Famous tones, with the recipe.

The defining dotted-eighth delay tone. A bright single-note arpeggio in 6/8 over a sustained organ pad, where the delayed repeats fill the rhythmic space between picked notes and the player only actually picks every third sixteenth. Chiming, hollowed-out top end with almost no low midrange. Recognizable in the first half-bar before the band drops in — the delay IS the part.

Aggressive, midrange-forward, slightly woolly distortion that sits between clean and saturated. The main riff is a Les Paul through a small amp pushed harder than it wants to go, captured by close-mic'd 4x12s with a fair amount of room. Lots of low-mid bark on the open A, with the picking attack still preserved. The breakdown section uses a Theremin and tape manipulation — the rhythm tone alone is what people copy.

Glassy, finger-picked Stratocaster bridge-and-middle position with the volume rolled back to about 7 — that's where the famous 'quack' lives. Compressed but not pedal-compressed, just amp compression at the edge of breakup. Lots of upper-midrange detail and a fast attack from no pick. Often misidentified as a humbucker tone because of the body; it's actually all in the picking-hand pressure.

Clean, slightly compressed acoustic-driven track where the electric only enters in the second half — a big, open-tuned ringing electric chord with substantial room. When the heavy power chords land, it's a Les Paul through Hiwatt with everything wide open: thick midrange, no fizz, just a wall of clean-edged saturation. The electric tone is famous for being huge without being scooped.

The quiet-verse / loud-chorus contrast lives in the pedal. Clean chorused tone (Small Clone) on the verses, then a wide-open Boss DS-1 into a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp slammed for the chorus. Distortion is sharp, slightly fizzy on the top, but the lower mids are scooped enough that the bass and vocal can sit underneath. The chord voicings (power chords with the high E open) ring through the distortion like a bell because they're so wide-voiced.

The intro is the most copied clean Strat tone of the 90s. Position 4 (middle + neck) into a Marshall Major running clean at high volume — there's a faint amp compression sheen but the tone is essentially clean. The picking-hand arpeggios are loose, slightly behind the beat, with the fingers brushing strings as much as picking them. Tone has a warmth and a slight reverb tail that's never on a pedal — it's just the room and the amp at volume.

Wall-of-fuzz lead tone with a singing midrange and tons of sustain — but the attack is still articulate because of cascaded Big Muffs into a cranked Marshall stack. Solos sit above the band like a second vocal. The trick is that the fuzz never sounds collapsed; you can hear bends, vibrato, and string contact. Lots of natural ring from open strings inside chord shapes during the verses.

Bright, fingerpicked clean tone for the verse riff — the famous descending arpeggio that opens the song. Slightly compressed by the amp, with a fast pick attack from his fingerstyle technique (no nails, just fingertip). The outro solo is the same rig but pushed into amp breakup — sharp, slightly bitey lead tone with no pedal distortion at all. The whole texture is bright and airy because of Buckingham's high-action setup and fingerstyle dynamics.

The 'Infinite Guitar' tone — a custom-built sustaining device feeds the signal back into itself, producing endless violin-like notes with no pick attack. Clean Strat through a Vox AC30 with substantial reverb and a long, washy delay. The single-note melody floats over a thick bass groove with no audible picking transients — every note bloomed into being.

Tight, percussive high-gain rhythm tone with searing solo lead. Hot-rodded Marshall with EQ pushed in the upper mids — that 'JCM800 modified by Lee Jackson' sound. The rhythm has chunk on the low E but never gets boomy; the lead has presence without being shrill. Pinch harmonics ring like bells. Heavy reliance on the bridge humbucker's natural compression at the speaker.

Clean, slightly compressed Strat tone with a glassy bell-like quality. The intro arpeggio uses position 2 (bridge + middle) for that thin, articulate top end. The chorus and outro lead is the same rig pushed slightly with an overdrive — never fully saturated. The recorded tone has unmistakable amp room, like the speakers are breathing into the microphones. Frusciante's vibrato is wide and slow, a signature in itself.

Stripped-down riff tone — a 'Arm the Homeless' Strat-style guitar into a Marshall JCM800 with a DigiTech Whammy and a wah, both used as expressive scream-effects. The main riff is dry and articulate; the chorus tone gets the wah parked for a midrange honk; the solos are Whammy dives and scratching. The amp itself is fairly clean — Morello does most of his sound design with pedals layered over basic Marshall grit.

