Side etc. With this clean, wide open tone, there’s nowhere to hide! Gilmour demonstrates a great deal of artistry on this piece.
For this song, Gilmour used his famous Black Strat, set at the neck pickup and using a heavy plectrum. His amps were a Fender Dual Showman and a Hiwatt DR103, both of which were, according to reports, played at terrifying volume! Maybe change out volume for a compressor to help with the slight ‘squash’ he gets?
Miserlou – Dick Dale
This is a great example of also taking a Strat, some Fender Showman valve amps, excessive volume and coming to an entirely different tonal conclusion! Dale’s surf epic, based on an Eastern European folk melody, is pure attitude and swagger.
Lefty Dick Dale played his gold sparkle Strat (the Beast) with massive 10-60 gauge strings, strung like an upside down right handed guitar, with the low E at the bottom of the neck. His Dual Showman amps were in fact invented by Leo Fender for Dale, since he had a habit of blowing up amps by pushing them too far. What a guy!
Miserlou is a very physical piece to play, no matter how skilled you are. Dexterity and stamina are required to get through it convincingly, which is a real testament to what Dale was able to summon up on his instrument. Judging by how he pummelled his guitars, his plectrums must’ve lasted about a third of a song! It’s one of the greatest rock guitar instrumentals ever recorded though, and the tone is fierce! Dig in!
Sheik – ZZ Top
Tone connoisseur Billy Gibbons was always a sure shot for this list, such is his level of taste and ability to create superb tone. We all love Gimme All Your Lovin’ and Sharp Dressed Man, but for some truly superlative sonics, we’ve gone back to the Texan trio’s third album, Tres Hombres, to find some real gold.
We all know that Billy’s got the touch, but check out that Wah-wah control! That’s some advanced feel right there. Most players tend to rock their wah back and forth in time with the tune, which is super-boring. Take a leaf out of Reverend Willy’s book with this sterling example of stupendous playing.
Mr Gibbons used Pearly Gates, his ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard here, along with a Vox Clyde McCoy wah and (we think) either a Marshall Lead 12 or a Blonde Fender Bassman. Remember, 7-gauge strings and an old Mexican peso are what Billy uses! Throw them rules out the door!
Money For Nothing – Dire Straits
Every uncle at a wedding is required to air guitar this immense hit from Knopfler and his crew. Why not? It’s one hell of a guitar part, with a dramatic lead up that properly frames its genius.
We’ll dodge the entirely questionable lyrical content and stick to the tone, because it’s quite exceptional. So, how did Knopfler get that sound? Well...there’s a lot been written and said about it. There was a wah, there wasn’t a wah... from what I can piece together, the engineer Neil Dorfsman said they were aiming for a ‘Billy Gibbons tone’, interestingly enough, but used a Les Paul Junior rather than the awesome (and surely more appropriate?) ’59 Les Paul Standard shown in the neon-encrusted video for the song.
On top of that, there was a Laney 2x12 amp and a Shure SM57 which apparently ended up being accidentally pointed towards the floor for the actual recording. If there was a wah, it seems to be that it was a Morley, again, according to Dorfsman. I don't hear a wah pedal here, but I'll let you investigate this particular case further on your own. However it was achieved, it’s a fantastic sound!
Flash and Crash – Rocky and the Riddlers
I first heard this unbelievable tune back in the past (well, the early 00s...) when music magazines stuck carefully curated CDs to their front pages. Remember that? Well, I found this song on one of those and never forgot about it. The first thing you hear on this tune is one of the scuzziest, most evil guitar sounds ever recorded, followed by a fantastic, strutting groove and some awesome Garage-Punk vocals. It’s fantastic!
Sadly, there isn’t much info out there on this band. The members, the songs (apart from this one) and almost everything else is a bit of mystery, apart from the fact that they were based in Seattle and that this song is from 1966. That’s it! Who played guitar? What guitar did he use? I have no idea. It’s like a theme tune from an unmade Tarantino film, so possibly they still exist in some parallel universe. Here’s hoping!
