Riff Tone
Cliffs of Dover (Live)
Eric Johnson
Guitarrock1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1954 Fender Stratocaster (modified wiring, DiMarzio HS-2 bridge pickup)
Amp1969 Marshall Model 1959 Super Lead 100-watt head
PickupsDiMarzio HS-2 single coil (bridge position, Strat wiring mod: tone control on bridge/middle)
Amp Settings
gain3
bass5.5
mid5
treble3.5
reverb2
presence3
Effects & Signal Chain
delayMaestro Maestro Echoplex EP-3
Notes
Live performance, late 1980s (not studio version). Clean intro/riff section. Volume and tone settings from Guitar World; amp settings from same source. Effects chain includes Maestro Echoplex EP-3 and Chandler Tube Driver, but Tube Driver is likely bypassed for clean intro. Delay is always on, but gain is set low for clean tone.
Tone Character(10)
glassy and articulatewarm and smoothsweet, violin-like cleannon-percussive attackbright but not harshtouch-sensitivedynamic responseclear note separationslight tape delay ambienceno reverb
Difficulty
The clean riff section requires fast, accurate picking, advanced chord shapes, and precise dynamic control to achieve the signature glassy articulation and clarity.
Sources
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Create Free AccountGuitarrock1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1954 Fender Stratocaster (modified wiring, DiMarzio HS-2 bridge pickup)
Amp1969 Marshall Model 1959 Super Lead 100-watt head
PickupsDiMarzio HS-2 single coil (bridge position, Strat wiring mod: tone control on bridge/middle)
Amp Settings
gain3
bass5.5
mid5
treble3.5
reverb2
presence3
Effects & Signal Chain
delayMaestro Maestro Echoplex EP-3
Notes
Live performance, late 1980s (not studio version). Clean intro/riff section. Volume and tone settings from Guitar World; amp settings from same source. Effects chain includes Maestro Echoplex EP-3 and Chandler Tube Driver, but Tube Driver is likely bypassed for clean intro. Delay is always on, but gain is set low for clean tone.
Tone Character(10)
glassy and articulatewarm and smoothsweet, violin-like cleannon-percussive attackbright but not harshtouch-sensitivedynamic responseclear note separationslight tape delay ambienceno reverb
Difficulty
The clean riff section requires fast, accurate picking, advanced chord shapes, and precise dynamic control to achieve the signature glassy articulation and clarity.
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