The outro solo tone — singing, slightly compressed Hohner Telecaster-style guitar into a Mesa Boogie Mark IIB pushed hard, with substantial reverb and a touch of chorus. The tone has a sharp pick attack but blooms into singing sustain. Lots of bends finishing on flat notes for emotional ambiguity. Prince used the volume knob heavily for swells — clean for verses, full burn for the climax. Solo tone is bright but not thin, with a presence that sits above the band.

The 'thumb-over-the-neck' rhythm tone — Strat with a Univox Uni-Vibe pulsing slowly underneath. Chord voicings include the thumb on the low E, freeing the other fingers for hammered-on melodies inside the chord. Slight amp breakup, no fuzz. The Uni-Vibe doesn't pulse fast — it's almost a slow chorus, with a watery pitch wobble. Tone has warmth and breath; everything sounds like it's in motion even when the chord isn't changing.

The singing PRS-style lead tone (originally a Gibson SG in 1970, later PRS Custom 24). Saturated humbucker through a Mesa Boogie with substantial sustain on every note. Phrasing is sparse and vocal — long held notes with wide vibrato, then bursts of fast lines. The tone has thick midrange with no fizz, like a saxophone. Reverb is light, mostly amp-room. Most of the sustain is from the amp at volume — not a sustainer or compressor.

The defining big-amp rock solo tone. Black Strat with a Big Muff in front of a Hiwatt DR103, plus an Electric Mistress flanger for the swirly mid-saturation. Notes bloom and sustain forever. The tone is fat in the mids with a slight wool from the Muff. Gilmour's bends finish on the target pitch — every single time. The lead voice cuts through Pink Floyd's spacious mix because the midrange is locked in around 800Hz, where the band leaves room.

'Old Black' — Neil's '53 Goldtop converted to humbuckers — through a 1959 Fender Deluxe overdriven beyond comfortable volume, with a Whizzer doing voltage manipulation to give that distinctive Neil saturation that sits between clean and broken. The riff is heavy on open D strings ringing while Neil hammers chord shapes above them. Crazy Horse is loose enough that the tone has to be loud to hold the rhythm together.

Singing, processed lead tone — Ibanez JEM through Carvin (later Synergy) amps with substantial multi-effects processing. The tone is impossibly smooth, with extreme sustain and a wide stereo delay that makes the lead seem to bloom out in 3D. Vai's vibrato is faster and tighter than blues vibrato, with whammy bar manipulations woven in mid-phrase. The legato runs are clean enough that every note articulates despite the saturation.

Layered arpeggios on a Rickenbacker 330 through a clean Roland JC-120, with multiple guitar tracks (up to 12 according to Marr) creating a chiming bell-like wall of clean tone. Each track is recorded with a slightly different EQ and panning. Chorus from the JC-120 itself adds a glassy shimmer. No pedals — the texture is the layering. The picking is fingerstyle in places, hybrid pick-and-finger in others.

Smooth, slightly compressed lead tone — Gibson Les Paul (Lucy, given to Harrison by Clapton) through a Fender Twin with a touch of Leslie cabinet via mic technique (not always a Leslie pedal). The solo has a vocal, almost human quality — every bend lands and decays musically. Tone is warm with rolled-off treble, sitting in the upper-mid space the strings and bass leave open. No fuzz, just amp warmth.

Open-G tuning Telecaster — five strings (low E removed), tuned G-D-G-B-D. Keith plays the riff with the open strings ringing, creating that distinctive 'half-chord' shimmer. Through a small Fender amp at moderate volume, with light overdrive coming entirely from the amp. The cowbell-trailing intro guitar has a slightly compressed, mid-forward tone. Slide-like inflections without using a slide — just Keith's fingers fretting parts of chords.

Bright, chiming Rickenbacker through a Vox AC30 with light amp breakup. The intro and verse riff is a fingerpicked arpeggio with the 12-string ring giving everything a Byrds-derived shimmer. Solo tone is the same rig pushed slightly more — a moderately bright lead with a 'singing' quality from the AC30's class-A power section. No effects, just amp and guitar.

Single-coil clean tone with a moderate delay set to dotted-eighth, but used more sparsely than 'Streets'. The picking is a slow, deliberate arpeggio of open chord voicings — every note articulates separately before the delay catches it. Tone is bright and pillowy at the same time, with amp room ambience adding depth. Capo at the 7th fret puts the riff in a higher register, contributing to the chime.

The famous 'helicopter' tremolo — multiple guitars playing the same shimmering open chord through Fender amps with synchronized tremolo at high depth. Each guitar's tremolo is set to a slightly different speed, then they're tape-synced manually. The effect is a wide, pulsing shimmer that sounds like one giant guitar. Underneath, a slide guitar plays the bluesy hook. Marr layered up to 8 guitar tracks for this one song.