Machine Gun – Jimi Hendrix
This is an insane display of genius guitar playing from the maestro himself, from an album that’s an entirely live recording. Machine Gun, at 12 minutes, is one of Hendrix’s longest compositions, but as it stands, it’s as much a Holy Grail moment as Voodoo Child (Slight Return).
Hendrix’s damning critique of the Vietnam war is expressed through howls of rage and despair, with an electrifying performance that has perhaps never been equalled. The great part is, to be honest, all of it, but the 4 minute mark is where you’ll hear the famous sustaining note.
Jimi used one of his black and white Strats (it goes markedly out of tune after his whammy frenzy half-way through) into a full Marshall plexi stack (with 6550 power tubes). This is Jimi’s most overt use of the Uni-Vibe, which squelches its liquid gold tone throughout the entire track. He also had a wah (Crybaby or Vox, we aren’t sure), an Axis Fuzz, a Fuzz Face and a Roger Mayer Octavia at his feet. Feedback, therefore volume, plays a major part in this song, too. In the hands of a master it’s a thrill on quite another level.
The Fly – U2
If one were to talk generally about The Edge’s guitar tone, I definitely don’t think this song would spring to mind! His iconic dotted delay clean tone is what he’s famous for, but this particular sound is, by some margin, his most incredible to my mind. Dirty, difficult to pin down and full of groove, The Fly (it pushed the Ninja Turtles tune off the no1 spot in the UK charts) is one of the greatest guitar tones ever created.
So, there is obviously quite a lot going on here! The video shows Edge playing his cream Gibson Les Paul Custom, but I reckon the recording was made with one of his many Fender Strats: this particular tone’s size comes more from the dollops of delay and reverb used than from a thick sounding guitar like a Les Paul.
There’s a bunch of overdrive there too, more that you usually hear with the Edge, and some definite wah pedal use. The wah seems to be used more as a tone filter: the intro has a nasal twang and the solo has lots of sonic movement. I also hear some sort of modulation, but it’s such a mercurial sound, it could be a few things...
Since The Edge owns an unholy amount of pedals and processors, it isn’t easy to accurately predict what he used for this particular song. At this period, he was fond of Chandler Tube Drivers, and the delays are almost certainly from his TC 2290 units. Edge fans will know that many of the adventurous tones on Achtung Baby were helped along by a Korg A2 rack unit, so that may well have played a part in the resulting sound. I can be sure about him using his old 1964 Vox AC30 combos, though!
There is, however, another important piece of potential evidence here. It’s little-known and therefore perhaps not true, but I'm sure I read somewhere that the Edge, unhappy with his guitar’s sound in the overall mix, went back and laid down an additional overdub directly on top of the semi-final mix! This most unorthodox of moves may explain why it’s so hard to pin this tone down: one guitar alone cannot achieve it! Certainly, live performances of the song never sound like the recorded version, so perhaps there’s a grain of truth in this mysterious tale...
Unchained – Van Halen
As with Billy Gibbons, it’s no great surprise to find Eddie Van Halen on my list today. His ‘Brown’ sound is still the ultimate tone goal for most hard rock players, after all! Having said that, VH fans don’t always agree on the best particular flavour of brown that they consider to be the defining example.
I’d say that his tone from the David Lee Roth years is broadly similar, with tiny nuances that could be down to various factors. Eddie is known as a tinkerer of his equipment, never able to leave things alone without first sawing into it or dipping it in wax. Debate rages on about what he played on which song, but I don't want to bog you down with all that, because I already know what his best tone was. It was this one:
Yes, Unchained is not only a stonker of a riff, it’s the best example of the Brown sound that’s out there! I also think the genius addition of an MXR flanger, kicked in during the riff’s palm-muted pedal tone notes, sends it over the edge into greatness. Here’s what Eddie says:
“I was just goofing off and experimenting. It wouldn’t have sounded good to use the flanger all the way through. The riff just needed a little bit here and there. It’s a cool, tasty little tidbit that I threw in there to draw attention to the riff.”
