No. 0571971·hard-rock·4 blocks
Black Dog
Black Dog's snarling, compressed riff was recorded with no guitar amp at all. At Island/Basing Street Studios in London (December 1970), Jimmy Page ran his 1959 Les Paul through a direct box into a mic channel of the Helios console and overdrove the console's mic preamp to make the distortion — then fed it through two UREI 1176 compressors in series, the first cranked as a saturation stage and the second doing the compression. Engineer Andy Johns triple-tracked it (left, right, centre). The tone that sounds like a synthesizer is a preamp pushed past its limit, not a speaker.
Led Zeppelin IVSignal path · input → output · 5 blocksLive values · Pedalboard
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Standard 'Number One' (1959)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge (inferred from the aggressive midrange — Page did not document the selector for this track)
Strings
standard
Direct box (DI) into the console mic channel
Helios console mic preamp (overdriven)
UREI 1176 #1 (saturation stage)
UREI 1176 #2 (the compressor)
Direct box (DI) into the console mic channel
di
Helios console mic preamp (overdriven)
preamp
UREI 1176 #1 (saturation stage)
compressor
UREI 1176 #2 (the compressor)
compressor
Engineer's note
File 057
Black Dog's snarling, compressed riff was recorded with no guitar amp at all. At Island/Basing Street Studios in London (December 1970), Jimmy Page ran his 1959 Les Paul through a direct box into a mic channel of the Helios console and overdrove the console's mic preamp to make the distortion — then fed it through two UREI 1176 compressors in series, the first cranked as a saturation stage and the second doing the compression. Engineer Andy Johns triple-tracked it (left, right, centre). The tone that sounds like a synthesizer is a preamp pushed past its limit, not a speaker.
— Jimmy Page
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →TS808 vs. Klon vs. RAT: Which Overdrive Works Best With Humbuckers?
The three classic overdrive circuits behave very differently when driven by a humbucker instead of a single-coil. Same amp, same guitar volume, three completely different gain-staging problems. Here's which one works, which one doesn't, and how to adjust the ones that need help.
Boss Blues Driver BD-2 Settings: Sweet Spots for Blues, Rock, and Country
Boss BD-2 settings for blues, classic rock, country, and stacking. Clock-position sweet spots, amp pairing, the Tube Screamer comparison, and Keeley mod notes.
Marshall Silver Jubilee vs. JCM800: The Overlooked Middle Sibling
The 2555 Silver Jubilee sits between the JCM800 and the JCM900 in both era and gain structure. Here is what makes it different, who used it, and the settings that get you there.
