No. 0281981·rock·3 blocks
Start Me Up
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.
Tattoo YouSignal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Fender Telecaster
Pickups
SS
Tuning
bridge
Strings
custom
Volume Pedal
Deluxe Comp
US Double Nrm
2x12 Double C12N
Spring
Tilt
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Pedal
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Studio compressor
Threshold
-28dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
0.0s
Release
0.2s
Mix
0.6
Level
0dB
US Double Nrm
← Fender Twin Reverb
Drive
0.4
Bass
0.4
Mid
0.5
Treble
0.7
Presence
0.6
ChVol
0.6
Master
1
Bias
0.6
BiasX
0.5
Sag
0.6
Hum
0.5
Ripple
0.5
2x12 Double C12N
← Twin 2x12
LowCut19.9Hz
HighCut20100Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Spring
← Twin Reverb onboard tank
LowCut200Hz
HighCut6500Hz
Mix
0.2
Decay
0.6s
Predelay
0.0ms
Tilt
← Tilt EQ (global brightness)
Tilt
0.5
CenterFreq
1000Hz
Level
0
Engineer's note
File 028
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.
— Keith Richards
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
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