Find your tone.

Thunderstruck opens with Angus Young's iconic tapping intro on the B string, creating a rapid-fire pattern that sounds like lightning. His SG through a cranked Marshall produces a bright, cutting tone with enough gain for the tapped notes to ring out clearly. The tone is raw and aggressive with the SG's bridge humbucker providing a sharp, biting attack that cuts through the mix.

Gravity is the ultimate showcase of Mayer's dynamic touch on a Stratocaster. The tone is remarkably clean -- almost no overdrive from the amp, just the pure sound of a great Strat through a boutique Two Rock amplifier. Every nuance of pick attack, finger pressure, and volume knob adjustment is audible. The Klon Centaur is always on but set extremely low, adding just a touch of harmonic richness and compression.

The grinding, heavy riff tone that opens Whole Lotta Love. Jimmy Page's Les Paul through a cranked Marshall Super Lead produces a thick, aggressive overdrive with singing sustain. The riff is played in standard tuning with the neck pickup for extra fatness, then the solo sections use the bridge pickup for a more cutting tone. Page also used a theremin and backwards echo for the psychedelic middle section.

Wonderwall's guitar tone is a wall of jangly, layered acoustic and electric guitar. The electric guitar parts use an Epiphone Riviera semi-hollow through a Marshall, producing a bright, chiming rhythm tone. The semi-hollow body adds natural resonance and airiness, while the Marshall provides just enough crunch to give the chords bite without overwhelming the song's delicate melodic quality. Multiple guitar layers and a capo create the signature Britpop wall of sound.

The arpeggiated intro to Stairway to Heaven uses a Telecaster through a small Supro amp for a warm, clean tone with subtle compression. As the song builds, the tone gradually shifts from clean fingerpicking to heavier strumming. The famous solo section uses a Les Paul through a cranked Marshall for a completely different character -- singing sustain with aggressive attack.

Enter Sandman introduced a new, more polished Metallica rhythm sound. Hetfield's ESP through a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV with a scooped midrange and tight low end creates the punchy, percussive tone that defined the Black Album. Compared to the rawer Master of Puppets tone, Enter Sandman is more controlled, more produced, and heavier in the low end thanks to Bob Rock's production.

The blistering solo on Time features one of the most aggressive tones in Gilmour's catalog. A Stratocaster through a Big Muff Pi into a cranked Hiwatt DR103 creates a thick, sustaining fuzz tone with singing upper harmonics. The Binson Echorec delay adds rhythmic repeats that fill the sonic space. Gilmour's precise bending and vibrato bring the notes to life over the massive sustain.

Brian May's tone on Bohemian Rhapsody is built on a unique combination: his homemade Red Special guitar played with a sixpence coin, a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster slamming the front end of a Vox AC30. The treble booster adds gain and upper-harmonic sparkle, pushing the AC30's Top Boost channel into a rich, creamy overdrive. May's multi-tracked guitar harmonies on this song create an orchestral wall of sound, but each individual guitar part has this distinctive bright, singing character.

Dimebag Darrell's tone on Walk is one of the tightest, most aggressive rhythm guitar sounds in metal history. His Dean ML through a solid-state Randall Century 200 produces a razor-sharp, scooped distortion with surgical precision. The solid-state Randall's tight, unforgiving response is the secret weapon: unlike tube amps that compress and round off transients, the Randall delivers every pick attack with brutal clarity. The tone is heavily scooped in the midrange, with boosted lows and highs creating the signature groove metal scoop.

The four-note opening motif of Shine On You Crazy Diamond is one of the most recognizable guitar phrases ever played. Gilmour's Stratocaster through a Hiwatt with a compressor and delay produces a tone of infinite sustain and crystalline clarity. The notes ring out with an almost vocal quality, each one sustaining until the next is played. The tone relies on precise gain staging: enough sustain to carry each note but not so much distortion that clarity is lost.

Welcome to the Jungle features a more aggressive, higher-gain version of Slash's Les Paul through Marshall tone compared to Sweet Child O' Mine. The opening wah-filtered harmonics lead into a pummeling riff with thick distortion and tight low end. Slash used an Alesis Midiverb for the pitch-shifted intro effect.