The crunch BEFORE every chorus — Greenwood famously hits dead-strings as a violent ka-CHUNG before each chorus chord lands. Telecaster bridge pickup through a clean amp with a Boss SD-1 for the verse and a wide-open Big Muff for the chorus. The 'ka-chunk' is muted strings hit with hard right-hand attack, not a real effect. Verse tone is clean and bright; chorus tone is wall-of-Muff fuzz.

Hollowbody Airline guitar through a DigiTech Whammy WH-4 set an octave down — the famous 'bass' line is actually Jack's guitar through the Whammy. The verse riff is mono and dry. The chorus brings in a different chain: red Whammy (Whammy WH-1) for the higher harmonized lead, and a Big Muff for the wall of fuzz. White's recording is intentionally lo-fi — analog tape, room mics, no compression.

The 'brown sound' — Eddie's Frankenstrat (one humbucker, one pickup selector, one volume knob) through a variac-lowered Marshall Super Lead Plexi at extreme volume. The tone is smooth, saturated, vocal — not the harsh JCM800 distortion that came later. The famous tapping section uses no pedals — it's all amp saturation. A short delay (Echoplex) adds slight depth. The MXR Phase 90 gets used for the iconic swirl on certain phrases.

Distorted Edge — a return to dirty rock riff after a long clean phase. Gretsch Falcon into a Vox AC30 pushed hard, with a Fulltone Soul-Bender for the additional saturation. The riff is muted and aggressive, almost punk-like in attack. No big delay throwing the rhythm — this is one of Edge's tightest dry tones. Slight slapback echo, but the rhythm is intentional and not delay-defined.

Heavy-strung Strat into multiple cranked Fender amps in parallel. The tone is fat-edged, with substantial low midrange and a sharp pick attack that's almost percussive. SRV used 13s strung up to E-flat tuning, so every bend works the amp harder than it would on a standard rig. Slight tube grit on the cleanest sections, full saturation on the leads. Reverb is amp spring only — no pedals on the wet end.

Continuum-era Mayer: warm, vocal lead tone that sustains for days but never sounds processed. Black Strat into a Dumble-style amp at concert volume, with a Klon as the always-on transparent boost. The lead playing has wide vibrato and bends that sit on pitch. Tone has a singing top end without being shrill, and a fat midrange that lets every phrase 'speak' clearly.

Polka-dot Strat into a Fender Bassman cranked into hostile overdrive — Buddy's defining loud-and-out-of-control lead tone. The amp is the entire effect chain. Notes break up on attack, then bloom into sustain. His dynamic range is extreme — he can whisper a single note that's still saturated, or rip a bend that nearly clips the room. Tone is bright but never thin, with substantial body from the Strat neck pickup.

The cleanest dirty Chicago blues tone — a 335 (Sumlin's later choice was a Sheraton) into a Fender Twin or Bassman, just barely into breakup. Lots of articulation, no compression, no fuzz. The riffs are syncopated and angular, with that distinctive 'hop' on the upbeats. Tone is mostly bridge pickup with rolled-off tone control, giving a smoky midrange.

Loose, ringing clean tone with a slight haze — like a Strat through a small Fender amp that's been turned up a bit too far, plus a little chorus to smear the chord transitions. The recording is famously rough; the tone has noise floor and amp hum baked in. Power chord choruses get a thin, slightly fizzy overdrive — not heavy, more like a tube screamer barely on. Everything sounds first-take, including the tuning.

Bright, slightly compressed clean tone with a tape-style delay tucked underneath. The riff is single-note arpeggios that ring against each other — the delay isn't dotted-eighth like U2, it's a quarter-note that lets the next note land just as the previous repeat decays. Slight chorus or amp tremolo adds the gentle motion. Compact midrange — nothing scooped, nothing boosted.

Thin, bright, percussive clean tone with rapid sixteenth-note picking — a deliberate evocation of Afropop guitar styles (Diblo Dibala, Franco). Single-coil bridge pickup straight into a small clean amp. No effects audible. The tone is intentionally trebly with almost no low end, so the bassline can do all the bottom work. Picking is hard and consistent, all downstrokes for the main riff.

Detuned, chorus-soaked riff that anchors the song. A Telecaster through a chorus pedal with deep modulation — almost a vibrato level of pitch wobble — straight into a slightly overdriven amp. The verse rhythm has a strange harmonic-laden quality from open strings ringing against the chord shapes. Brock's playing is intentionally rough; muted notes, ghost picks, and slides give the tone an unfinished feel.