Apart from the MXR flanger, Unchained was Eddie’s Frankenstein guitar and his modded Marshall. Lots of gain, lots of upper mids, total attitude. 9-gauge strings are the way here, though Ed’s daftly thin .60mm plectrums are a bit much: they may work for him but I recommend trying a selection of gauges before slavishly copying this eccentric choice for shredding! Secret tip: Eddie held his pick between thumb and middle finger, not index! It lets you tap easier...
Sad But True – Metallica
Is this the best heavy guitar sound ever? It could well be. Since Metallica’s Black album was released in 1991, every Rock and Metal guitarist has tried to nab the sound, so I’d say it’s influential to say the least!
James Hetfield (Kirk Hammett only played solos on the records of this era) had already shown the world he was the boss of the monster-toned metal riff with the band's Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All albums. His ability to create bone-shaking riffs that were also catchy and groovy was well established. Even so, his efforts on the Black Album (nobody uses its eponymous ‘actual’ title) went off the chart.
The main riff is beyond mighty, but how about that tone?! Captain Crunch or what? So, just how did Hetfield achieve it? Well, apart from being a fantastic guitarist, he also threw tons of cash on his rig: this type of tone is as expensive as it sounds...
His guitars were custom made ESP Explorer models. This track used the now discontinued MX-220 model, which nowadays is close to ESP’s EX models. EMG pickups are the way to go: the immortal 81 in the bridge and a 61 in the neck. The guitar was strung with 11-gauge strings and tuned down one whole step to D standard.
Papa Het used his famed Mesa Boogie Mark IIC++ amp, which was his main tool on previous Metallica records. Most people expect this to have been a Mesa Dual Rectifier but that is not actually the case! The Boogie’s graphic EQ was ‘scooped’ to remove the mids (the EQ curve resembles a grin), especially at the 1.2kHz point. Importantly, the signal was then routed through two Aphex EQs and and Aphex expander/Compressor, adding a sheen of production.
That’s not all! This setup provided the main rhythm tracks, but a Marshall amp was also used for additional overdubs in order to bring back some of the mids chopped from the Boogie. This is one of the missing puzzle pieces! Also, further tracks were laid down using a Jerry Jones baritone guitar which was tuned an entire octave beneath the already downtuned ESP guitars.
And that’s still not all! For the final spikes atop this impenetrable fortress of tone, further overdubs were added for just the chug-chug palm muted bits! Just for extra heaviness!
This attention to detail and steadfast commitment to achieving a singular vision is why Metallica have the best heavy guitar sound ever.
Wonderful Land - The Shadows
There are legions of guitar fans out there whose entire interest is in completely nailing Hank Marvin’s tone. I get it! It’s one of those life quests that some people just have to embark on. Now, when I hear Hank and the Shadows, I hear great tone, great melodies and a wonderful sense of magical nostalgia. But it doesn’t seem like that tone is particularly unattainable: all you need is a vintage 1959 Strat, a Vibrolux amp from the same year, vintage tape echo and reverb, and a touch that is basically perfect.
Why are these people making it so complicated?
Run To You - Brian Adams
For a while, this ultra-80s clean guitar with chorus was horrifically out of fashion. Then something happened within culture and these super-processed 80s tones became excellent again. Fine by me!
Brian Adams’ seminal tune is a stone called classic already, but those arpeggios at the start? As my colleague once said, it’s ‘on point’. You need a Strat set to the bridge pickup, some nice compression, chorus and delay, then fire it into a classic valve amp for some very light overdrive.
