Riff Tone
Highway Star
Deep Purple
Guitarrock1970s
Original Gear
Guitar1971 Fender Stratocaster (maple neck, scalloped fretboard, stock single-coil pickups)
AmpMarshall Major 200W head (model 1967), into Marshall 4x12 cabinet
PickupsFender single-coil (stock 1971 Stratocaster pickups)
Amp Settings
gain7
bass6.5
mid5.5
treble7
reverb0.5
presence6
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1971-1972, Machine Head album. No evidence of pedals for riff section; amp driven hard for distortion. Blackmore was known to use an Aiwa TP-1011 reel-to-reel as a preamp/boost in this era, but no direct evidence for the riff section on this track.
Tone Character(10)
aggressive British crunchtight, percussive rhythm attackbright and articulate upper midspunchy low endclear note separation under distortionminimal reverb, dry studio sounddynamic response to pickingclassic early '70s Marshall overdriveslightly scooped mids for claritycrisp attack with fast decay
Difficulty
The riff requires fast, consistent alternate picking, tight palm muting, and precise timing at a high tempo, making it challenging for most intermediate players.
Sources
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Create Free AccountGuitarrock1970s
Original Gear
Guitar1971 Fender Stratocaster (maple neck, scalloped fretboard, stock single-coil pickups)
AmpMarshall Major 200W head (model 1967), into Marshall 4x12 cabinet
PickupsFender single-coil (stock 1971 Stratocaster pickups)
Amp Settings
gain7
bass6.5
mid5.5
treble7
reverb0.5
presence6
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1971-1972, Machine Head album. No evidence of pedals for riff section; amp driven hard for distortion. Blackmore was known to use an Aiwa TP-1011 reel-to-reel as a preamp/boost in this era, but no direct evidence for the riff section on this track.
Tone Character(10)
aggressive British crunchtight, percussive rhythm attackbright and articulate upper midspunchy low endclear note separation under distortionminimal reverb, dry studio sounddynamic response to pickingclassic early '70s Marshall overdriveslightly scooped mids for claritycrisp attack with fast decay
Difficulty
The riff requires fast, consistent alternate picking, tight palm muting, and precise timing at a high tempo, making it challenging for most intermediate players.
Highway Star settings for your amp
Exact settings ToneAdapt players use on these amps.
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