Solo 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 (with 6L6 tubes, output boosted to ~19 watts)

PickupsFirebird mini-humbucker (bridge), P-90 (neck, replaced with mini-humbucker)

Amp Settings

gain4.5

bass5.5

mid7

treble6.5

reverb0.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1978 (Rust Never Sleeps sessions). Neil Young's 'Whizzer' device was used to switch amp settings for different song sections. The clean tone is achieved by rolling down the guitar volume and using the amp at lower gain, with no pedals in the signal chain for clean sections. No evidence of reverb or other effects on the clean solo section.

Tone Character(10)

dynamic and touch-sensitivewarm and woodyslightly compressedclear and articulateorganic and unprocessedresponsive to picking dynamicsslight grit when picking hardclassic tweed Fender cleanno audible reverb or delayfull-bodied single notes

Difficulty

The clean solo is not technically complex but requires careful dynamic control and touch to maintain clarity and avoid unwanted breakup, making it moderately challenging for intermediate players.

Sources

Neil Young's guitar rig: from Old Black to his Fender Deluxe | Guitar World Neil Young tone through pedals? : r/guitarpedals Tip for neil young guitar tone : r/neilyoung Neil's use of effects - Octave? Flanger? Microverb?

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