Panama showcases Eddie Van Halen's legendary brown sound in its most refined form. The Frankenstrat with a single bridge humbucker runs through a modified Marshall Super Lead with an MXR Phase 90 adding subtle modulation. The tone is thick, warm, and harmonically rich with that signature compressed sustain. The Phase 90 adds a gentle swirl that thickens the tone without being obviously phasey.

The most iconic rhythm guitar tone in hard rock. Angus Young's tone on Back in Black is deceptively simple: a Gibson SG plugged straight into a cranked Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi) with nothing in between. No pedals, no effects, no tricks. The entire sound comes from the interaction between the SG's bridge humbucker and the amp pushed to the edge of breakup. The bright, biting attack of the SG cuts through the mix, while the Plexi's warm British overdrive provides just enough grit without losing note clarity. Malcolm Young's identical rig on rhythm creates the massive wall of sound.

Creep's dynamic shift from delicate clean arpeggios to crushing distorted chords is one of the most dramatic in rock. Greenwood's Telecaster Plus runs through a Fender Eighty Five amp for the clean verses. Before each chorus, he smashes the strings with a Marshall Shredmaster engaged, creating that iconic crunching noise that signals the heavy section. The contrast between whisper-quiet cleans and massive distortion defines the song.

Fade to Black begins with one of metal's most beautiful clean arpeggios before building to a wah-drenched lead solo. Hammett's ESP through a Mesa Boogie with a Cry Baby wah creates two distinct tones: the clean intro uses the neck pickup through a clean channel for crystalline arpeggios, while the solo engages the lead channel with a wah for Hammett's signature vocal phrasing.

Randy Rhoads' tone on Crazy Train combines classical precision with heavy metal aggression. His Les Paul Custom through a cranked Marshall with an MXR Distortion+ produces a tight, articulate distortion with singing sustain. The iconic opening riff requires precise note separation and a tone with enough gain for sustain but enough clarity for the rapid alternate picking passages. Rhoads' classical training meant every note was deliberate, and his tone reflected that precision.

The hypnotic riff of Do I Wanna Know? is built on a dark, fuzzy tone with heavy reverb. Turner's Jazzmaster-style guitar through a Vox AC30 with fuzz creates a thick, murky groove that sits low in the mix. The riff uses a slow, deliberate picking style with the notes slightly muted for a percussive, almost drum-like quality.

SRV's cover of Hendrix's Little Wing is a masterclass in blues tone and dynamics. His Stratocaster through a Vibroverb with a Tube Screamer produces a warm, singing tone that honors Hendrix while adding SRV's characteristic power and aggression. The tone is fatter and more driven than Hendrix's original, with heavier strings providing more body and sustain. SRV's version features extensive chord melody work that demands both clean articulation and overdrive sustain.

Adam Jones' tone on Schism is dark, heavy, and mid-focused. A Les Paul in drop-D tuning through a Diezel VH4 and Mesa Rectifier blend creates a massive wall of low-end with enough midrange clarity to articulate the complex time signature changes. Jones uses minimal effects, relying on the raw power of the guitar and amp for his huge sound.

The tone that invented heavy metal. Tony Iommi's SG through a cranked Laney produces a thick, grinding, dark distortion that is the foundation of doom and heavy metal. The Rangemaster treble booster pushes the Laney into heavy saturation while maintaining note definition. Iommi's prosthetic fingertips and light string gauge contribute to a slightly looser, more aggressive attack.

The Trooper's galloping rhythm and harmonized lead melodies defined the Iron Maiden sound. Murray's Stratocaster through a Marshall produces a bright, cutting tone with enough midrange to carry the twin-guitar harmonies. The tone is aggressive but not excessively distorted -- clarity is essential for the fast, galloping triplet picking patterns.

Plug In Baby features Matt Bellamy's signature combination of heavy fuzz and a DigiTech Whammy for the iconic riff. The Manson guitar runs through a fuzz pedal into a cranked Marshall for a thick, aggressive distortion, while the Whammy adds an octave-up effect that gives the riff its distinctive screaming, synth-like quality. The riff itself is a rapid-fire chromatic run that is instantly recognizable.