Rickenbacker 360 through a small clean amp, played with a pick and lots of open strings ringing inside chord voicings. The tone is jangly and bright, with a slight chime from the Rickenbacker's distinctive electronics. No effects beyond amp reverb. Buck plays with the wrist, not the elbow — small, controlled strums that let the chord ring naturally. The texture is intentionally lo-fi; the early R.E.M. records sound like the band tracked them live in a small room.

Endless wash of clean Jazzmaster through a stacked chain of delays and reverbs — chords become atmospheric pads. Multiple delays at different times create a layered shimmer that obscures the chord changes. Pitch-modulated reverb adds an ethereal sheen. The actual playing is sparse; most of what you hear is processed tail. Two guitar parts overlap throughout, often in different octaves.

The 'glide guitar' tone — a Jazzmaster with the tremolo arm depressed and held throughout, creating pitch wobble on every chord strum. Massive walls of Fender Jaguars stacked through Marshalls with reverse-reverb effects. Chords have no defined attack because the trem arm dive happens AT the moment of strike. The recording layers a dozen or more guitar tracks, all using this technique, so the texture is mountain-thick.

Modern shoegaze wall — multiple high-gain Big Muffs into a Fender amp with a Strymon Big Sky drowning everything in shimmer reverb. The chord is barely audible underneath the texture. Single-coil pickups give the wall a glassy sheen that humbuckers can't replicate. Lower octave layered underneath. The fuzz isn't tight like a thrash tone; it's bloomed-out and washing over the top of the mix.

The 'glide guitar' rhythm — Jazzmaster with constant trem-arm depression during every chord strum, layered through a Marshall with a Yamaha SPX90 doing reverse reverb. The verse chords waver in pitch on each strum. The 'lead' line is buried inside the chord texture, half-melody half-tone. Shields stacks multiple guitars in slightly different tunings to create the shimmer. Every chord has an ascending pitch wobble as the trem releases.

Studio-precise hybrid-picked Tele tone with chicken-pickin' twang and modern country polish. Bridge pickup of a Crook Tele into a Dr. Z amp with light compression and a moderate delay slap. Every note has fast attack from the pick-and-finger combination. Bends and bluegrass-style cascades are clean and articulate. Lots of midrange snap, almost no fuzz or breakup — even the solo stays clean.

The Nashville session tone — Brent's 1968 Tele with custom electronics (humbucker in the middle, single coil bridge, Strat-style 5-way) through a Matchless or Demeter into a Bradshaw rack. Crystal-clear chicken-pickin' on the bridge, fat country-jazz tones in the middle position. Compression keeps every note even regardless of attack. The recording is impossibly clean — that's a Pat McMakin engineering signature as much as it is Brent's pedalboard.

Singing, slightly hollow lead tone with a long sustain — closer to a B.B. King or Larry Carlton tone than a hard country tone. Tele neck pickup or a thinline tone, into a Matchless or Vox-style amp on the edge of breakup. Vibrato is wide and emotive. Gill plays in front of the beat, with bends that sit perfectly on pitch and decay slowly. The recorded tone has a 'studio room' depth to it that's hard to capture live.

Bakersfield-derived twangy Tele tone with rockabilly slap echo. Bridge pickup of a Clarence White-style B-bender Tele into a clean Fender amp, with substantial slapback tape echo (around 110-130ms, one repeat). Every note jumps off the front of the beat. Some songs add a touch of reverb spring, but the slap echo IS the effect.

The blueprint for metal rhythm tone. SG with custom-wound humbuckers (Iommi's lighter touch on guitar due to fingertip injuries shaped his right-hand technique) into a Laney Supergroup pushed hard. Riffs use thirds and tritones in a low register, with the amp providing all the saturation — no fuzz pedal needed at this point in Sabbath history. Tone is fat in the low mids, with a slight wool on the top end. Power chords sound massive but not scooped.

Tight, scooped, chunky high-gain rhythm tone that defined American thrash. Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ with the famous V-EQ pulled into a scooped midrange shape, paired with a precision-tight palm-muted right hand. The tone is impossibly clean for how heavy it sounds — the noise gate is wide open and the chugs articulate perfectly. The bridge humbucker is hot, the strings are 10-46, and the picks are thick.

Exotic-scale lead with a singing midrange and lots of sustain — Friedman's signature mix of Japanese folk modes and shred technique. Jackson Soloist into a modified Marshall, with the gain set high but not extreme. Notes ring through with vibrato that's wider and slower than standard shred vibrato. The whammy bar gets used as a melodic instrument, not just for divebombs.

