Riff Tone
Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
Neil Young
Guitarrock1970s
Original Gear
Guitar1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop 'Old Black' (heavily modified, mini-humbucker in neck, Firebird pickup in bridge, Bigsby vibrato)
Amp1959 Fender Tweed Deluxe (5E3, modded with 6L6 tubes)
PickupsFirebird mini-humbucker (bridge position, main for riff)
Amp Settings
gain8
bass6.5
mid7
treble6.5
reverb0
presence5
Effects & Signal Chain
modulationMu-Tron Mu-Tron Octave Divider
Notes
Studio recording, Rust Never Sleeps (1978); amp cranked to maximum for signature distortion; Whizzer device used to control amp knobs remotely. All evidence points to this exact setup for the original studio riff section.
Tone Character(10)
explosive, saturated fuzz-like distortionraw, ragged, and uncompressedhuge low-end growlsaggy, compressed attackthick, mid-heavy sustainpiercing, biting highsdynamic response to pickingloose, wild, and unpredictable breakupoctave-down bass undertonesaggressive, in-your-face presence
Difficulty
The riff is rhythmically straightforward but requires control of a loud, unstable amp and octave pedal, plus dynamic picking to shape the tone and avoid unwanted feedback.
Sources
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Original Gear
Guitar1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop 'Old Black' (heavily modified, mini-humbucker in neck, Firebird pickup in bridge, Bigsby vibrato)
Amp1959 Fender Tweed Deluxe (5E3, modded with 6L6 tubes)
PickupsFirebird mini-humbucker (bridge position, main for riff)
Amp Settings
gain8
bass6.5
mid7
treble6.5
reverb0
presence5
Effects & Signal Chain
modulationMu-Tron Mu-Tron Octave Divider
Notes
Studio recording, Rust Never Sleeps (1978); amp cranked to maximum for signature distortion; Whizzer device used to control amp knobs remotely. All evidence points to this exact setup for the original studio riff section.
Tone Character(10)
explosive, saturated fuzz-like distortionraw, ragged, and uncompressedhuge low-end growlsaggy, compressed attackthick, mid-heavy sustainpiercing, biting highsdynamic response to pickingloose, wild, and unpredictable breakupoctave-down bass undertonesaggressive, in-your-face presence
Difficulty
The riff is rhythmically straightforward but requires control of a loud, unstable amp and octave pedal, plus dynamic picking to shape the tone and avoid unwanted feedback.
More Neil Young tones
- Rockin' In the Free World · riff
- Harvest Moon · riff
- Heart of Gold · riff
- Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) · solo
- Rockin' In the Free World · clean
- Rockin' In the Free World · riff
- Rockin' In the Free World · solo