No. 0551985·rock·4 blocks
Money for Nothing
One of the most-mythologized accidental tones in rock. Mark Knopfler tracked the Money for Nothing intro riff at AIR Studios Montserrat (April 1985) on a Gibson Les Paul Junior through a Laney Klipp 2x12 combo, with a Morley wah pedal kept half-cocked in front. The SM57 had slipped off its stand the night before and was pointing at the floor, four inches from the speaker — by accident. Engineer Neil Dorfsman and Knopfler heard it through the talkback, told the room not to touch anything, and tracked the riff exactly as it stood. The tone has never been re-created since.
Brothers in ArmsSignal path · input → output · 6 blocksLive values · Neural DSP Quad Cortex
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Junior (1958, single P-90)
Pickups
P90
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Studio Comp
Cry Wah
Brit 800
2x12 Cab
Plate Reverb
Studio Comp
← Natural amp + tape compression
Threshold
-30dB
Ratio
2.5:1
Attack
0.1s
Release
0.3s
Mix
0.5
Level
0dB
Cry Wah
← Morley Wah Pedal (half-cocked)
Rate
0Hz
Depth
0
Mix
100
Brit 800
← Laney Klipp 2x12 (1980s)
Gain
6.5
Bass
5
Mid
6
Treble
6
Presence
5
Master
6.5
Sag
6
2x12 Cab
← Laney Klipp built-in 2x12
LowCut100Hz
HighCut6500Hz
Level
0dB
Plate Reverb
← AIR Studios Montserrat plate
Decay
1.5s
Predelay
25ms
Mix
15
Level
0
Engineer's note
File 055
One of the most-mythologized accidental tones in rock. Mark Knopfler tracked the Money for Nothing intro riff at AIR Studios Montserrat (April 1985) on a Gibson Les Paul Junior through a Laney Klipp 2x12 combo, with a Morley wah pedal kept half-cocked in front. The SM57 had slipped off its stand the night before and was pointing at the floor, four inches from the speaker — by accident. Engineer Neil Dorfsman and Knopfler heard it through the talkback, told the room not to touch anything, and tracked the riff exactly as it stood. The tone has never been re-created since.
— Mark Knopfler
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →Les Paul Junior Tone Recipe: Single P-90 Into a Clean Amp Is One of the Best Rock Tones
One pickup. One volume. One tone. No neck position, no coil split, no menu. The Les Paul Junior's single bridge P-90 into a clean amp is a complete tonal system. Here are the settings that prove it.
Hybrid Picking for Rock and Blues: Ghost Notes Without the Country Context
Hybrid picking isn't a country-only technique. Mark Knopfler, Albert Collins, and Scotty Moore built careers on it in rock and blues. Here's the technique, where it applies, and the specific moments where using your middle finger changes a phrase from good to right.
Tom Morello Rage Against the Machine Tone Recipe
Tom Morello's tone broken down: the JCM800 gain structure, wah-as-filter technique, Whammy settings, and how to approximate it on a modeler or pedalboard.
