Jimmy Page's Whole Lotta Love Heavy Riff Tone

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.

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.