Carlos Santana's tone on Smooth is all about singing sustain and warm midrange. His PRS guitar through a Mesa Boogie Mark I produces a creamy, vocal-like lead sound that sustains endlessly. The midrange is emphasized heavily, giving each note a horn-like quality. The amp is pushed hard for natural compression, and the guitar's neck humbucker provides warmth without muddiness. This is a tone built for long, melodic phrases where every note sings.

No One Knows features Josh Homme's signature desert rock tone: an Ovation GP guitar detuned to C-standard through an Ampeg bass amp for a thick, woolly wall of low-end. The unconventional use of a bass amp gives the guitar an enormous, earth-shaking fundamental that no guitar amp can replicate. The tone is heavy but not conventionally distorted -- it's more of a massive, compressed crunch.

Billy Gibbons' tone on La Grange is a grinding, bluesy crunch built on a Les Paul through a Marshall Plexi pushed by a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster. The Rangemaster adds searing upper harmonics and extra gain, driving the Plexi into rich, sustained overdrive. Gibbons' picking technique -- including his signature pinch harmonics -- makes each note scream with harmonic overtones. The tone is aggressive enough for rock but rooted deeply in Texas blues tradition.

Lonely Boy's riff is a raw, fat, garage-rock tone built on simplicity: a Les Paul Junior with a single P-90 pickup into a cranked small amp. The tone is warm, slightly fuzzy, and dripping with character from the amp's natural breakup. No fancy effects -- just a guitar, a cable, and a loud amp doing what they do best.

Joe Satriani's tone on Surfing with the Alien is a fluid, singing lead sound designed for legato playing and whammy bar acrobatics. The Ibanez JS guitar's high-output DiMarzio pickups drive a cranked Marshall into smooth saturation, while a wah pedal adds expression and a delay provides spacious depth. The tone has enough gain for effortless legato runs but enough clarity for each note to speak distinctly during rapid passages. This is the quintessential instrumental rock guitar tone.

Keith Richards' tone on Start Me Up is the sound of rock and roll rhythm guitar stripped to its essence. A Telecaster in open-G tuning (with the low E string removed, making it a 5-string guitar) through a cranked Fender Twin Reverb. The open tuning allows Richards to play full, ringing chords with a single finger barred across the fretboard, creating a big, open sound. The Twin Reverb's clean headroom preserves the jangly brightness of the Telecaster, while the slight natural breakup from playing hard gives it attitude.

SRV's tone on Texas Flood (the title track) is a slow blues masterclass in dynamics and touch sensitivity. Unlike the driving shuffle of Pride and Joy, Texas Flood is about sustain, bending, and raw emotion at lower tempos. The tone is heavier and more saturated, with the Tube Screamer pushing the Vibroverb harder and the neck pickup providing warmth for singing, sustained bends. SRV's vibrato is wider and slower here, letting each note breathe and decay naturally.

Gary Clark Jr.'s tone on Bright Lights is a modern take on classic blues guitar. An SG through a Fender Vibro-King produces a warm, fat clean tone that breaks up beautifully when he digs in. The tone has more midrange warmth than a typical Fender clean, thanks to the SG's humbuckers. Clark uses a Tube Screamer-style overdrive for solo boosts, pushing the amp into rich, singing sustain.

Pete Townshend's windmill-strumming attack through a cranked Hiwatt is one of the most powerful rhythm guitar sounds in rock. On Won't Get Fooled Again, the SG's humbuckers hit the Hiwatt DR103 at full volume, producing a massive, ringing power chord tone with incredible clarity and sustain. The Hiwatt's enormous clean headroom means it stays articulate even when pushed hard, preventing the mush that a Marshall might produce at similar volumes.