Aggressive, scooped, high-gain rhythm that sits between thrash and groove metal. Randall solid-state head (Dimebag wasn't using Krank yet) driven hard with a Boss EQ in the loop shaping the midrange. Pinch harmonics scream because of the bridge humbucker's high output. Solos use heavy whammy bar work and tap-and-pull techniques. Tone has a metallic edge that's recognizable from the first chug.

Modern eight-string djent tone — Ibanez RG2228 into a Fractal Axe-Fx with a high-gain Mesa-style amp model. Extreme tightness on palm-muted low B chugs, with the upper strings articulate enough for tapped harmonics and arpeggios. Active EMG humbuckers give a clinically precise attack with no flubby low end. The tone is scooped at 500Hz, boosted at 3kHz for clarity. Layered with clean piano-like passages using the same guitar.

Spacious, slightly detuned clean tone with a long delay creating loop-like textures. Telecaster (occasionally Klein electric) into a small Gibson amp, with a digital delay set for long, lush repeats. The playing leaves room — single notes ring out, with delays layering on top of themselves into something like a fog. Tone has a warm midrange with rolled-off treble. Volume swells using the volume knob (no pedal) blur the attack of each note.

The 'Metheny tone' — Gibson ES-175 (later 335) through an Acoustic 134 with a Lexicon Prime Time digital delay. Warm, woody body tone with a slight chorus-like shimmer from the delay. Single-coil-like clarity from the neck humbucker with tone rolled back. Lots of legato in the playing — hammer-ons and pull-offs blend with the delay's repeats to create a flowing line. No distortion, no overdrive, just amp warmth.

Hollow-body jazz tone interrupted by sudden pitch-shifted slurs from a Line 6 DL4 — a signature of Halvorson's. Clean Guild Artist Award into a small amp, with delay manipulations that bend notes mid-sustain. The acoustic-bodied warmth is interrupted by these glitchy, modulated dives that sound like the strings are warping. Otherwise traditional jazz voicings and walking lines.

Hollow-body jazz tone with a touch of edge — Sco's Ibanez AS200 into a vintage Vox AC30 just at the edge of breakup. The tone is fat in the mids with a slight rasp on hard-picked notes. Funky single-note lines snake around 16th-note patterns from drums and organ. The pick attack is loose and behind the beat — Sco's distinctive 'lazy' phrasing. Reverb is amp spring with light room mic'ing. No flashy effects, just amp warmth at the edge.

Stax sound — Telecaster bridge pickup into a small Fender amp, picked hard and palm-muted lightly. Every accent is a sharp, percussive stab on the upbeat. No effects, no reverb, no compression. Tone is intentionally dry and trebly to cut through horns. Cropper plays mostly upper-string voicings; he leaves the bottom for Duck Dunn's bass and the horns.

Hollow-body warmth with rich, fingerstyle chord melodies. Gibson ES-335 into a Fender Twin, all clean. The tone has a dark midrange with rolled-off treble — Dupree played with the tone control around 4. Reverb is amp spring only, used liberally. Notes have a slight bloom because of how he uses his thumb-and-fingers attack on the strings. Plays inversions and substitutions inside a rhythm guitar role.

The 'hitmaker' Strat — Nile's 1960 Stratocaster ('the Hitmaker') in position 2 (bridge + middle) straight into a Fender amp, mostly clean with a hint of compression from the amp itself. The right hand is the entire effect — sixteenth-note muted strums with the picking hand never lifting from the strings. Tone is bright, percussive, and articulate. Every chord is a partial voicing, leaving room for the bass. Zero pedals; pure technique.

Telecaster bridge pickup picked clean and bright through a Fender amp — Robertson's articulation is the tone. Hybrid picking with flatpick and fingers gives every chord a slightly different attack on each string. Tone is bright but not thin, with a slight room-mic ambience. No effects. The licks between vocal phrases are tasteful country-blues phrases. Robertson plays around the singer rather than fighting for space.

The textbook reggae skank tone. Stratocaster bridge pickup through a Fender Twin set entirely clean, with the tone control rolled back on the guitar to about 6. Right-hand attack is muted and percussive — the chord plays for an eighth-note and is immediately damped. Tone is dark and short, almost no sustain. The 'effect' is the rhythm placement: chord lands on the off-beat ('two' and 'four'), never on the downbeat.

Junior Marvin's lead reggae tone — Les Paul Custom (originally a Strat-style) through a Fender Twin with light amp breakup. Tone has a slight overdrive bloom on sustained notes, but the rhythm parts stay clean. Solos use blues vocabulary over reggae chord changes, with bends that are slower and more deliberate than rock vibrato. Reverb is amp spring with a touch added in the mix. Often doubled an octave higher on lead lines.