Riff Tone

Harvest Moon

Neil Young

Guitarrock1990s

Original Gear

GuitarMartin D-45 (acoustic, likely with pickup for studio recording)

AmpNone (direct to board or mic'd acoustic; no evidence of electric amp use on studio riff section)

PickupsPiezo acoustic pickup (exact model unknown, likely under-saddle or internal mic for studio)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass5.5

mid6

treble6

reverb4

presence5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1992. The riff section is performed on acoustic guitar, not electric. No evidence of electric amp or pedal use on the original studio recording for the riff section. Live versions may differ.

Tone Character(10)

warm and lushopen and resonantclear, ringing chordsgentle, shimmering top endfull-bodied midrangenatural acoustic sustainstudio-quality claritysubtle studio reverbno distortion or overdriveorganic, unprocessed acoustic tone

Difficulty

The riff is accessible to most players with basic chord knowledge, but requires drop D tuning, some finger stretching for chord voicings, and control of dynamics for a soft, even strum.

Sources

Learn 4 Neil Young guitar chords | MusicRadar Neil's use of effects - Octave? Flanger? Microverb? : r/neilyoung Neil Young | Equipboard

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