One of the most iconic guitar tones in alternative rock. Johnny Marr's tone on How Soon Is Now? is built on a Rickenbacker 330 through a Fender Twin Reverb with extreme tremolo effect. The tremolo is the defining feature: a pulsating, rhythmic wobble that gives the song its hypnotic, driving feel. Marr used four separate amp channels processed with tremolo at different speeds, then blended them to create a massive, swirling stereo effect. The result is a guitar tone that sounds like it is breathing.

Alex Lifeson's tone on Tom Sawyer is a masterclass in using chorus and effects to create a massive, shimmering wall of guitar sound. The ES-355's semi-hollow body provides natural resonance and warmth, which is then pushed through a Marshall for crunch and layered with a Boss CE-1 chorus for that wide, sweeping stereo effect. The result is a tone that fills the entire sonic spectrum without ever getting in the way of Geddy Lee's bass and Neil Peart's drums.

Sloe Gin features Bonamassa's signature blues-rock lead tone: a vintage Les Paul through a Marshall and Dumble blend that produces a thick, creamy sustain with singing upper harmonics. The tone is rich and saturated but never loses note definition. Bonamassa's precise vibrato and dynamic control bring each note to life with an expressiveness that bridges classic Clapton-era blues with modern production values.

Jerry Garcia's tone on Truckin' is a sparkling, clean Stratocaster sound through a Fender Twin Reverb. This is about clarity and articulation, not distortion. Every note rings out with bell-like precision, and the Twin's massive clean headroom ensures the tone stays pristine even at volume. The touch of spring reverb adds depth without washing out the details. Garcia's tone is the opposite of most rock guitarists: clean, bright, and dynamically responsive to his fingerpicking and flatpicking technique.

The definitive Texas blues shuffle tone. SRV's tone on Pride and Joy is built on an incredibly simple signal chain: a Stratocaster with absurdly heavy strings, a Tube Screamer used as a clean boost, and a cranked Fender Vibroverb. The magic is in the player's hands and the amp being pushed hard. The Tube Screamer is not set for distortion; it's adding mids and pushing the amp's front end into breakup.

Arguably the most famous guitar solo tone ever recorded. Gilmour's tone on the second solo of Comfortably Numb is built on a Big Muff Pi fuzz into a cranked Hiwatt, with delay adding depth and sustain. The Hiwatt provides clean headroom while the Big Muff does the heavy lifting for gain and sustain. The result is a singing, vocal-like lead tone that sustains endlessly.

The ultimate wah-fuzz guitar tone. Hendrix's Voodoo Child (Slight Return) opens with one of the most recognizable wah licks ever recorded. The tone is built on a Cry Baby wah into a germanium Fuzz Face, slamming a cranked Marshall Plexi. The wah isn't just an effect here; it's an integral part of the voice of the guitar, used as a tonal filter that shapes every note. The Fuzz Face provides thick, singing sustain that cleans up dynamically when Hendrix rolls back his guitar volume.

The tone that defined a generation. Cobain's approach to guitar tone was anti-perfectionist: a cheap offset guitar, a Boss DS-1 cranked for maximum aggression, and a Small Clone chorus adding an underwater shimmer. The genius of Teen Spirit is the quiet-verse/loud-chorus dynamic. The verses are clean with chorus; the choruses slam the DS-1 for a wall of scooped, angry distortion. The mid-scooped character is key to the grunge sound: heavy lows, biting highs, and a hollow midrange.

One of the most beautiful clean guitar tones in rock. The intro to Under the Bridge is Frusciante alone, playing delicate chord voicings on the neck pickup of a 1962 Stratocaster through a clean Marshall with a touch of chorus. The tone is warm, round, and shimmering, with the CE-1 chorus adding subtle movement that keeps the sound alive and breathing. The neck pickup is essential: it provides the full, rounded character that makes this tone so inviting. The Marshall is run clean at low volume, a departure from the typical cranked Marshall approach.

One of the most recognizable guitar intros ever written. Slash's tone on Appetite for Destruction is the textbook Les Paul through a cranked Marshall JCM800 sound: thick, warm humbuckers pushing a hot British amp into singing, vocal-like overdrive. The JCM800 is doing most of the work here, with its aggressive midrange and natural compression when pushed hard. A touch of reverb from the studio and Slash's fluid vibrato complete the picture.