Total Invasion - Killing Joke
The late, great Geordie Walker serves up one of the most grizzled, gritty and caustic distorted tones my ears have ever heard! The Killing Joke legend had a consistently good tone throughout his career, but this one is a real triumph of ‘there-ness’!
The most surprising thing? His guitar choice. Fans will already know - because he only ever used one guitar for 99.5% of his work - but for those less informed in the ways of Walker, his main squeeze was a 1950s fully hollow Gibson ES-295, complete with P90 pickups! For THAT sound?! Next time somebody tells you that you need EMGs or Fishman Fluences to ‘get the heavy’, simply play them this tune and wait for them to make their excuses.
3 Hours - Nick Drake
I’m mainly focused on electric guitars for this blog, but it seems worthwhile to include an acoustic entry too. There’s a lot of lovely sounding acoustics out there in the world’s record collections, but there’s something extra-special about Nick Drake’s sound on this song from Five Leaves Left that really hits.
The extended intro allows that rhythmic fingerpicking to really breathe. It’s not showy playing, but instead very human, with details of fingers on metal that brings an intimacy to the performance. A Martin user, I believe Nick’s D-28 is what we hear on this track.
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
This song is why so many people continue to choose the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff for their pedal boards. Well, it’s one of the reasons! You’ll need an Op-Amp version of the pedal for true adherence, and then whack it into the front end of a Marshall JCM800 that has the output volume maxed but input gain minimised.
This wall of sound is what most people think of when they refer to Billy Corgan’s knack for creating quality tones. The guitar involved here is most likely his reissue 57 Strat (bought from drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, trivia fans) and loaded with Lace Sensor pickups. There’s definitely some layering going on here, and it’s likely all Corgan. Despite the Pumpkins having two players (James Iha) at the time - they now have three - it’s a well known fact that Corgan played all of the guitar and bass parts on Siamese Dream, the album from which Cherub Rock exists.
Crash and Burn - Sheryl Crow
It’s not often that session guys get a shout out in these sorts of blogs unless it's Steve Lukather or those types of ‘name players’. I’m happy to reverse that trend here, with a guitar performance that is not only expressive and evocative, but brings a number of world class tones to the deal, all in one performance.
The guitarist is Val McCallum, and I actually reached out to him to ask about his amazing performance. Here's the gear he used: Sheryl’s 1961 Telecaster (original wiring so the neck pickup has the tone rolled off), a Matchless 2x12 combo, a Custom Audio Electronics Freddy fuzz, and a rack containing a tremolo and a univibe. McCallum changed pickups back and forth mid-performance for further tone changes. It’s a masterpiece!
Animal - Def Leppard
There are stories of some pretty extreme recording methods attached to Def Leppard’s gazillion-selling Hysteria album. Apparently producer Mutt Lange got the band to record their guitar chords one note at a time, building multiple tracks to make out the chords.
Three years in the making, a drummer losing his arm in a car crash and 25 million albums sales later, the title of the record seems appropriate indeed. Those guitars sound incredible though, in a very ‘impossibly 80s' way. This is possibly thanks to the overt use of the infamous Rockman headphone amp/preamp, which Lange layered up in dozens of tracks to form a guitar of pop-metal symphony.
Guitar Forever
This updated and expanded edition of the Greatest Guitar Tones Ever has hopefully brought together more of those fine moments of sublime tones that you love. There are so many ways to get a wonderful guitar sound, and I suppose I appreciate the players who take their tone into unexpected dimensions. Whether it’s James Hetfield overdubbing his palm mutes for serious heaviness, or Phil Collen tracking his chords one note at a time, these different approaches are all candy to my ears, and hopefully yours. And it’s not just the tone-obsessives who get credit here: one of my favourites on the list is Flash & Crash, which is surely not a sound that was agonised over prior to it being recorded!
The take away here is hopefully that there is no single route to great tone: all of these artists followed their own inspiration and reaped some quite individual results. I invite you to do the same, because it’s far more fun than just copying somebody else!
