Riff Tone
Golden Brown (Slowed Down Version)
The Stranglers
Guitarrock1980s
Original Gear
GuitarHofner Verithin (early 1970s, likely 1972 model)
AmpFender Twin Reverb (silverface, early 1970s studio recording)
PickupsHofner humbuckers (original, low-output, vintage spec)
Amp Settings
gain0
bass5.5
mid6.5
treble6.5
reverb3
presence5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1981; main riff played by Hugh Cornwell. No evidence of live/touring substitutions or alternate guitars/amps for the original studio riff. No pedalboard evidence for this section. All sources and isolated tracks point to a clean, direct tone with subtle amp reverb.
Tone Character(10)
clean and harpsichord-likebright and articulatewarm, rounded attacksubtle amp reverbclear note separationslightly compressedvintage, woody timbreno audible distortionno modulation or delayfingerstyle or light picking
Difficulty
The riff requires intermediate skill due to its unusual time signature, fingerstyle or hybrid picking technique, and the need for clean, precise note separation without effects to mask mistakes.
Sources
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Create Free AccountGuitarrock1980s
Original Gear
GuitarHofner Verithin (early 1970s, likely 1972 model)
AmpFender Twin Reverb (silverface, early 1970s studio recording)
PickupsHofner humbuckers (original, low-output, vintage spec)
Amp Settings
gain0
bass5.5
mid6.5
treble6.5
reverb3
presence5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1981; main riff played by Hugh Cornwell. No evidence of live/touring substitutions or alternate guitars/amps for the original studio riff. No pedalboard evidence for this section. All sources and isolated tracks point to a clean, direct tone with subtle amp reverb.
Tone Character(10)
clean and harpsichord-likebright and articulatewarm, rounded attacksubtle amp reverbclear note separationslightly compressedvintage, woody timbreno audible distortionno modulation or delayfingerstyle or light picking
Difficulty
The riff requires intermediate skill due to its unusual time signature, fingerstyle or hybrid picking technique, and the need for clean, precise note separation without effects to mask mistakes.
More The Stranglers tones
- Golden Brown · solo
- Golden Brown · riff
- Golden Brown (Slowed Down Version) · solo