The 'brown sound' that changed rock guitar forever. Eddie Van Halen's tone on the debut Van Halen album is a Frankenstrat with a single humbucker through a Marshall Plexi 1959, reportedly powered through a variac to lower the voltage and achieve a thick, compressed, harmonically rich overdrive at manageable volumes. An MXR Phase 90 adds a subtle swirl. The result is a warm, singing sustain that is neither too clean nor too distorted — it sits in a magical sweet spot that responds to every nuance of Eddie's playing.

The defining textural guitar tone of the 1980s. The Edge's approach on Where the Streets Have No Name is built on rhythmic delay: a dotted eighth note delay synchronized to the tempo creates a cascading, shimmering pattern where the delayed notes fill in the gaps between picked notes. The result is a wall of chiming sound that seems much more complex than what is actually being played. The Vox AC30 provides a bright, chimey foundation, and the delay does the rest.

A modern masterclass in touch-sensitive blues-rock tone. John Mayer's sound on Continuum is built on a Stratocaster through a Tube Screamer into a boutique Two Rock amp — essentially the SRV formula updated for the 21st century. The Two Rock provides a sweet, harmonically complex clean tone that responds to every nuance of Mayer's pick dynamics. The Tube Screamer adds a mid-hump boost that pushes the amp into a warm, singing overdrive without obscuring the guitar's natural voice.

One of the most passionate guitar performances ever recorded. Clapton's tone on Layla is raw, urgent, and biting: a Fender Stratocaster ('Brownie') through a cranked Fender Champ, with the tiny amp pushed to its absolute limits. The Champ's single-ended 5-watt circuit compresses and distorts beautifully when dimed, producing a thick, creamy overdrive with natural sustain. Duane Allman's slide guitar interweaves with Clapton's lead lines, and both guitars were recorded through small amps at high volume for maximum saturation.

One of the most distinctive clean guitar tones in rock. Mark Knopfler plays with his bare fingers instead of a pick, which gives his Stratocaster a warm, rounded attack with a unique percussive quality. The tone on Sultans of Swing is remarkably clean and articulate: a Strat through a clean Fender amp with almost no effects. The magic is entirely in Knopfler's right hand technique — the combination of fingerpicking, muted strings, and dynamic control creates a tone that no amount of gear can replicate without the technique.

The most iconic blues guitar tone of all time. B.B. King's sound on The Thrill Is Gone is warm, vocal, and dripping with emotion: his ES-355 'Lucille' through a Fender Bassman, with no effects whatsoever. The semi-hollow body of the ES-355 provides natural resonance and sustain, while the Bassman's warm, fat overdrive (when pushed) or clean tone (at moderate volume) creates the perfect canvas for King's expressive vibrato and precise bending. Every note sings like a human voice.

The riff that conquered the world, played on a cheap Kay hollowbody through a DigiTech Whammy set to octave down, into a cranked Silvertone amp. The Whammy pedal makes the guitar sound like a bass on the iconic main riff, while the Silvertone's raw, lo-fi tube distortion adds grit and character. Jack White's entire approach is built on cheap, broken-sounding gear pushed to its limits — the imperfections ARE the tone.

Tom Morello's approach to guitar is unlike anyone else: he uses a simple rig — Les Paul, Marshall JCM800, Whammy pedal, and wah — but manipulates them in unconventional ways to create sounds that resemble turntables, synthesizers, and samples. On Killing in the Name, the core rhythm tone is a Les Paul through a cranked JCM800 for aggressive, tight palm-muted riffs. The Whammy and wah are used for the song's iconic solos and DJ-like scratching effects.

The definitive thrash metal rhythm guitar tone. James Hetfield's sound on Master of Puppets is built on an ESP Explorer with EMG pickups through a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ — a combination that produces a tight, aggressive, scooped-mid tone with razor-sharp pick attack and crushing low end. The Mark IIC+ is the holy grail of metal amps: its lead channel provides high-gain saturation with incredible note definition even at extreme gain levels. Hetfield's relentless downpicking technique is the engine that drives this tone.